Hi All, I hope you all are doing well. I haven't been on in a while, too many projects I guess. Well I have started on a new project (I thought I would learn better one day but I guess not). I have a 2003 John Deere 1600 wam (wide area mower/bat wing mower) mower that had a Yanmar 4 cylinder diesel engine (block # 4TNE82) (John Deere #4020T001) that has been totally used up, the block included. The only parts I am finding for this engine are from China. I have found engines online for close to or over $10-K. Do any of you know of an engine which is more available that would work for this application. Or somewhere to get parts for it other than China. It just seems have to believe that the John Deere company would have used an engine that good ole USA parts not available for. (Or did I just have too much trust in John Deere)?
Give some more details and pics. of the machine. Unlikely anyone on the forum has the same machine and has done an engine swap. I'd say off the top of my head it's probably an easier engine swap being in a mower. What transmission and hyd's. does it have? If it's hydrostatic likely makes an engine swap a lot easier but you need to give a lot more info and pics.
Well, JD has sourced parts and components for all their equipment large and small, for decades from all over the world. They are no different from any other manufacturer
I just had to get Yanmar parts and it wasn't easy. JD used to have a thing with Yanmar, but I called the JD dealer and they aren't even a Yanmar dealer any more. A lot has changed since 2003. Also to JD, anything over 15 years old is ancient history and you should just buy a new one. They will use any excuse to extract from your wallet. Nobody trusts JD, they are corporate evil #1. Anyway, to your question, you need to find out if you have a standard SAE flywheel arrangement. There are a lot of charts on the internet you can measure from. If so, get on the hunt for a similar diesel engines. Ones I can think of are the Perkins 404D-22, Isuzu 4LE1 or 4LE2, and also other Yanmar 4TN series - they have a 4TNE and 4TNV and I don't know what the difference is. They all look pretty similar. There might also be the odd Mitsubishi S4Q something or other, and Kubota D18-something, or V20-, V22-, V24. The digits are the engine size in liters, and the letter is D for 3 cyl or V for 4 cyl. Also Cat used the Perkins and/or Mitsubishi engines sometimes so you might find a Cat product too but the bell housing might be wrong.
I’m thinking like BV on this one. A Kubota might be the play. It’s getting so difficult to find Yanmar parts. I feel bad for dudes that re-powered boats with them, when it was all the craze, years ago.
Check with a Mustang skid steer dealer for Yanmar parts. V19 series Kubota is another possibility as is V17 series.
Check out Yanmar marine engines, they could have something very similar that can be used by swapping the exhaust manifold.
I can check with parts dept monday. I work at a Yanmar dealer in Central PA
Got an insider with the answers! So, what’s the deal with Yanmar in 2024? Is it a dying brand in North America? Business as usual? I haven’t really been paying much attention, lately. Is the lack of Yanmar product support a figment of my imagination? I always thought their products were great. Like the 4JH2 series.
I've heard people say Yanmar engines are right up there with Kubota and sometimes even better. I recall there was a certain application where only Yanmar engines were approved but not sure why. I think it may have been because they were the only engines to meet the emissions requirements. Yanmar were never known as engines to avoid but if there's little to no support changes that regardless of how good the engines are.
I'm curious how long JD is going to support the Yanmar sourced tractors they sold for many years? Smaller acreage tractors typically don't rack up as many hours and owners will keep them for decades. If JD stops supporting them as fast as they do with heavy equipment, they'll have a lot of angry customers.
Hopefully he comes back with some more info. But from my other thread this is what I discovered. I called my local small diesel guy and he said he used to be Yanmar but they decided to go direct and kicked out all their dealers maybe 10+ years ago. Now nobody will have them after that stunt. When I looked around all I saw was places like Bob's Small Engine Repair and whatnot, I want to buy parts from somebody with some horsepower so that's why I went with ML. The Deere dealer told me they were not any longer and referred me to some local small shop, called and they were out of business. The funny thing is, Isuzu who is the top tier engine player in my opinion, uses a Yanmar 3TNx as their engine when you want a 3 cyl 1.6 liter or smaller. Even though they used to make their own 3 cyl engine in house and it is identical to their continued production 4 cyl, for some reason they dropped their own 3 cyl and started buying them from Yanmar. It is an extremely good engine, never seen a major failure on one.
