25 HP KOHLER

[1st Class Lawns]

Please let me know your experiences with the 25 hp kohler engine.
Thanks
James
1ST CLASS LAWN SERVICE

[Evan528]

I got one on my z master NOevmber of 99. NOt even 2 weeks later i found lawnsite and read about all the problmes people werehaving with the kohlor 25. Many have experience headgaskets blowing within the first 100 hours or so... yes its coverd by warrently but they supposidly just never have the smae power after teh head gasket blows. I have been extremly lucky with mine... i have not had any problme yet... my fingers are crossed becasue i no its rare to have a flawless 25 kohlor. Do a search also... there are probly hundreads of posts on this very subject...

[Cutter1]

Supposedly the problem with the 25 Kohlers were fixed and since then no problems have occured on the new ones, but believe what you want. Personally I stay clear of Kohler. The 23 Kaw has just as much if not more power than the 25 Kohler.

[awm]

It is a shame the kohler folks let this
happen as I have never had anything but
good motors from kohler.Any thing w kohler
kaws,and Industrial briggs suited me fine
as long as I believed it was enough hp
for the machine.
I was at the exmark dealer the other day.
Didnt see but one kohler on the showroom floor.

[guntruck]

Many Many posts on this use the search. But last year we bought a 61" charito ztr with one. We put 3 hours on it i think and needed a new motor. New one has been great!!

[rdh]

i have one . if it makes a funny noise it makes my heart drop after finding out about the problems they have.

[John DiMartino]

Mine is a 2000,blew head gaskets at 66 hrs,it clatters and ticks like crazy,and consumes oil,with only 175 hrs on it.It only has about 19-22Hp if you ask me-if that.Dealer says it runs good,normal.Never-ever again,resale on anything with a 25 kohler is not good either.If you buy one,just think its a 20hp,so you wont be dissapointed when it bogs down.

[MOW ED]

I had one and had a big run of bad luck. It was a 98 and the Kohler company really wasn't much help. You could say I was one of the pioneers that got a crappy 25. Most of the "FIXES" didn't work. Once you have a bad one its hard to make it good.

Got rid of it and bought a 2000 26EFI. Basiscally a redesigned 25 but really no where close to the old 25. I love it. Power, fuel efficiency and it starts in all weather, in two spins, with no choke.

All I will say is stay away from Kohler 25. If you have the cash - go Kubota or Kawi but if not just stay away from the 25.

[CCLC]

I have one of the kohlers that had the gasket problem. We realized it after about 30 hours of use. Somehow this one slipped through the cracks. They fixed it and we have used it 2 seasons now and with 975 hours it has had no other problems. I also have another kohler 25 that is a couple of years older and the only problems with that was the smart box and coils. It has 1500+ hours.

[HOMER]

I have a 25 and haven't had any BAD luck at all. My 22 had a blown head gasket and it was repaired and runs better than ever.

Some people have had bad experiences and others good, I don't consider myself lucky because I got a good one, I consider the engine to be performing as it should. My Kohler 18 has had one blown head gasket in 1100 hrs, my 22 had one with 800 or so. Both were fixed in a days time and since have given me great service. To not buy a machine because it had one engine out of it's line up with a problem is a little extreme to me, any engine you buy could have problems, and over time I think this will show itself to be true. If you have a good dealer and it's under warranty you should have good luck with it, time will tell with all the other "better" choices out there.