I've got a TG1860 gas and one diesel. When I got the gas (it has a Kawasaki water cooled engine) two years ago many of the engine parts were not available from Kubota. They had like two camshafts in their total inventory and could not guarantee I could get one. I did not want the other small parts if I could not get the camshaft.
Turns out I can take the engine number and serial number and go to a Kawasaki dealer and get any part I need. And much less cost than Kubota quoted.
Kubota, John Deere and others all used the engines from Kawasaki and then entered the parts into their system and assigned their part numbers to each one. Making it seem like the only place you could get parts was from your specific dealer.
Sometimes you just have to out think them!!
Kubota and Kawasaki had a falling out, so Kubota said we're done. But what's odd is that they still offer a Kawi engine on some of their mowers. But similar to Bad Boy, Exmark, Hustler, and a bunch of others, if you need an engine part...or an engine-related warranty, you have to go to a Kawasaki engine authorized dealer, and hope that the issue isn't related to the manufacturing process....because that can become a nightmare. BTDT on both the consumer end and on the dealer end.
Sometimes if you enter a kawasaki engine model number into their system, it'll have "SSO"....which is "self-servicing OEM"...meaning you might get lucky with a couple parts, but for the most part, SSO engines are serviced by the manufacturer of the mower. John Deere is notorious for this. Occasionally when you look up a certain part for an SSO engine, it'll be different than any other Kawasaki model. Especially crankshafts since everybody needs a different length and diameter PTO end.
The 1860 engine is notorious for breaking the camshaft gear teeth. So are a lot of the V-twin liquid cooled kawasaki's (early Mules, John Deere, etc). Usually due to overheated and poorly maintained crankcase lube oil.
