Dad's L110 engine smokes badly

My dad bought an L110 back in 2004 from the big orange box store. He uses it for mowing his 1 acre property, and occassionally he mows a yard for a vacationing friend or someone in need. Like all of his motorized vehicles, he babies it fairly well, keeping it in the shop and checking the oil before every mowing.

This season, the Kohler 17.5 engine began smoking upon cranking and whenever the engine goes under strain. He has only 166 hours on it.

He talked to a repair shop (the nearest JD Dealer is nearly 60 miles from him) and they said it is probably a broken ring. He called the JD dealership to find out what the repair for such a malady would cost, and they told him a rebuild of the engine would run $650. That's 1/3 of what the tractor cost.

He's mad because he bought that tractor to step UP from the B&S engine of the L100.

I have seen mixed reactions to the Kohler Command series, and it looks like he's been bitten. isgus:

Steve