CCC 1986 1210 Diesel Repower
 

I purchased a CCC 1986 1210 last year with a worn out but running 12 hp magnum Kohler engine. It came with a operational 44"? mower deck that had some large rust holes. A friend gave me a 11 hp Opti 6800 diesel generator that ran great but no longer produced electricity. Since I didn't need the generator I decided to take some measurements and see if I could install the diesel engine in place of the Kohler M12. To my surprise the 186F 418cc single cylinder Chinese Yanmar clone was very close in all physical dimensions except the centerline of the pto shaft was 1.75 " taller than the M12. The pto shaft was also tapered and smaller in diameter by roughly .125". Having a old metal lathe, welding machine and a good drill press I decided to go for the conversion. I lathe turned a sleeve for the straight section of the pto shaft, ground/cut a key way in both. Made a key to fit. Then salvaged a 1.5" section of the armature shaft to slip inside the sleeve to extend the taper to a straight shaft. The electric pto clutch from the M12 bolted right up to the existing holes in the diesel block with .5" spacers between the block and pto clutch. I removed the worn out M12 motor mounts and cradle and welded a .5" x 12" x 10" piece of plate steel to the tractors frame. Drilled and tapped holes to mount the diesel right to the 1/2" plate steel motor mount, and dropped the diesel in the correct position so the pto pulley lined up to where it used to be. I removed the recoil starter from the diesel and welded a section of an old go cart wheel hub with a bearing that perfecty matched the drive shaft diameter of the 1210. Lathe turned everything on centers, drilled/tapped the mounting holes for the existing 1210 driveshaft rag joint. So far all materials used were scraps that were laying around my shop. Zero $ spent. Only labor. I had to purchase a new throttle control, fuel line and belt that was 3" longer than the old mower belt. The new belt fit so well I think the old one was the incorrect length. I fired the diesel up tinkered with the throttle mount and cut some grass. Saturday I cut waist high weeds and grass at the hunt club for 4 hours. Had to raise the mower all the way up and go very slow, cut and recut and lowered the deck and cut again. But worked great. I will post some photos later of the completed project.

CCC 1210 diesel conversion
 

Photos of 1210 diesel conversion

That's pretty COOL! :beerchug:

Very nice! Do you think the engine was running out of power on the waist-high grass, or some other issue?

Very nice. How bout a video?

Cool project, thanks for sharing.

The engine has plenty of power, dyno sheet in the Opti manual claims 11 hp a 3600 rpm. I keep the deck belt a little loose so I get a little slip when encountering heavy growth. I just raise the deck and creep along. Last year mowing the same patch of weeds I trashed the belt when a large stick wedged between the deck and blades. I could not hit the switch in time. Anyone know what causes the hydro unit to slowly engage by itself? Sometimes after applying the brake the tractor continues to inch forward or creep in reverse. Also at idle the stationary tractor will move by itself. After mowing for a few minutes everything warms up and it no longer slips into gear by itself. The linkage seems to be adjusted property. Hit the brake the control lever goes to neutral position and the tractor stops. Neutral forward and reverse position seems correct. I did have trouble with the release valves weeping hydro oil when I 1st got the tractor. I took them out cleaned them with carb cleaner and compressed air, changed filter and new hytran.

I will try to post a video, but I don't know what file type to use.

Post the video to some "video outlet" ie: Youtube .... then post a link to your video.