Balance gears (?)

I'm in the midst of a Kohler 301 rebuild and have been advised to remove the balance gears to possibly prevent future damage. I don't know much about this, so would like opinions from more experienced folks. Thanks

They should be pulled and checked, the balance gears were problematic on those. The service manual from Kohler does mention a updated version of them. If everything looks good, you could just leave it alone.

The pulling guys and lots of others pull them out completely. If you have a machine shop that can balance the crank, rod + piston, I would go that route and take the balance gears out completely. That is what Kohler should have done, but then they would have lasted forever...

Thanks Gene. The gears seem to be in excellent, new condition, so may just do as you say and leave them alone. If I do decide to remove them, will I feel more vibration from the running engine? This tractor will not be used for work, it is only a cruiser, if that matters. Thanks.

Have you had them out to check the bearings?

No, I guess I need to do that, thanks.

For sure. If there is a problem it will be where you can't see.

Got them off easy enough, everything looks and feels fine...but...there was a lot of aluminum shavings in there from the broken rod, which is why I'm rebuilding. I suppose they could have caused some problem if I hadn't got them out of there, so I'm certainly glad you advised me to remove the gears. I'm leaning toward just putting them back and leaving them alone. Opinions are appreciated, thanks.

If the engine has debris in it that engine should be completely disassembled and hot tanked, or cleaned until you go crazy.


The bearings will need a lot of cleaning and blowing air in them to make sure nothing is left in there at all. If you don't think you can get something completely clean then it should be replaced. In the case of bearings, just try not to use anything made in China...

Yea, I have it completely apart, now that the balance gears are out. Can't find any sign of anything being in any of the bearings but will clean them good and blow them out good. There was some loose shavings in block but rinsed out nicely with a little gunk. Please forgive my ignorance, but what's a hot tank?

They have them in machine shops, it's the term they use for their parts cleaner. Most of them look like a huge dishwasher full of nozzles and a heavy rotating center piece that the parts are wired to. The local one here is about 7' tall.

Here's a description off of a machine shop page. "The hot tank is designed to steam clean the engine head, engine, block, and the internal moving components of the engine. The hot tank reaches very high temperatures, over a few hundred degrees. The combination of extreme heat and the mixture of cleaning solvents and solutions blast the dirt and gunk out and off your engine. Our cleaning services will revive old and tired engines by making them like new again."