Sovereign questions,new owner

[gboggs]

Just bought a later model Sovereign 18 #1692450 and have a couple of basic questions.First question, it seems that there is a tremendous amount of heat blowing from the Kohler engine onto my legs,I am comparing this to my HB112.Is this normal?Also this mower cuts very dirty and blows up alot of stuff,again I thought this was basically the same 48" deck as my HB112? With these two items present it makes for a very uncomfortable mowing experience.Any ideals would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[RayS]

They made a anti-blow out kit for the decks to keep the clippings from blowing back on you. Not sure if they are available or not any more but are pretty easy to make. You say that it cuts very dirty. Are the blades sharp? I have a late model 48 inch deck and it cuts as good as any of my other tractors.

[Chris727]

The tractor may be sucking more dirt upward because of the open frame tunnel and air circulation from the engine.

[ZippoVarga]

It's a running board tractor powered by a toilet. That's the only problems I see. 8):D8Dthat'll put me behind the 8 for sure. Hehehee. Put it back where you got it and keep using the HB112 :I

[Roy]

On my 2000 Sovereign I replaced the gull wing blades with flat blades to reduce blowout. Doesn't mow quite as good but greatly lessened the blowout problem. In addition to the flat blades you will need the adapter washers that are internally splined to adapt the blades to the arbors. Yes, the v-twin engines put a lot more heat back on the operator than my single cylinders tractors. Nature of the beasts I suppose. Hope your engine is a Kohler Command OHV and not the Kohler Triad OHC engine. The OHC engines were a disaster and sucked up a lot more trash than the OHV engines do.

[BrianP]

I've got an older Sovereign 7016 with the single 16 hp engine. It always blows hot air on my legs. If you look at the way my Sovereign was designed, moving the headlights inboard, blocked where the hot air comes out of the cooling vanes of the head. Since my hood is "racked" (twisted at an angle) and almost rubbed a hole through my gas tank, I am going to retro-fit a hood from an Allis Chalmers 919 tractor. It only cost me $10 bucks of eBay.

As you can see, somebody eventually realized this design flaw and modified the hood with the ventilation slots shown here.

I missed an auction for the Simplicity version of this hood, so some mods will definately be necessary, particularly where the hood rests on the dashboard lip and the exhaust port will have to be cut as well. I'm not too concerned with originality, (this is my workhorse after all), but I think it will improve cooling and when painted the proper shade of off-white won't look too bad either.