Check with a small engine shop; that's a ridiculous price unless the whole motor is trashed. Which is possible and in which case you don't want to repair, you want ot replace anyway.
Pop
I agree. A short block or complete new engine is the answer. $2200 is outrageous. One reason I dont do business with Sears.
If you are handy, you could possibly rebuild the engine yourself and for little money. Small engines are not that hard to work on. But it depends on the damage done.
Just for grins, pull off the engine head and look at the cylinder wall. Likely, the rings wore a groove in the aluminum cylinder wall and siezed on some of the aluminum. The aluminum ususally is the first to go.
This is a true story. 20 years ago my dad drained the oil on the push mower in fall. In spring he forgot to put oil in it and started mowing the lawn. It siezed and he was pissed. I popped off the head and found the piston rings wore a groove in the cylinder wall. It was not worth spending the money for a new engine on a $100 push mower. Dad was going to toss the mower in the trash, so I decided to tear it apart and save the carb and other stuff. Just for the heck of it, I took a hammer and block of wood and pounded on the piston after putting oil on the piston top. Soon, the piston came loose and I sanded off the high spots in the cylinder wall. The engine then turned easily. I replaced the head, filled it with oil, and the mower started right up. It burned lots of oil at first, but soon it seemed like it "wore in" and while it always burned some oil, it was not all that bad. Well, that was 20 years ago. I still have that mower and still use it as a spare.
What most of the posters here are ignoring is that it is a Kohler. Those have to be one of the most rebuild-able engines around. It should have at least steel or iron cylinder liners. My bet is if he can get some oil to it and knock it free, it will start and run. the rings will never have the right temper again and as it gets older it may use a little oil, but the immediate problem would be solved. even it it broke a rod as one poster suggested, rings and rods wouldn't be prohibitively expensive, less than $500 with the needed gaskets would be my guess.
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