Pape Deere in Oregon isn't too bad for old stuff. The guys there know loggers aren't Daddy Warbucks and an 80s-90s machine isn't "antique". Local outfit didn't even know what a skidder was and laughed like I was crazy when I said it was a 1987. Too busy hawking overpriced green MTD lawn tractors I guess.
I can't really speak to the changes over time, I have only been with this company for about 2 years. We do have customers say they couldn't get help elsewhere from time to time especially with older machines, or machines bought at closed dealers or auctions. As far as a dying brand I don't think it is. We sell a lot of little iron especially the mini-ex and the CTL, but the tractors move well and the newest generation are pretty good too. Right now our best machine is the Vio80 in my opinion. The newest skid steer and CTL are in production but we don't have any yet despite having them already sold. The most reliable part of the machines in the Yanmar engine itself we have very few issues with them and when we do getting it warrantied isn't a problem. Looking down through the parts web I don't see a long block or complete engine listed. Hopefully the parts guy knows his way around the system a little better and can find it. But from what I can see each part including the block is available.
Thanks for the reply!
As has been mentioned, I'm thinking Kubota will be your best bet in finding something similar. I run a grounds maintenance department and when I started they were running all J/D machines. The best thing about them was the Yanmar engines, they never broke down. Unfortunately the rest of the machine not so much. I became less and less impressed with their design and have eventually switched to Toro machines. About 1/3 more in cost but minimal downtime. Keep us posted in how you handle this!
They're out there used, just have to find one, and find out what will fit.
I have a yanmar 4cyl in a JD turf mower that runs. I could be persuaded to put it on sale.
Its funny you say that. We bought a brand new Isuzu 3CE1 from Hamilton Engine in portland. Isuzu badging/tags riveted all over it. Then, I noticed right on the side of the Inj pump and the block it says Yanmar.
The JD dealer here used to cut prices to sell turf equipment. They've got better over the years but their technology and build quality were a little behind Toro or Jacobsen. I know a golf course that a mix of Toro and JD but I think had the same experience as you did. Just not as reliable as Toro. They've since gone all Toro. What I find astonishing is how many people spend ridiculous amounts of money on JD garden tractors and mowers for their acreage. My theory is they think they are like big farmers with JD tractors.
When i was shopping for a small tractor, i was dealing on a JD and a Kubota both new. The Kubota in the same size with the same attachments came in about $7K cheaper
Could you pm me where you work so I can add yins to my list of places to f8nd parts
Yanmar is asking for the engine identification tag on top of the valve cover. They said the block casting ID is not enough
Thermo-King refrigeration units use Yanmar diesels. It is not unusual to get 20-25 thousand hours between engine rebuilds. Rebuild kits are 600 bucks. I put a TK486V into my TB-035 excavator and I'm very pleased with it.
a 3-53 deeetroit might slide right in there.......
I'm guessing that originally had a 3 cylinder yanmar in it. How was the conversion process?
Engine must be shifted left so that pump end is about 1/2" from the frame. Stock alternator was replaced with 140 amp unit (wife wanted a bunch of lights - it's her machine). Made alternator bracket to move the alternator up from stock thermoking location. Made custom battery bracket - to keep it out of the way. Made custom air filter. Used a 1995 honda civic radiator (part no. 8011290), with custom mount. Shifted the return hydraulic filter from horizontal to vertical (adjacent to the tank), and cut a hand access hole in the side grate to change the filter (1/4-20 screws). The stock spool valve for the blade control failed, so I plumbed in an aux valve for the blade spool (with power beyond for the slew cirucit). No place for the exhaust to run other than up and out. Put a small 4-bolt flange in the exhaust, so that the cab may still tilt up for maintenance (taking the exhaust with it). The motor mounts are hard to see. They're basically (qty 4) pads (about 3" x 3"), with 1/4 thick rubber sheet providing cushion. Front mounts bolt to the front-end of oil pan. Rear mounts bolt to bottom of bell-housing. Custom radiator mount bolts in after the engine is bolted down. I moved the hydraulic oil cooler to behind the engine (not shown). Don't forget to purchase the high-flow thermoking water pump (stock pump had low-flow issues). Wife wanted a bigger roof to keep dry (washington state rain). The roof is 1/8" steel sheet, with 2"x2"x 1/4" wall square tube, with some 3" channel supports/mounts. Lots of lights - can see all around in complete dark.
