I have just purchased a gardenway troy bill horse tiller with the bumper guard, scrape blade,and Hiller/furrow plow. It has an 8 HP kohler magnum m8t engine. Pull start.I found the serial number on the right side stamped into the casing right below where the handle bars connect to the machine. I called mtd and the guy was extremely helpful! I was able to find a downloadable owners manual and parts manual. The mtd guy said that it was a 89-91 because of the 0 at the start of the serial number. After some talking he said he thought it was a 91 model. A man had bought it brand new used it 2 years and passed on. The tiller has set untouched ever since. It looks almost brand new! Tines are wore out and pointy. I cleaned it up today. Oiled and greased it, took the carburator off and cleaned it as well as the gas tank and fuel lines. I had to pull quite a few times but it started and ran like a top. I'm thrilled to say the least!! My question is on the cap for the gas tank there is a hole with a mesh inside. Is there supposed to be a screw or something in it? I know some tanks do and some don't. I don't see any threads but I'm not quite sure. I can get the tines and most other parts from a old downtown hardware store. But is there a place that I can get the reverse gear rubber disc without having to have a pay pal account? Thank you for all your time and effort!!!

The Kohler Magnum Op twin is great engine. My guess is it wouldn't exactly be plug and play , but could be a doable transplant. Old Sears tractors had these as well as the Briggs OT . If you feel that the issue is internal, a good running used engine could be an affordable option. You simply need to start at the beginning and set realistic goals for the steps along the way. A shop that currently is in a less busy time of their year that you could trust would be a great asset to you. You will find that shops do not rebuild engines much anymore due to costs involved. If you find a shop that will have a look and has experience with these- maybe they can give a better idea cost wise. Cleaning her up refreshing the rings, resealing it etc. maybe in budget vs machine shops , oversized pistons, new valve guides and I shudder to think. That is IF parts are available. You may post your engines proper model, type and code from the shroud and I can certainly look up parts limitations in these regards. It would be great thing in my estimation to also prepare for the unexpected. Bolts that break, clutches that don't want to come off etc. I broke 3 mounting bolts off an OT which I carefully extracted as a replacement sump was NLA as an example.

I recently found with my kohler 12.5 command and no cranking but would just click, it was the little black box in rear of of tractor by battery on left side. The wires in and out are red. It has two 90 degree black rubber boots connected to it and the terminals in them were rusted and broken I also replaced the relay, found on amazon, cost about $19.95 Now starts awesome. There is also a fuse under the black plastic cover by the ignition switch that blows, and a fuseable Linc that burns out on the red wire on black relay box on right side rear back by battery, check fuesable Linc on both sides of a little diode that is in line no power on one side..it's bad and replace! But now I am struggling with the engine dying after 30 minutes of running. And mine has fresh tune up, with filters, and oil change and filter. I will figure it out and keep every one posted. Mike

Baymee- Did you ever get resolution on this? I am having sorta the same issue with my 2166. It just died, although this is the third such occurrance over the last couple of months. I have checked fuel pump, cleaned out the bowl under the carb float and replaced badly cracked fuel line. Mine will attempt to start, and will actually catch for less than a second, and then die. I want to try a module, but they are $99 bux. I also read somewhere else- to check the clearance on the magneto... don't know how to do that. Chris