[Tom Scott]

Woody - Sorry for your hard start troubles. Some comments that may help.

Plug gap - As per the Kohler Magnum manual, the correct gap for the spark plugs is 0.035". There is a Cub Cadet owners manual that contains a misprint and calls for a smaller gap. The smaller gap does not produce as much energy and the Magnum can run quite poorly at this smaller gap that Cub printed. (I am deliberately not stating the incorrect gap to avoid confusion; no reason to repeat wrong information.) Early on my Cub journey, I got fooled by this misprint and I can tell you it makes a big difference in performance.

If you were to need to reduce the gap to obtain spark, you would need a new magneto. This doesn't seem to be your problem, but these threads live forever and I don't want anyone in the future gapping their plugs incorrectly. The Kohler Magnum Service Manual is available on their website.

As for your electric fuel pump, it looks like you did a nice job, but it is mounted too high. Most electric fuel pumps, as with this one, need to be gravity fed. Ideally the pump should be mounted below the fuel tank, and at worst, even with the bottom. These styles of pumps are very good at pushing fuel but do not create strong suction. They are also sensitive to dirt and that is why Mr. Gasket so kindly gave you a filter; many electric pumps have failed due even a small amount of dirt.

I would recommend that you find a mounting point below the tank and make sure you keep the filter on the inlet as you have done. If you keep it where it is at it may not pump properly when the fuel level is low and you may have the pump wear out prematurely.

The other comments from others that might help are about cranking speed. If you are trying to start it at temperatures below 30* you may have difficulty without a real good battery, good electrical connections and you might need thinner oil such as 10W-30. If you go with the 10W-30, you will need to switch back to straight 30W in the spring. Magnums will consume multi weight oil when it is warm and carbon up the combustion chamber.