More pictures
Another useful modification - the factory hydraulic tank level sight glass was about 2" tall. If the fluid was low - was it a few inches down, or was the tank almost empty? Welded on an external mount and installed a 10" sight-level gauge from Surplus Center. Also has a thermometer built into the sight glass. Pretty neat.
Doesn't look very fun to change the oil filter. Where is the fuel filter? The longer sight glass on the hyd. tank is nice. My skid steer has a clear hose about 4" long to check the hyd. oil. Full is half way up when cold. If you don't see the level you've got a leak somewhere. It's how I discovered a wheel motor was leaking into the chain case. New motor wasn't cheap.
Originally you had to unbolt the right-side counterweight to access/change the hydraulic return filter - a really dumb design. Putting a hand-access in the side air grill is much easier. I installed an aftermarket electric fuel pump. I didn't want to rely on the mechanical thermoking fuel pump, although in hindsight the thermoking fuel pump probably would've worked just fine. There's a spin-on fuel filter about 10" below the fuel pump, just aft of the main hydraulic pump. By sliding out the bottom engine cover plate, the engine oil drain, and fuel filter are easily accessible. The engine oil filter is accessible by just opening up the rear hood. The TK486V engine holds about 2 gallons of engine oil. I kept the factory electric air preheat element. Turn the key left to preheat for about 10 seconds, and she will fire right up in cold weather. The thermoking reffer units are fully automated engine controls. You don't need any of that crap. Just the fuel cutoff solenoid & starter are all that's needed electrically - and the cold-start heating element (if you want to keep that - use an electric winch-type 300 amp solenoid to switch the current). The 4 cylinder engine is larger than needed for the machine. The engine simply works less hard - presumably consuming the same (or just a tad more) fuel.
Preheat sounds similar to Perkins Thermo-start except Thermo-start burns diesel in the intake.
The hydraulics run noticeably sluggish in freezing weather. Presumably that's because I run AW-46 weight year round. The machine would probably benefit running a thinner AW-32 in cold weather. With the cost of oil, it's not worth it to me. I only tried to use it one time to clear some snow from the driveway, and it's simply not a cold weather machine. For cold weather use, I'd install a 750-Watt heater within the engine oil pan, and a 1500-Watt heater within the hydraulic oil tank, and electrically preheat the machine for a few hours prior to use. It's not worth the effort - I'd rather wait for a warmer day.
I know this has been awhile but I am looking to put one of those yanmars out a reefer unit in my kobelco sk 035 coupe excavator what all did you have to do to make that engine work for you.
I know it has been a while but the funny thing is, I just bolted up the Thermoking engine in the frame last weekend. I hope to complete the install and replace hydraulic fluid this coming weekend and hopefully see if the engine has enough power or if I have wasted my time. The TK was a little short on HP but it is hard to tell how much short because of the difference in available documentation on the two different engines that I have been able to find. Judging from two different documents that I was able to find I was only between 5 to 10 HP short but another set of docs that I found was saying it was about 20 HP short. If the 5 to 10 HP is correct I turned up the injection pump which I hope will overcome that amount of HP. If the latter is true then I will be going back to the drawing board. And crying to go along with it. As for the changes the biggest thing was changing the oil pan, the TKs have a crazy big oil pan so that certainly had to be changed on mine because it would not fit in my frame. The other things are the normal like belhousing, flywheel, etc. it was really a pretty simple change out. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions.
Alright next question where did you get the oil pan and al the other parts you needed like bell housing flywheel and stuff like that
I was able to use all of that from my original engine that had the bad block. I have two extra bell housings and a lot of other miscellaneous parts that I would sale very reasonably if we could figure out if they would fit for your application. I also have a Yanmar 4 cyl diesel engine that I rebuilt setting in my shop that I would part with. It came from a small excavator but I don’t know if it is big enough for your application or not.
