r175 impressions

[mobile_bob]

i bought one of the r175's about 8 years ago, and another maybe 5-6 years ago, from powersolutions dealer in portland.

never really did much with either, however we did uncrate, oil, water, and fuel up one my biz partner bought in the first batch, it ran well enough but never really looked at it very closely

this engine is from the later purchase that i am working with now

what i like about this little guy

1.  it uses commonly available ball brg mains and cam brgs
2. it does not have counterbalance shafts, so no noise from spur gears associated with driving them.
3. compact little engine, rated 6hp at 2600rpm 4.4 kw output
4. gear driven oil pump that resides in the front gear cover
5. a full flow cartridge oil filter that is accessible via a 3 bolt cover on the gear case cover.
6. it has a flyweight governor rather than the ball race governor of the larger engines like the 195/1100/1115 
7. 3 ring piston plus the oil control ring, means decent control of crankcase pressure.

the little guy runs remarkably smooth, albeit with the characteristic diesel knock, but sans the added gear clatter its big brothers come with.  it appears to be useful from about 1000rpm through 2600rpm, although there seems to be a couple spots in the rpm range that produce some harmonics and resonate to add vibration, easy enough to avoid in my opinion.

the little engine appears to have all that is needed to run well and none extra, and having the full flow oil filter my thinking is the thing should run many thousands of hours with decent maintenance.

i wish i had a pile of these little engine's!

bob g

[Henry W]

I wish we can get EPA approved ones. I like everything you mentioned and I can relate lots of those things from the Kubota EA330. But the R175 price is very reasonable. The Kubota EA330 is way over priced for what you get. If I was not able to get the one I have for such a cheap price I would still be looking for an R175. A matter of fact I still want to get a few R175's. They are such a nice small engine. They would be a geat platform to work with.

Henry

[veggie]

Although small, they are built very tough.
For those who have not seen this.... here is a professional setup of a 175 CHP system.
The engine seems to be running near full rpm / full load in an effort to get the most efficiency in the way of heat and electrical generation.
Crank up the volume..... she sounds great ! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPauCLythyQ&NR=1

cheers,
veggie

[deeiche]

I saw a couple 175s for sale on CL yesterday, unfortunately they are on the left coast or nearby

[rcavictim]

Hi Bob,

I have an R-175 JD and fabricated an aluminum insert with O-rings that presses into the receptacle where the full flow oil filter element normally goes.  Three cover holding bolts, now much longer, hold the adapter in place. This has two brass flare connectors which respectively speak to the gozinta and the gozouta ports.  The lines hook to a full sized hydraulic, 10 micron spin on oil filter located next to and below the engine.  I put a pressure gauge on the filter input side.  It has worked great and also helps provide the engine with extra oil volume.  I seem to have misplaced my construction picture file but I'll try to get a photo of this and post it for you.

Cheers,
Rob

[veggie]

Hi Bob,

I have an R-175 JD and fabricated an aluminum insert with O-rings that presses into the receptacle where the full flow oil filter element normally goes.  Three cover holding bolts, now much longer, hold the adapter in place. This has two brass flare connectors which respectively speak to the gozinta and the gozouta ports.  The lines hook to a full sized hydraulic, 10 micron spin on oil filter located next to and below the engine.  I put a pressure gauge on the filter input side.  It has worked great and also helps provide the engine with extra oil volume.  I seem to have misplaced my construction picture file but I'll try to get a photo of this and post it for you.

Cheers,
Rob

That's a good idea rcavictim.
I would be interested to see that pic if you find it.
My JD175 would benifit from the same mod.

cheers,
veggie

[quinnf]

Rob,

Yeah, what Veggie said:  Pictures or it never happened! 

The things are noisy, though.  I think it's the square cut timing gears and thin crankcase castings that let the sound out.  Whatever, mine seems to be eager to run. 

q.

[mobile_bob]

the 175 is quiet compared to a 195!

i can find several rpm ranges that are very tolerable with the noise thing with the 175, the 195 on the other hand is just a noise making machine no matter where i run it.

bob g

[rcavictim]

the 175 is quiet compared to a 195!

i can find several rpm ranges that are very tolerable with the noise thing with the 175, the 195 on the other hand is just a noise making machine no matter where i run it.

bob g

I'll bet your 195's are quieter than my Changfa 1115.  Man does that make a racket!  A guy ought to stick piezo transducers all over the outside of the block and pick up enough energy to keep the starting battery charged!  I think my 1130 is going to be quieter however than my 1115 as far as noise radiating from the block.  I haven't had a chance to do anything yet with my big'un, other than a few short unloaded test runs.  I basically bought it as insurance, plus I was afraid that the getting was gonna dry up, as it did with all the others we have seen in the past decade.

Rob