Head Gasket? -- Metal or Graphite
 

Ordered some metal aftermarket head gaskets from a company at a great price.

Received a call from company to say that the head gasket I ordered has been changed to a graphite style, with no metal combustion ring.

If I wanted a metal gasket they only come from Kohler and are higher costs.

He said the Kohler people he contacted, that the graphite gasket works on pulling tractors with no problems, so should work with normal grass cutting tractors with no problems.

I said that a pulling tractor doesn't use their engines for hours at a time.

I didn't like the idea of no metal combustion ring and blowing out.

I changed my order for a genuine Kohler gasket.

Has any members used graphite head gaskets in their everyday working tractor and how have they held up ---- or have they?

Del

I have in the past used the gaskets without the fire ring and had very poor luck. They blew out within a month. Pure garbage if you ask me. As far as solid graphite couldn't tell you. We have graphite gasket material in sheet form at work. Maybe someday I will cut out a head gasket and see how it holds up. Some of the older Briggs and Tecumseh engines used graphite gaskets with good luck. I will only buy original Kohler or Stens head gaskets. Stens also have the fire ring as well :beerchug:

I will only use the fire ring style also.

The only time I've used a head gasket without the fire ring it only lasted about a month.

Same here. I won't buy anymore without the ring

Thanks for the input guys. Glad I changed the order for the better gasket.

Del

Learned my lesson, fire ring only. :bash2:

Nuff said!!