Originally Posted by bchannell
Yeah, I too used to work for a mower shop when I was in high school, and spent many hours rebuilding engines of all kinds. The phrase "they don't make 'em like they used to' sure applies here.
BUT, I have had two tractors with Intek engines. They were never, (only for a short time) my main tractor, but I got great service out of both. My 27HP V twin ran like a champ, never a hiccup, started like lightning struck it, I mean instantly, every time. Ran with all kinds of power. The smaller one, which I can't remember the HP, but it was over 20HP, also ran fine, but I always wondered how cheap these engines were. I know they're not what a decent mechanic would call rebuildable, but I had 250ish hours on the 27 and over 600 on the smaller one, and they were no where near death, so I guess, I'd be ready for a new tractor by the time they crapped. Let's face it, the engine is likely the best part of most tractors. I know things are cheapened up, but it seems no one wants to pay for quality. I live on the edge of town, and mow 5+ acres a week, and have had mostly JD tractors, with my only exceptions being "extra" tractors in addition to a JD. But when I go into town and around, I see they majority of tractors people are mowing with are from the big box stores. In fact, I had a discussion with a fellow the other day and he was telling me all the troubles he had with cheap tractors. I told him, he was trying to mow waaaay too much too rough and hilly ground for a cheap tractor. I mow some really hilly rough ground with a JD 425 (750hrs so far) every week, with no problems and he informed me he would never spend a few thousand dollars on something to mow grass with. So you see, most folks nowadays don't want a great tractor, they mostly want a deal.
Yup, that's the issue. People want something as cheap as possible, then they come crying to me with the mower in my shop when the thing has a major failure right out of warranty (looking at YOU Kohler Courage). The Inteks are not great engines, but most of them aside from failed head gaskets and carburetor valve seat issues can go for a long time in a consumer mower if people would actually keep oil in them. For anything close to commercial use, a Kohler Command, Honda, or Kawasaki is what you want. I've had plenty of those come through with thousands of hours on them. The older Briggs Vanguards or opposed twins could go for a long time as well, but anything Intek is just consumer grade and not built to last.
The only issue with Kawasaki is these commercial guys buy them thinking "it's a Kawasaki it will run forever" and just beat the snot out of them neglecting maintenance, then cry when they have a giant repair bill since Kawasaki parts are big $. Lawn care businesses are the worst with maintenance, and many of them know nothing about maintaining and running equipment. The sad part is it often ruins their business, and a lot of the small companies fold because they can't keep up. The cost of making payments on fancy new mowers along with putting new engines in machines that aren't covered under warranty is what puts them out of business. You can tell the smart guys because everything is maintained in a log book by engine hours.