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At first I thought you meant the hood was in the way of doing the points and I was wondering how you position yourself to work on them. :D
I just like a lot of room. I always pull the hood off first thing working on almost anything. More light, better access, just makes everything better. 30 second job on a 300 series, 15 minute job on a 400, just a pita 😂
 
Army, I was able to get out to the shop and do a little work so I snapped a couple photos. Here ya go. On another note, I found some steel cam gears off a K532. Will they work on my K582? I struggle with parts for this K582 because the serial number has worn off the label and is not legible at all anymore. The engine is not out of a Deere originally but I got it from someone who was parting out a 400.
 

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Wow! Your shop is one to drool over. Yes, the the steel cam gear and composite gear will interchange among the K482, K532, and K582 engines. The steel gear uses a slotted retaining nut torqued to 40 ft-lb, whereas the composite gear uses a locknut and spring washer. So, be sure to get the proper slotted nut along with the steel gear.
Harold
 
Thank you, It has been a long time coming getting the shop to this point. I haven't had a chance to tear into the engine yet, is the crank gear also composite or were they all steel? I'm just wondering if I should get a new crank gear also?
 
All the crank gears were steel, so no problem there.
 
Well, I just had a scare. Cleared the 6" off my driveway and the tractor was working okay, though not fantastic. Headed down the road to the neighbors and had a substantial bog-then catching- then bogging again. I limped home to the garage and contemplated my fate. Taking Harold's advice and starting with the easiest possible repair, I got into the points. It took some doing to find the open crank position. Used some emory cloth on the points and reset them to .019. Lo, and behold it started running better. I finished the neighborhood and the 400 ran pretty strong but I still didn't detect the governor kicking in.

I didn't take the governor off to investigate further. There is some hope that a steel gear will be found. I know most of the history of this 400 because it was used at the shop where I worked and I bought it from work after they switched from an in-house maintenance guy mowing/snow throwing to a lawn service. It is a 1981, so it is one of the newest models and started life as a K532. I was there when it blew a rod and the local dealer put in a short block. It didn't have many hours on the short block (now a K582) before I bought it.

The loader needs to be up to get the side panels off.

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Jay - teach me something. I am intrigued by your snow blower setup. I can't say I have ever seen one mounted on a loader frame before. When I first saw the picture a week ago, I did not think much about the drive mechanism. I got thinking about it again today so I studied the photo a little more. At first I thought maybe you powered it by a hydraulic motor or self contained auxiliary engine but then I saw the drive shaft stub so I assume you are powering it directly with the front PTO shaft.
1. What's the advantage of mounting to the loader arms vs. a conventional mount? It looks like you have the blower on a quick hitch plate type of set up. I assume it's so you can switch back to a bucket fairly quickly if you need it.
2. I assume the drive shaft U Joint limits the amount you can raise the loader arms with the shaft attached. Are those black rods on both sides, lockout rods so you don't accidentally raise the lift arms when snow blowing?
3. Do you need to block the arms in the up position with a safety bar when you work under it? I'd be concerned if a hydraulic hose burst, all that weight would crash down in a hurry.

I'm always interested in unique modifications. Thanks, Mike_U
 
What the heck is all that grey stuff? Oh wait a sec, I know. It's a cement floor with open parking and workspace isn't it? :D

Army, I was able to get out to the shop and do a little work so I snapped a couple photos. Here ya go. On another note, I found some steel cam gears off a K532. Will they work on my K582? I struggle with parts for this K582 because the serial number has worn off the label and is not legible at all anymore. The engine is not out of a Deere originally but I got it from someone who was parting out a 400.
 