I decided not too use it for my application because the cubic inch was smaller than the engine I was replacing.
Where are you located at would be curious to see if it all would work for what I got
I am just east of Raleigh North Carolina.
Damn thats a drive for me lol indiana here. Does that yanmar you put in have a place on the front gear cover to hang an auxiliary hydraulic pump because I would need that
I can send some pictures later today if when I get off work if that will help you. Yes that is a bit of a drive. I think the last engine I had shipped in was $300. For shipping so that is an option to doing the long drive. But first we have to figure out if I have anything that would help you.
those Yanmar 4TNE82 engines are solid but getting parts in the U.S. is tricky, which is frustrating for sure. You might have better luck looking for remanufactured engines or parts through specialized John Deere or diesel engine dealers rather than direct Chinese suppliers. Some locals and online resources even handle used or rebuilt John Deere/Yanmar engines that can save a ton compared to a brand-new $10K unit
Yes please if you dont mind I need as much as I can because the engine i have in that mini excavator is the mitsubishi k4n and good luck finding and engine lol
Thermoking used two different yanmar-type engines. The TK-482 is 116 cid (1.9 liter) making 30.3 horsepower at 2200 rpm. The TK-486 is 128 cid (2.09 liter) making 33.9 horsepower at 2200 rpm. Both engines have the same stroke. The difference being the bore: 3.23 inch for the TK-482 and 3.39 inch for the TK-486. Thermoking fitted these engines with oversize oil pans (holds about 2 gallons). They’re a pretty small & compact engine. Pull off the AC compressor and install a hydraulic pump. The fuel control is very straight forward. Energize a solenoid for fuel-on, deenergize for fuel off (engine kill) – everything else is all mechanical. The SB-210 and SB-310 refrigeration units have the TK-486 engine. You can sometimes find them for sale cheap (craigslist, auction houses, etc). There’s several hundred pounds of copper in each unit - between the condenser and evaporator – which will help recover most (if not all) of the purchase price. They are also somewhat heavy – the whole AC assembly weighs about 1700 pounds, and they have a high-ish center of gravity. You’ll need a lot of straps to safely transport upright. Edit: a rebuild kit is about 500 bucks. The engine has removable sleeves. Just seats/guides and a crank turn is normally all that's needed to put zero hours on one. . . . Second Edit: I've picked up (qty 2) SB-210 refrigeration units at auction - one for 350 dollars (broken AC with working engine), and one for 800 dollars (operational). You're not going to get a cheaper yanmar engine. The several hundred pounds of copper is nice also. The fiberglass covers are consumables (they occasionally get damaged on operational units and are costly to replace). I've been told you can sell used undamaged covers for a few hundred bucks each - if you can find a buyer.. . . I've never been one for parting odd-ball stuff out. . . . (time consuming)
Ya i have a guy that has a bunch of the tk 486 engines thats local to me I just didnt know what I needed to swap or make to make it work
Basic chop & swap skillsets are required. I needed to fabricate/adapt motor mounts. I also made a new air filter, alternator mount (for installing larger alternator), made a new battery tray, electric fuel pump mount (I chose to delete the factory mechanical pump - in hindsight I probably should've just kept it mechanical). If you can cut steel and weld, you can do this swap. If your existing pump was bolted to a yanmar diesel, it will be easy. The most technical part would be having to turn & spline an adapter puck - for joining the pump to the yanmar flywheel - if it's even needed. Most modern stuff have universal bolt-patterns/splines.
Ya the engine that is my mini is a mitsubishi k4n diesel engine and wanting to swap it to a yanmar so idk if everything will swap over from the mitsubishi to the yanmar
You sorta have to jump into a project like this. You can't test the water from the high-dive. . . . . . More specifically, you might need to remount/modify the radiator and/or coolant lines (I installed a 40 dollar honda civic raditor to make my motor swap work - had to make a custom radiator mount). You might have to make an adapter plate for the engine throttle cable. You might have to reroute existing fuel lines. You might have to splice wires. You will likely have to construct new/custom motor mounts. Don't expect to get done in a weekend. I would start by comparing bell-housing bolt patterns between engines, and also comparing the pump/spline/bolt-pattern of a thermoking compressor with the hydraulic pump on your machine. If you're able to properly bolt your existing pump to the thermoking engine, everything else is chop-saw, grinder, drill-press, and stick welder work. Edit: don't forget paint - make it look nice. . . .
