To those who have performed the engine ISO mount cradle mod

[AyatinGL]

To those who have performed the engine ISO mount cradle mod - what % of vibration did it remove? I am trying to see if it's worth performing or not. If the majority of those who did the mod say it helped reduce vibration - then I'll go for it.

Thanks for your time.

[J-Mech]

It doesn't reduce vibration at all. It keeps the rails from tearing up the oil pan.

It's worth performing. I have a whole pile of oil pans that will have to be built up, machined off and the threads repaired. Otherwise, they are just junk.

[olds45512]

as Jon said the purpose isnt to reduce vibration but to save the oil pan. without the cradle mod the only thing holding the two rails together is the aluminum oil pan, it will eventually pull the treads out of the pan as well as crack the corners off.

[mattop]

I did the cradle mount mod on my 1650 this winter. In my experience, I think the tractor vibrates a little more now! Has anyone else who has done this mod seen some increase in vibration? The K341 is a shaker for sure, and mine didn't appear to have the balance gears.

[Yosemite Sam]

Originally Posted by mattop

I did the cradle mount mod on my 1650 this winter. In my experience, I think the tractor vibrates a little more now! Has anyone else who has done this mod seen some increase in vibration? The K341 is a shaker for sure, and mine didn't appear to have the balance gears.

What else did you do while the engine was out?

Since I did my 1650, it runs so smooth, you can hardly tell it's in there.

[mattop]

That would be nice! It smooths out at full throttle, but it's no Cadillac!

Here is the list of everything I did this winter:

-Pulled engine to replace crank seal that was leaking.
-Engine cradle mod
-replaced oil pan gasket
-new flex discs. 1 in front, 2 in back
-new hydro fan
-welded and filed trunion
-replaced cork gasket
-did the front-end pivot pin Grade 8 bolt mod
-thrust bearing on steering

After all that, the engine still leaked oil--badly. Pulled the engine again to find the crank seal dry as a bone (it was leaking previously). What was continuing to leak was the bearing plate gasket. In fact, some of the bolts were very loose.

-replaced bearing plate gasket and shimmed
-re-replaced crankshaft seal

I think that's it, aside from other little things like fixing lights and painting the grill, foot treads, rear-end cover, and drive shaft.

[olds45512]

Improper timing and carb settings as well as not having the rubber mounts tightened properly will cause it to shake more than it should.

[mattop]

I think my timing and carb setting are fine. The engine runs great and just as it did before I worked on it. I torqued the rubber mounts to 20 ft-lbs, I believe. Is that proper? Perhaps they should be tighter?

[mortten]

The common thought is that 20ft lbs is too tight. Thighen the nuts until about 2 threads show above the nut. Try it and do small adjustments from there.

[mattop]

Thanks. I will check that out. Do you think loosening up those nuts will help my vibration situation? Also, when I reinstalled the engine, I put new metal lock nuts on the mount bolts. Do I need to replace those again if I back them off a little, or should I be okay?