Perhaps Consider Your Tractor's Primary Use
For a tractor that will spend it hours mowing, I prefer the rubber mounts. As others have said, they are smooth at idle and almost vibration free at WOT. WOT is ideal for mowing. I have found extended part throttle use with rubber mounts (without balance gears) rather miserable, so much so it breaks up the sheetmetal thru-out the tractor.
For tractors that spend their time doing ground engagement work, towing, etc., where as part throttle is utilized the most, I prefer a combination of solid mounting and the dreaded balance (grenade) gears. My opinion is balance gears do provide substantial smoothness at mid-range where as rubber mounting without the gears is extremely rough. Another plus is tractors set up for ground engagement work tend not to be used for extended periods of time at WOT as compared to mowers so maybe the gears will last longer at the slower speeds. I have balance gears in my converted 169s and the 16HP motors are relatively smooth.
If one is considering the use of balance gears, consider replacing shafts, bearings, shims, and clips during a rebuild. I'm guessing loose main crankshaft bearings may aggravate the balance gears too. Be careful in selecting balance gear replacement needle bearings, there are some variances as outlined in the latest on-line Kohler manual.
And of course your results may vary!!
|