Thanks will have to try this out then. Thanks, also did you change out the oil pan on that yanmar?
Here's pictures of a few things I built: battery trey, alternator bracket (I had to move the alternator up to get a larger alternator to fit). Fuel pump/filter mount, air filter housing. The air filter housing is actually stainless - not because it needed to be, but because I already had it sitting around. You find some convenient existing fastener points to anchor to, and you make brackets to fit. And a picture of a TB-035 hydraulic pump connected to a Thermoking TK486V
Nope - use the thermoking pan. The excavator engine bay is basically flat plate. The bottom of the thermoking engine is flat. It only needs to be up enough so the pan doesn't touch/rub. I used the side engine mount holes on the TK486 bell housing for the rear mounts, and used the existing horizontal holes on the front of the oil pan for the front engine mounts (fabricating a common custom front engine mount bracket from steel). For the mounts themselves I used 3" x 3" x 5/8" thick square steel pucks, with 1/4" hard rubber sheet in between as actual engine mount feet/pads, with a 3/4" bolt holding/pinning it in place. You will probably have to reroute exhasut also. I threw together a quick manifold. I decided to go up instead of trying to route the exhaust down and under. I need to disconnect the exhaust to tilt the cab up for maintenance, thus I put a flange in for quick(ish) disconnect.
Only the TK-486 engine block, head, and rotating assembly are yanmar. Everything else is Thermoking unique (exhaust, bell housing, oil pan, valve cover - majority of bolt-on accessories). Also the stock thermoking water pump is a known weak link (poor flow resulting in known overheating problems). You'll want to order a replacment TK486 water pump and be sure to ask for the upgraded (aka high-flow) version of water pump. The difference in flow is substantial, and a necessary fix. Why you can even still buy the old version of pump is beyond me. . . . .
Sorry for the super delayed response. The thermoking preheat is all-electric - no fuel/combustion in the intake - just a stout electric heating element. The cold-start feature for the refrigeration units is automatic. The computer would hold current to the element for 10 seconds, then start the engine. I installed a komatsu ignition switch and connected the circuit (with inline 300 amp solenoid) to the ignition switch - to control the preheat feature. No need to try and integrate the thermoking computer controls into an excavator. The majority of the control features (sensors & inputs) are N/A.
For chitchat - I recently freshened up the undercarriage of the wife's little excavator. Put on new tracks, bottom rollers, idle rollers, final drives, sprockets, and new hoses from the rotary joint and down. I rebuilt the track tensioners (welded in some new chrome plated rod & replaced seals). Also replaced the bucket bushings and made custom bucket pins from induction-hardened chrome-plated rod. I was really worried about drilling grease holes through induction-hardened rod. . . . I was able to do it with the proper solid-carbide bit (15 bucks off amazon). Was able to drill six total holes with one bit. Drills sorta like shaving chocolate - very strange watching holes being drilled into 50-HRC material. Next I need to replace the hoses going down the boom/arm - the last of the machine's original hoses. . . .
Hey Josh, after skimming back over this thread (I started it but had forgotten it) the truth is Entropy has me beat hands down with knowledge and experience. And being you have a TK place near you that would your best way to go. I can't touch the prices that Entropy is talking about, I wish I had bought my junk for prices like that. But being close to Raleigh, NC everything is expensive around here. Entropy can lead you much better I can with your project. Thanks for the input and info guys.
Entropy, you know a lot about the TK & Yanmar engines let me ask a few questions. John Deere says the 4TNE88 in the WAM 1600 mower has 60 HP. (Mine had the 4TNE84 not the 4TNE88). The TK486/Yanmar as you stated has 33.9 HP @ 2200 RPM. And if I am correct both of these engines have the same stroke and only 2mm difference in the piston size. If that is correct can there be that much difference in the HP or is it something to do with the way JD rates their Yanmar engines?
