Finally , Got it taken in tonite after work and the service mgr. had told me to call him when I was coming down with the mower. He came down and pulled the valve cover off right then(6 pm) The keeper for the intake valve spring failed, possibly from the screw being loose that holds down the rocker arm. I'm sure one caused the other but who was first? The valve was still free and the pushrod was straight. So far so good, he'll call cub tomorrow and tear into it more. I didn't mean to sound so b@#chy on the first post but it was only about 30 minutes dead at the time and the wife was sick of listening to me...lol.. I'm sure it will all be taken care of,just p.o.ed about using the pushmower!! Quite impressed with them wanting to make sure it was inside and even looking at it at that time. I was planning on dropping it off and sticking the key in the mailslot. Didnt expect any more,we work the same hours. I'll post what I hear tomorrow Kurt

May be time for a new engine or short block @ 600 hours there is a lot of wear on the bearings, cam, valves etc. Replacing the head gasket is not hard but it may not pan out in the long run, time spent striping the engine down, and replacing it just to have something else go wrong. Not trying to discourage you but you need to evaluate how the rest of the components are, you could spend a few hours and replace the head gasket and a few hours later something else will go south. If you do replace the gasket make sure you use a good strightedge and a feeler guage to make sure the head and cylinders are not warped.

Champion has some like these. They spray about 15 feet in each direction. You can get the plastic heads with an adjustable 18 van from Rain Bird these spray 18 feet in each direction. Here is a link that might be useful: help_site

We purchased a Gravely Z252 commercial mower with a 24 hp Kohler mower in 2006 figuring it would be the last mower we would ever buy. A few weeks ago, while my wife was mowing she noticed the (650 hour in 12 years; 50 hour annual use) commercial engine sounded "funny" . When I pulled the oil dip stick it was dry. My wife commented there was no puddle of oil under where the mower is parked. Consulting the business from which we purchased the mower we learned that a significant number of the mowers purchased around the time we bought ours had catastrophic oil loss and "blew" engines when the inadequate Kohler head gasket failed. Supposedly, Kohler has redesigned its head gaskets with a metal rim on the gasket like auto engine gaskets. The gasket on our 2006 mower had no metal rim. I asked the business from which we purchased our mower why Kohler didn't send out an advisory to be vigilant in monitoring oil levels or even offered a replacement with the newly engineered gasket. Apparently, the business was aware of the gasket problem but neither they nor Gravely alerted us to the potential failure of the poorly designed gasket on our $10,000 Gravely commercial mower which was only used to mow around our home. I bet commercial mowers have 50 or more hours put on them weekly during grass cutting season. I realize the mower's oil level should have been checked before every start. However, my wife who loves to mow probably would not have taken advice from me. Had Gravely, Kohler or the business from which we purchased the mower had alerted us, my wife would have probably heeded their advice. During an election year, politicians are exceptionally responsive to constituents needs. I plan to craft a letter to Maryland's Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General. Depending on their response to my letter, there is still the option to sue Kohler and Gravely in Maryland Small Claims court. Incidentally, our new Kohler Command Pro CV742 25hp engine cost over $3400.00 installed. The upper limit for small claims lawsuits in Maryland is $5,000.00. Even if a company is headquartered outside MD, it is subject to suit it if it sells its products in MD. I will let you know how things turn out. Yes my wife is religiously checking the oil in our new $3400.00 Kohler engine. Thanks, Centreville Bill