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Kohler K532 - Update with pics


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I don't know anything about the twin cylinder K532 engines. How do they compare to the KT series and Magnums? Thanks for the replies. I now have pictures. From what I can still make of the tag, it appears to have been on a welder/generator. The model, type, and serial are gone. It's missing the tin on one side, and the original air cleaner. It runs with 40psi oil pressure, but the carb needs adjustment, and likely new plugs. Here are the pics.














I like to keep it, but I don't need another project waiting on me, and I don't have a tractor for it. I'll likely try to sell it. If I can't sell it, I guess I'll wait for a "free" tractor to show up that is solid but missing the engine. It would require some severe frame modification to fit this in a Simplicity or AC.
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They are great engines. Maybe the best 2 cylinder engine Kohler ever built. The main problem with them is they are too big to fit into any of the Simplicity frames. I have a Powermax with one in it. The PO who installed the engine raised it up 3 inches to get clearance for the starter. Another member, Tiny, has a Powermax with one of these engines installed. In his case the installer stretched the frame 3 inches to get room for the engine to sit down in the frame. I would think there would be even more problems trying to put one in any of the other Simplicity variants. John U
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This was the pinnicle of L-head designed engines. It's cast iron and real heavy but built real well and supper dependable. I have several on varrying applications. I wish they used these on more stuff. They have great power and torque but have been out designed by newer over head valve engines due to emisions and manufacturing costs. huge engines but great engines.
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  • 2 weeks later...
It is a beast weighing in at 178 lbs. 57.7 cu. in. but only 23 hp. 41 lb. ft of torque. One of the tractor pullers we run against had one in a 900 series frame (yes it had frame modifications with u-joint drive shaft all very professionally done). But our tractor Deuce a 917 with a 20hp magnum always out pulled it. Some of the reasons is that the magnum weighs 50 lbs. less, and gave up little in hp.
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How can you tell which is which. I don't have any stickers or spec's on my engine and think it might be the larger one only because it sounds like it's got lots more snot than any tractor I've had before including a KT19. I had the head off once and should've measured the cylinder.
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Outside of measuring the the cylinder, I don't know. The tag is mostly gone from mine as well. The only indication on mine is the coffee can air cleaner cover, which of course has it written incorrectly as K253.
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My books list the K482 Bore as 3.250" the K532 is 3.375" and the K582 Bore is 3.50" Are those new heads? I picked up 2 off ebay a month or so ago, for my K482. I rebuilt a k532 to put in a 416 but as already mentioned, needed too much work. I got it installed, but didn't have time to do exhaust. Ran awesome though and sounded nice. Mine had a steel governor gear and a heavier flywheel, the larger starter, and weighed in at 200lbs. Looks like yours has the 30amp charging system also,
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Here are some pictures of my 4040 with the K582 installed.


The engine is mounted on plates welded across the top of the frame rails. The crank sits 3 inches above the orginal crank center line. The front PTO pulley is 2 1/2 inches ahead of the orginal pulley position. The battery mounting plate was cut out to allow the front PTO belt to clear.


The hood is raised 3 inches to clear.


Here is the tractor with the ARK 600 loader. The muffler is a Stanley FO-11 which is a ford 8N muffler. With the loader this is one beast of a tractor. The engine was installed by a PO. If I were doing it from scratch, I would take the approach of stretching the frame and keeping the engine mounted on the floor of the frame as was done on Tiny's tractor. John U
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The heads aren't new, one is just sandblasted. The gentleman removed that head jus to inpsect the combustion chamber. He said it all looked good, and sandblasted the head before reinstalling it. Trying to find the history of these engines is difficult. The only thing readable on tag (what's left of the tag) is a couple of words like generator and welder, leading me to believe it was originally on a welder/generator. Can any of the numbers stamped on the carb, intake, or other parts provide any information?
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Darin, My engine had the same exhaust manifold, intake elbow, and the 30 amp charging system, the same as yours. Mine does have a readable spec # on the tag. According so someone who has connections at Kohler, my spec # indicates my engine was originally used in an industrial sweeper. For the tractor application, I switched the exhaust manifolds to ones from a JD 400 and changed the intake elbow and air cleaner to a setup from a Wheel Horse. I got a side mounted oil filler/dipstick from a Bolens. I got these parts off e-bay at resonable cost. Without the orignal spec number, I don't think you can come up with much as far as history. I do know there were many different crankshaft configurations as well as exhaust manifolds, intake setups, and several charging systems. In all there were hundreds of spec numbers issued for these engines. Here is the label on my engine.


John U
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About the best method I've found so far is to measure the piston bore. I haven't done that yet but as soon as I get around to it I'll post what it is. I had a decal similar to the one you're referring to and it meant to not weld anything near the engine without having a good ground or disconnecting the generator/alternator. I thought the same thing (that the engine was from a welder) until I really read it. The only other decal I've got that survived is the one on the air cleaner advising about maintenace of it.
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Tiny, do you still have the ID tag with the full writing on it that you take a picture of, or duplicate the text here? I'd like to see if it matches up to what I can read on mine.
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I was going to copy it down and post it here yesterday but when I went to look at it I discovered I must have wire brushed it off when I painted it.
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  • 2 weeks later...
While I'd love to keep this engine and mess around with installing it on an AC, I need to go ahead and sell this. I need to get a tiller more than I need this project. It's in the classifieds, hopefully someone can use this and will make an offer. Thanks for the input all.
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quote:
Originally posted by midnightpumpkin
We need to all chip in and buy Tiny a new camera!! LOL
Indeed. Until then, do I understand right that what was done in Tiny's case was to lengthen the frame? by 3" or what? What happened with the hood?
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The hood is just setting down in place across the top of the fuel tank. It doesn't look like it would take much to make it blend in with the rest of the tractor though, maybe just a 4" strap of steel but it looks OK as is for now, hardly noticeable. I've found my camera but not the cable to download it. Soon??
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