Alright I see what you did alright so you just kept the oil pan that came with engine rather than finding a different one
The WAM 1600 mower is turbocharged. The refer engines are not. From John Deere's website: Yanmar Model Number (4510 & 4610) 4TNE84 Gross Horsepower (4510) 28.6 kW (38.4 hp) Gross Horsepower (4610) 31.9 kW (42.8 hp) Rated Engine Speed 2600 rpm Operating Range 1000 - 2810 rpm And for the larger engine: Yanmar Model Number (4710) 4TNE88 Gross Horsepower (4610) 31.9 kW (42.8 hp) Rated Engine Speed 2600 rpm Operating Range 1000 - 2810 rpm (presumably these are non-turbo numbers - but the website doesn't specifically say) I suspect that the fuel injection pump on the TK486 engine is what's limiting the power numbers to 33 horsepower at 2200 rpm - similar to how putting smaller injectors on an old Detroit diesel will limit the power numbers. It's not unusual to get between 20 to 25 thousand hours on a TK486 engine in a refer-unit between overhauls. I believe that's because the engine is under a relatively light load, turning at a relatively moderate RPM. That being said - I have read that you can modify the the fuel injection on the TK486 (for increased fuel stroke), add a turbo, and make upwards of 60 horsepower. Note: I've only read it - not actually done it. I'm not sure if the stock injection pump is modified/adjusted, or if it's replaced with a larger unit. You'd have to dive further into that topic - if you're interested in increasing power of the TK486. Edit: There's a limit to how much additional fuel you can inject before adding a turbo becomes necessary. Going back to the Detroit diesel example: a non-turbo 671 with the smallest injectors will make just over 100 horsepower at moderate RPM essentially forever. But if you install very large injectors, add a turbo, and keep the RPM high, you can almost quadruple the horsepower of 671. That comes at a cost however, as your duration between expected overhauls drops from 12 thousand hours to about 2 thousand hours.
Hmm thats very interesting never thought about that i may just have to get one of these engines and out it in the machine and see whay happens
I made a type-o copying the numbers down from the John Deere website. Gross Horsepower for the larger engine Model Number (4710) 4TNE88 is 34.5 kW (46.3 hp), not 31.9 kW (42.8 hp)
Comparing the numbers: 4TNE88 is 133.6 cubic inches and makes 46.3 HP (or 0.34656 HP per cubic inch) 4TNE84 is 121.7 cubic inches and makes 42.8 HP (or 0.35168 HP per cubic inch) TK486V is 128 cubic inches and makes 33.9 HP (or 0.26484 HP per cubic inch) 4TNE88 turbo is 133.6 cubic inches and makes 60 HP (or 0.44910 HP per cubic inch) Presumably the fuel injection on the TK486V could be modified/adjusted to make similar power-per-cubic-inch as the 4TNE88 non-turbo engine, which would increase the TK486V numbers to 44.4 horsepower at a comparable 2600 rpm. Turbocharged (0.49910 HP per cubic inch) the TK486V should be able to make 57.5 horsepower. Again, this is extrapolating the John Deere numbers against the Thermoking. I don't know if there's a substantial difference in camshaft profile between the Thermoking and the John Deere engines. Does Yanmar offer a selection of camshaft profiles? I have no idea?
That is correct, but I ended up replacing a Yanmar with a different Yanmar which allowed me to use some of my original parts. I you end up going with the TK but the oil will not fit in your frame as was the case with mine, there are Yanmar oil pan out there you just have to search for them. Good luck with the swap.
I was just reading through the service/overhaul manual for the TK486 engine. The only adjustment for the fuel injection pump assembly is a timing adjustment. The volume of injected fuel however remains a fixed value. To get more power, you must procure an injector pump assembly rated for a higher horsepower engine application.
