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Honda 20 vs Kohler ???

Started by sprucebunny, July 05, 2005, 07:27:31 PM

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sprucebunny

I've read about a few people's problems with the Honda 20 in the winter and the kit that helps it out.
Are it's problems enough to make you chose the Kohler if you had it to do again ???

I really like my other Honda stuff and there is a dealer nearby. i have no idea where to get a Kohler serviced ???
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Percy

Heya S.B.
I have a Honda GX11 horse and it gives me way less grief than my 25hp Kohler on my edger. The Kohler carb ices up when the dewpoint and temp are close(wet and cold/miserable). The Honda starts up easy and runs all day for the last couple of years with major neglect and hardly a wimper. The Kohler is tough too but has a major furball problem when its cold/rainy ;D I know these arn t the motors you are talkin about but my money is on Honda. They make good stuff. ;D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Daren

I have both. A Kohler in a portable welding machine (pipeliner) that I chose over my other options and am satisfied with its performance for its use. On my sawmill I have a Honda (I guess I should read what you read about winter problems, that is the first I heard of it, never had any probs. myself). I am pretty fond of Honda air cooled engines, higher r.p.m.s, better balanced internally. I am no expert on small engines and may get educated in this thread, but everyone I talk to including the man who runs the small engine repair shop next door to my mill (even though he has not had to work on many, but he has gotten rich working on Briggs) say Hondas are good pieces.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Part_Timer

I have the 15 hp Kohler and have not had any problems wet cold or otherwise.  I got the new mill with the 25hp Kohler.  Only time will tell.  I might have thought about the Honda but the Stihl dealer gets me Kohler parts when needed.
Peterson 8" ATS.
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Brucer

I've heard from Norwood owners that when the 20 HP Honda was first offered as an option, it had a lot of problems. This was supposedly fixed. The local tree service owner replaced the motor on his stump cutter last year with a new 20 HP Honda and says it works great.

15 and 18 HP Kohlers have an excellent reputation, but as Percy mentioned, the 25 HP model has a serious carb icing problem. The local Woodmizer the local dealer recommends that customers choose the 28 HP fuel injected Kohler instead of the 25 HP carbuerated version, for precisely that reason. It''s essentially the same motor, but the fuel injection increases the power output. My 28 HP FI Kohler had no problem at all in the winter (although I'm more than a little concerned about that computer control unit on the FI module)..

A few months ago I ran into a guy I used to work with (before we both got laid off).  He started a small engine repair business recently so I asked him about servicing Kohlers. He said no problem -- it's one of the many brands his training program covered. So you might want to check out any small engine repair shops in your area.

Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Arthur

I have found that the Honda 20hp is a very good engine.  smooth, higher revs, slightly more torque.  the only down is if you have problems, then you need a Honda experienced agent close by.  They need special tools for some of the work.

Cant comment on Kholer although for simplicity I would be wary of the FI.

Kelvin

Woodmizer LT40's came with kohler 25's for awhile.  MIne has one, and i've never heard of icing up in the last 3 years and i'm in central michigan where we have cold temps alot of the time.  Freeze thaw kinda stuff, right at that temp that would cause this stuff.  They do make a winter kit that sends prewarmed air to the carb though.  Don't know why, maybe for super cold climates?  Norwood had problems with 20hp hondas specifically, you could call them to see how they are behaving now!
Kelvin

ohsoloco

The 20 horse Honda that I'm running on my Norwood runs like a top.  I use the cold air kit supplied with the engine, and have run it in the middle of winter at zero degrees without any problems.  No matter the weather, that thing runs nice  :)

lamar

Cold weather is not much of a problem down here.One reason I went to 25 kohler is charging output.Its about 3 times as the 20 honda.My mill has bower up and down and in 4+ yrs only on time it would turn over but wouldnt start.Same batt. also.Engine runs good but would like to put a tach. to it to find rpm

Robert_in_W._Mi.

  Hey Lamar,

  It depends on which Honda 20 he's talking about, Honda does offer a 20 with a pretty good DC output if someone needs it.

  I bought the Vanguard 23hp on my mill this last time.  One of reasons is because the 20 Honda that Norwood offers doesn't offer much DC output.

  Honda does build good small gas engines and in general i like them better than the Kohlers i own, and have owned in the past.

  Robert

Ernie

I don't know about the Honda but my mill has the Kohler 25 engine and after about 20 hours, it just quit.  I loaded the mill on the trailer and took into town to the local Kohler dealer, about 40 km away.  They repeated all my test, fuel and spark and agreed, it was dead.  Wow, I knew what I was doing in my diagnosis >:( >:(

They stripped out the ignition switch and reckoned it was crook so called Kohler and ordered a new one telling me I could pick the mill up the next afternoon (had to use genuine parts for the warranty)

Kohler sent down a new oil pressure sender unit instead. Apparently the sender units jam up and the key start switches never give any trouble.  The engine has a cut out that kills everything if there is no oil pressure (possibly a good idea unless its a crook unit and I'm way back in the bush) . They replaced the unit and all was golden, no probs.

The pi--- off is that, if Kohler knew that was the problem, why haven't they done anything about it at the factory when they are manufacturing the engines.
A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

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