Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

Yep, I did it...Am I the first? Maybe. Am I the last? Definitely not! So after the feeble attempts at plowing (video proved) and the meek heavy hauling I decided that maybe those guys that said "I doubt 10hp will be enough," knew what the heck they were talking about. But then it came to me, I didn't need to go out there and spend alot of money on a bigger engine. Mine was already a diesel, and what do diesels love most...AIR! So I got to thinking(impending aneurysm) why don't I just turbo charge it. So I did just that with quite a bit of help from my buddy The Fabricator!

At first I was going to use a freebie turbo I got from a friend, but quickly found out that that wasn't going to work because I could NOT find any parts for it i.e. flanges and other hardware. So I bit the Bullet and coughed up the dough for the IHI RHB31 Turbocharger, in the add, it said it was good from 190cc. to 900cc. I got all the parts in the mail, it came with all the flanges, bolts and even an oil line kit. After I got the engine ripped out of the buggy i took it all to my friends house and proceeded to school me in the fine arts of TIG welding, which turned out beautiful by the way.

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

So after we got the engine, the turbo, and the box of goodies all unloaded, he took charge of the piping, and I got to work cutting this, drilling holes here, and tapping holes there....
The first issue I noticed was for the oil return line. I planned on using one of the two dip stick holes, not an issue right? Wrong. I couldn't find a suitable way to return the oil to the crank case via that hole because it seemed like no one had a brass barbed nipple that fit. I don't like to wait. So I cut out some of the handle on the existing dipstick drilled and tapped a hole through it and fit a 1/8" brass pipe...Viola!!! It worked.
Next issue was how to not to pressurize the crank case.... I learned this from one of the many youtube videos where people started to turbocharge their air-cooled diesel but seemed they never finiised. So I took off the valve cover and found the PCV Valve, you can see it in the pics. Right next to it was a crank case vent, that is where I drilled and tapped another hole to run a hose to the air intake(before the turbo).
It's almost as if this engine was designed for a turbo, because on the back was a plug for oil outlet, it was to the right of the oil pump cover, and the oil feed line hardware was the same exact size (Got lucky I guess).

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

See what a few hours on the weekend will get you when you're bored...

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

Just more shots of the semi-finished project. After all this, we took it back to my folks house to install the engine. Twenty minutes later and the moment of truth....SUCCESS(so far). By that I mean it didn't blow-up. We did some tinkering with the throttle linkage, and did a boost test just sitting in neutral and that's where you see the 3psi. It never went over 10psi with a full size meyer plow on the pack at full throttle and with no extra baggage it was steady at 7psi full throttle. I tell you what....it is night and day. I don't have any way of showing proof, But I'll bet you it would beat the brakes off of the 18hp Kohler it had originally. Speed, Torque, Oompf!!! It has it all now. I ran it around for a couple hours before I left and still no issues. Not to mention a little whistle to go along.

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

That is SOOO Cool!!!! I'm in Awe ........ Thanks for sharing the pix!

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

You're very welcome. I say finished product but as we all know here on BGW there is no such thing as "Finished Product"

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

Very very cool. How much was the turbo kit ?

Two words I WANT

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

.THERE IT IS.....
I hope you made two of everything, Ill be needing some in the near future.
Good Job cramblit.
I've been waiting for this...I want to have on my Diesel

Re: Turbocharge a 10hp Diesel....WHAT?!?
 

Is this a kit? Or home made?