This video is geared toward owners of vintage garden tractors with horizontal OPPOSED-TWIN air-cooled engines - particularly the ONAN gasoline engines built by McGraw-Edison (and later Cummins/Linamar) that so many claim are "hard to get parts for" and "expensive to rebuild" today. With a few extra preventive maintenance steps, it is possible to push your Onan (or other opposed-twin) engine to 3000 or more hours before needing a rebuild - this is a much longer service life than the 1000-1500 hour life that a lot of neglected engines have seen over the years, often leading people to lose faith in their reliability. If you own a classic garden tractor with one of these engines - particularly a John Deere 316/317/318/420, Super Cub Cadet 982-2072, large-frame Bolens, Sears Suburban, Wheel Horse D-series or 400/500 series, big-wheel Case/Ingersoll, or Steiner, this video is for you. Many of the topics discussed can also be applied to Kohler and Briggs & Stratton opposed twin engines of similar design from the same time period.
Twin-cylinder Onan engines were one of the most popular choice of powerplants for all different types of small power equipment - from lawn & garden tractors, to generators, welders, skid steers, and military equipment, from the 1930's to the official end of their production in 2003. Opposed-twin engines were known for their low-end torque output, their ability to withstand thousands of hours of run time between rebuilds (some out there still running with 4000-5000+ hours on them), and their overall stout construction allowing them to be rebuilt several times over. The most popular models of Onan engines used in garden tractors that collectors have come to know and love include the CCK series, N52, BF/BG, B43-B48, P216-P224, and the Canadian-built Linamar LX7/LX9 series that rounded out production just after the turn of the century. These engines powered some of the most iconic (and now collectable) garden tractors ever produced for the consumer market, many of which are still being used today and working as hard as they did 30+ years ago - despite being somewhat antiquated at this point.
Unfortunately, many of these engines lived a hard service life (especially in garden tractor applications), often not given proper care and maintenance that they required to reach their 3000+ hour potential. These engines don't mind a little preventive maintenance throughout the season - sometimes this means more than just a yearly oil change. The accumulation of debris due to restricted airflow and neglected oil leaks, use of improper oil (or infrequent oil changes), and lack of overall TLC resulted in a drastically shortened service life of many of these engines, which when neglected, can become very temperamental. Combined with the fact that they have been out of production for 20 years, the Onan engines have developed a negative reputation and many owners have shied away from using them in more recent years - often choosing to replace them with a lightweight v-twin engine such as a Kohler Command, Honda GX or a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard. This video will explain 10 (actually 11) important steps that should be taken to provide proper care for an Onan engine and maximize its service life - no Command, Vanguard, or Honda repower necessary. Keep these old opposed twin engines running - at the end of the day, you can't beat their torque curve and sound.