Dig-It truckhoe / backhoe

[corax]

Well, this is "a vehicle other than Toyota" - recently I bought a mini towable backhoe with a seized 18hp Kohler engine - if I can't fix/rebuild the engine that's on it, what are my options for a cheap 18 hp horizontal crank engine? I'm fairly good with internal combustion, but don't really have any experience with small engines, what usually goes wrong with these little beasts? Are there any brands I should stay away from? I've been looking at Kohler, Briggs, Tecumseh, and Honda - all seem to be about $1,300 +/-, but that's a bit out of my budget. Are there any good places to find a used engine?


This is what I got - now I just gotta figure out if/how to tow it 6 hours without getting pulled over for no tags

Dig-It towable backhoe
(made by Feterl, used to make farm equipment, now out of business)

[Seanz0rz]

something out of a riding mower? our generator has a 18hp briggs. been a great motor!

try a lawn mower repair shop, they might have used mowers or other power equipment. also look on craigs, etc for non running riding mower, generators, etc.

edit: btw, that thing is TOTALLY BADASS!!!!

[CJM]

Im with sean on this, find a mower repair shop, someone selling the same kinda shaft drive off craigslist or something (must come out the same way on the other engines, you can get vertical or horizontal-mowers usually vertical shaft. IE top of engine is facing you.)

If its seized you could crank the sucker open and rebuild it, VERY easy.

Oh and fwiw shoulda got the bobcat itself and a used backhoe attachtment, much more versatile and fun.

[DHC6twinotter]

I'd go with a Kohler over a Briggs, but I don't know anything about Tecumseh or Honda.

Very cool looking contraption! I want one!

[corax]

something out of a riding mower? our generator has a 18hp briggs. been a great motor!

try a lawn mower repair shop, they might have used mowers or other power equipment. also look on craigs, etc for non running riding mower, generators, etc.

Haven't thought about a riding mower engine . . .

Im with sean on this, find a mower repair shop, someone selling the same kinda shaft drive off craigslist or something (must come out the same way on the other engines, you can get vertical or horizontal-mowers usually vertical shaft. IE top of engine is facing you.)

Oh and fwiw shoulda got the bobcat itself and a used backhoe attachtment, much more versatile and fun.

the engine that's in the backhoe is a horizontal crank, but I'm not sure it should matter if it's only running a hydraulic pump. I should be able to just make new mounts and bolt the pump under the engine, right? Wish they made push mowers with 18hp engines

I was looking at the Bobcats, but then I'd also need a trailer, also looked at some front loader tractors, but same thing with the trailer. This thing only weighs 2,700 lbs (limits how much it can dig a bit - no boulder moving), but I can tow it with the 'runner - even bought a pintle hook for it. Plus the price was right since it needs work.

[Erich_870]

Join the Small Engine Technical Forum http://www.perr.com/phpBB3/index.php

I needed info on fixing a weed whacker engine and they were REALLY helpful.

Erich

[CJM]

Ah so it had to towable..

Generally as far as engines go B&S is the bottom these days, then tecumseh, then you got kohler and then honda.

I would look for another kohler b/c it will match better tbh, but generally they are all the same engine with slight variations.

A large snowblower might work, a salter motor off a salt truck, go kart engine, concrete mixer,etc. You need the correct type of shaft tbh, you can try but best to find the same thing. The other type of shaft may fit with some mods, dunno as I cant see the whole thing up close..

[corax]

here's the back of the engine - most of the engines I've been looking at are 1" diameter/keyed crank. The Kohlers I've seen come with 1" or 1.125" - I think they used a splined adapter on the crank for the hydraulic pump . . .

looks like they put on a new starter before they figured out it was seized

[CJM]

Might be able to unseize it, got nothing to lose really if you take it part.

I would start by pouring every single possible lube, spray and oil in it. Thats how I got a nice 2 stroke dirtbike unstuck. I let it soak in ATF, oil, PB Blaster, etc, etc.

[MTL_4runner]

At the very least I'd pull the seized engine and disassemble it to see what the damage was. It's a twin cylinder motor so you may only have one piston seized and in that case you could sleeve the cylinder and get a new piston installed relatively cheaply. Worst case would be both cylinders seized as well as scoring damage to the crank, rods and case (it would be cheaper to get a new one then, pay attention to the shaft diameter and length if you order new or buy used motors). You won't know until you open it up (and of course post pics and we can help walk you through it all since small engines are rediculously simple to fix).