Hey Entropy, This is great info and I really appreciate you taking the time to share all of this with me. I searched and searched and have not found any info even close to this. (Obviously I don't know the correct places to look)! If I am following you correctly The 4TNE88 with turbo makes 60HP. My JD 1600 WAM came with the smaller 4TNE84 with turbo. I replaced it with the TK486 with a turbo. I have turned up the injector pump 1-1/2 turns (this brought it to very light smoke so I figure that to be the max that I can/should adjust it). Plus I used the exhaust man including the turbo from my original 4TNE84. Hopefully this means that I have increased the HP to 57.5 (or something similar). So if I am getting close to 57HP and the 4TNE88 turbo (which again is bigger than my original 4TNE84 turbo) has 60HP, then I should be in good shape. I hope this is actually close to what I have. Entropy does this sound like I am following your numbers correctly? I guess the thing that made me feel that the TK486 did not have enough power is when I cranked it (on the test stand) I expected it to roar to life and sound similar to the 4 cylinder Kubota that is in my Bobcat. Although the TK486 runs as smooth as could be it did not sound like the power house my Kubota sounds like. And then with what little info I could find I was looking at the TK486 rating of 33.9 HP @ 2200 rpm to the 60 HP that the John Deere book says the 1600 WAM mower has. Entropy, With all of the numbers and info that you have given above it has given me hope that I am in the ballpark (HP wise) and that this engine swap might actually work after all!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully today I will crank this machine (for the first with the engine installed and not only on the test stand) and actually drive it out of my shop where it has been for 2 years while played with it on and off. THAT WILL BE A GREAT FEELING IF IT HAPPENS!!!!!! Thanks All, For the time and info that you have shared over the last couple of years on this thread. Josh, Good luck to you on the engine swap. I look forward to seeing how your story turns out.
I was reading up last night about the Yamar fuel injection pump assemblies - specifically how to make them pump more fuel (to make more power). You need to machine/bore the pump-cylinders oversize and fit them with larger pistons. The bores must be precision-honed to a near mirror finish. I suspect this is the low-cost option, where a pump rebuild kit is purchased for a larger pump (kit containing larger pump-pistons), where the pump is modified to accept these larger pistons. The variable is machine work. If you have a knee-mill & reamers, and knowhow, you can do this machine work yourself. If you farm it out, machine work cost becomes a significant variable. The other option is to buy a pump assembly that's rated for a higher horsepower application - which means it already has the larger pump-pistons. There's an array of aftermarket yanmar pumps to be had. The big question (which I have not researched yet) is whether or not there's a bolt-on ready pump for the TK486V that will kick it up to 44 horsepower naturally asperated, or one that will kick it up to 57 horsepower with a turbo. Edit: There's a third option. You can take a generic botch fuel injection pump (correctly sized for your target horsepower needs) and modify/adapt the pump to fit a yanmar. Apparently there's a yanmar cult out there where these engines are modified for crazy power - turning them upwards of 5000 rpm under heavy boost. Unfortunately the timing adjustment will not make the pump inject more fuel - it's just a timing adjustment. You'll know pretty quick whether or not you'll need to install a larger pump.
Entropy, You are the info MAN, and I really appreciate it. Where do you fine so much info? Thanks for all of your help. I finally drove the machine out of my shop today what a milestone! I will post below.
Hi All, I was actually able to drive JD WAM 1600 mower out of the shop today, that had been a long time coming. I have not reinstalled the 2 side (batwing) mowers on it yet. I bought six hydraulic fittings (3 hoses to each batwing) and capped the side mower hose connections off so I could see how it does before doing all of the extra work of putting them back on. With just the front center mower there is plenty of power in the TK486 with turbo added. I only ran it about half throttle and it was running good with that setup. Now I know the 2 side mowers will require more HP and at the moment I don't know how much more. But from how it ran today I am encouraged that thus might actually work. Either on Monday the holiday of next Saturday I will try to get the batwings installed and see what I have. Thanks to all of you that have had any part in the thread, and those who just stopped by to see what was going with JD WAM fiasco. The project has been real and maybe at times a little fun but to be honest it has certainly not been real fun. Hopefully it will have a good ending. If the TK486 with the turbo added has enough HP to run all 3 mowers I will consider this project a success although it took WAY TOOOOOOO LONG to get to this point.