Discussion starter · #50 ·
1. What's the advantage of mounting to the loader arms vs. a conventional mount? It looks like you have the blower on a quick hitch plate type of set up. I assume it's so you can switch back to a bucket fairly quickly if you need it.
2. I assume the drive shaft U Joint limits the amount you can raise the loader arms with the shaft attached. Are those black rods on both sides, lockout rods so you don't accidentally raise the lift arms when snow blowing?
3. Do you need to block the arms in the up position with a safety bar when you work under it? I'd be concerned if a hydraulic hose burst, all that weight would crash down in a hurry.
Mike-Several advantages to a loader mounted snow thrower. Mostly it's easy to pick it off the rack. They are kind of a PITA to wrestle on otherwise. Another is that I can tip the snow thrower forward and back some to adjust for gravel surfaces. I leave the loader on all the time. An early design criteria was to reuse the mower deck driveshaft from the front PTO point. This worked for a while but it turned out to be a couple of inches short for comfort, so I found another deck driveshaft and made it about 3" longer. Sharp eyes to see the limiter arms with the slots in the ends to keep from extending the slip joint out too far. There is a bucket level indicator that I need to pay attention to regularly. Absolutely there is a safety block when the arms are up and service is happening below. I really never use the plow but thought I should have one just in case. I have considered putting wings on it to make it a pusher. It only works straight ahead, anyway.

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Jay, thanks for the education. That's a great set up you have with the loader quick attach plates for plow and blower and also the pto set up for the blower. Very well thought out and fabricated. I looked closer at the first pic you posted and I see a red bar on the left side of the tractor. I assume that's the lift arm lock. I need to fabricate one for my compact utility.
In winter I pull my loader off and attach an angling Deere snow plow but my preference is always for a front mounted blower. If I find a used blower wide enough to fit a compact utility, I will consider the quick attach plate and mount it to the loader instead of directly to the tractor.
 
Well, I've finally got the engine out of the 400, got it torn down and am ready to reassemble with the metal cam gear. I am wondering if the slotted nut that goes with the steel gear should have a washer between it and the gear? My parts break down shows a washer, but I keep finding the washer with the nylon lock nut. I also have one other question, Should there be lock washers on the bolts for the hub that mounts the drive shaft to the flywheel? There were none when I removed the engine and I feel like there should be.
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The washer goes with the nylon lock nut, but the slotted nut (I believe it is called a flex-loc nut) does not use a washer. Torque the nut to 40 ft lbs (while holding the pulley with a large screwdriver stuck through one on the holes with the tip against a bolt head). It seems logical the stub shaft bolts should have lock washers, but none were installed. Clearance between the cooler and the stub shaft is already too tight, and the extra height of the bolt heads with added washers would make matters worse. This has always bothered me as well, but I have never seen one of the bolts come loose.
Harold
 
I'm hoping reviving this thread will help rather than starting a new one, especially since its still the same project. I got the new cam gear on and everything back together. I am setting the points, well trying to anyway. My issue is when I set them to the farthest open position, the smallest gap I can get is about .024. The push rod seems to move in and out normal when turning the motor over by hand and since the gap isn't smaller, I figure the rod isn't worn. The points are genuine Kohler. I could bend the adjustment tap to make it closer but I'm not sure that is ideal. I am not real experienced with points but I feel like I know how it all works. Anyone have any ideas? Can I somehow check the governor for problems?
 
Do the points close completely as you rotate the motor by hand? Did you remove the points push rod for examination? One of the governor wear issues is having a groove worn in the cam lobe such that the push rod movement is limited. This would seem opposite to what you are observing as long as the points are closing in the cycle.
Harold
 
I am curious as to whether Kohler made some slight dimension changes in their points, or had a bad batch. Have you compared the old and new points? Just to be sure you are aware of the adjustment locations, here is a picture. The red circle indicates the hold-down screw that is first loosened (angle screwdriver) just enough to allow for adjustments. (Note that a lot of folks like to replace this slotted screw with a small Allen head screw, as an Allen wrench works much better in this very tight space than angled screwdrivers.) With the engine rotated to open the points to their maximum and the hold-down screw loosened slightly, a standard bladed screwdriver is inserted at the green arrow and a gentle prying action will open the point gap. To reduce the point gap a screwdriver is used at the yellow arrow with a prying action between the points assembly lower body and the lower electrode arm. (Note that you may be able to both open and close the gap by prying opposite directions at the green arrow, unless the adjustment is near its limit as seen in the picture.) With a satisfactory gap the hold-down screw is tightened and the gap is re-checked after an engine rotation.
Harold

 
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