4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Knew it would not take long … but opposite for me … and that’s over 40 years of owning them …
Briggs & Stratton files for bankruptcy
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4wd
$50 site donor 2026
get ready for the pile on from the internet’s number one don’t buy American brands website
At the time being quite young, I just never had remembered to change the oil each season. I topped it up when it got low. It ran fine up until it died two seasons later. conked out while running and couldn't get it started.
As with everything nowadays, I went to check if Briggs & Stratton was taxed unnecessarily. Sure enough, I found that Canada started taxing lawn mowers extra in 2018, in response to their companies being taxed.
But that's not the most interesting part. Then I went to check for confirmation in their stock values, and sure enough, it was confirmed. The peak was in 2018. Now of course, battery powered mowers can have an impact, but it is important to point out that the peak occurred exactly at the time of tariff war. One can't argue with the timing. Any small advantage the company did have was taken away severely by the new taxes.
And then you have U.S. Steel taking a hit from tariff war:
But that's not the most interesting part. Then I went to check for confirmation in their stock values, and sure enough, it was confirmed. The peak was in 2018. Now of course, battery powered mowers can have an impact, but it is important to point out that the peak occurred exactly at the time of tariff war. One can't argue with the timing. Any small advantage the company did have was taken away severely by the new taxes.
And then you have U.S. Steel taking a hit from tariff war:
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I have a 10-year-old snowblower with a Chinese knockoff engine that has been faithful with simple oil changes - lots of action in MA in the winter. I have a 4-year-old generator with 100 hours and a Chinese knockoff engine and it has been faithful with simple oil changes and air filter changes. I have a 4-year-old ride-on mower with a B&S and it has been faithful for 300 hours with oil changes, oil filter changes and air filter changes.
They are all going strong. They all have no issues. The snowblower and generator were significantly cheaper than their B&S or Honda counter-parts. I have easily gotten my money's worth already on the mower and snowblower and they're still going strong. Hard to make the argument for paying a premium for B&S.
They are all going strong. They all have no issues. The snowblower and generator were significantly cheaper than their B&S or Honda counter-parts. I have easily gotten my money's worth already on the mower and snowblower and they're still going strong. Hard to make the argument for paying a premium for B&S.
The argument is that the "premium" is actually the cost to produce the item in the USA/Canada/ or even Mexico versus importing it from China... Buying just based on $ leads to the result we are getting here.
My luck with Briggs over the years has been hit and miss. Had an old lawnmower that ate carb parts every two years - even the Briggs factory parts. Another lawnmower engine that has been nothing bu trouble. On the flip side, my home lawnmower (Toro) runs like a top, many years in, and the other lawn tractor with a similar engine runs great. With the right series of engine, they were fine.
Consumers tend to buy products that are of good quality and cheaper than others of similar quality. Kind of the first rule in retailing products as reputation goes only so far in those decisions.
I get your point, but it's likely not correct. B+S is well known for flagging quality and has been heading downhill for quite some time. Correlation does not equal causation. The same would not happen with a robust brand like Honda small engines.
Briggs & Stratton made some fine engines in their day. It's not hard to find some examples from the 1930's that run better than the stuff they sell now.
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From 1966:
From the 1940's
From the 1930's:
From the 1940's
From the 1930's:
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They've never really made anything that was terribly high technology. Didn't they recently add fuel injection to some of their larger engines?
There might be different expectations. Engines today are expected to run like appliances. 70 years ago it was a given that an engine might need to be adjusted often and most people who operated them knew how to fix them with basic tools.
'Taxed Unnecessarily' is an interesting concept, a bit subjective no?
The truth is there's a whole lot more to it.
In this case, when that correlation results in reduced income/profit, it can be established as the cause! They were suddenly squeezed dry from 2018. Until 2018, nothing seemed wrong with B&S, at least from their stock prices. I trust investors who have money to lose and how they bet more than subjective opinions of a said company by a consumer.
Consumers knew about poor B+S quality, the move to Chinese manufacturing and other problems well before the stock prices dropped. I really don't believe using stock price as an indication of company health is a valid metric. I saw them as failing, well before this.
Comparing snow blowers to lawn mowers is like comparing apples and oranges. Totally different working environments. See how long one of those Chinese engines last on a lawn mower which is subjected to a lot more dirt and grit than a snow blower will ever see.
Sure, but I think even Chinese manufactures can figure out how to put an air filter on an engine. My snowblower has had a tough life here in MA. Storms usually are just below freezing and go just above freezing afterwards so snow is heavy and wet. My driveway is a 1/4 mile long hill. A couple of years ago we received 126" of snow in 6-weeks and it handled it flawlessly. Multiple +30" blizzards. Starts first pull every time. Now, are these as good as Japanese or US manufacturers? I don't know. All I do know right now is both Chinese manufactured engines have been good so far.
All that said, I bought these when I was poor...when I need to replace these I will seriously look for US manufactured engines/equipment.
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
These guys writing about quality problems don’t reflect my 40 years of 90% of my OPE being B&S
(same as now) … no quality issues like endless carbs or pull starts on my Chonda gen.
Americans like cheap China stuff or good Japanese stuff … and have supported the patent pirates of China now for years to the point where you can hardly find a small generator without a Chonda …
(same as now) … no quality issues like endless carbs or pull starts on my Chonda gen.
Americans like cheap China stuff or good Japanese stuff … and have supported the patent pirates of China now for years to the point where you can hardly find a small generator without a Chonda …
I agree. They were mismanaged for many years, even prior the 2008 recession. They are $600 million in debt and couldn't make a $6.7M interest payment. It's sad to see the company fail. I worked at Sears 30 year ago and it was a good company as well. Again, mismanaged into the ground.
I have 4 Snowblowers, two with Chinese repower engines (iPower and Predator) and I have a Predator 212 on my log splitter to replace the B&S engine that would never start in the cold after 500 pulls. The Predator on there now fires up at 10*F after two or three pulls. Everyone measures quality their own way so in my opinion B&S missed the mark.
All of my snow blowers on my property fired up without issue that year PWMDMD mentioned. I live in Western Mass and we were nailed with snow. Ironically, the 2 non-Chinese powered blowers are Tecumseh, another defunct small engine company who had moved their production overseas.
If I ever need to replace another engine, I'll be driving down to Harbor Freight again. Like PWMDMD, I looked at USA engines and any B&S, Honda, or Subi engine is 4X the cost and looks to be made US tough with Chinese stuff anyway. It sucks, but no one in their right mind, regardless of income, would spend $300-$400 on a replacement snowblower or mower engine. BTW - the B&S 950 replacement engine looks just like my iPower engine!
You know - my old Murray riding mower (2003) has the B&S 13.5HP engine and has been awesome and reliable. I think I move more Garden stuff around the yard with it's trailer than I do with my John Deere 750!
When it comes to smaller engines though, I think they miss the mark. Just my $.02.
Regarding taxes and tariffs, yes, Canada imposed new taxes on our stuff too, but so what? There are less people in all of Canada than California alone. The regulation changes in 2018 were targeted at China, as the US was taking it sideways for many years which is why overseas production is financially better and why Chinese engines are so much cheaper. Not that you guys didn't already know that.
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I worked on them for a number of years around the farm where I grew up. I "resurrected" some that had been thrown out by neighbors and they ran for a number of years afterwards, but they were usually problematic--especially the diaphragm carburetors even after rebuilding them.
We had Wisconsin Robins and Clinton engines on some old Yazoo mowers that were the hardest to start engines I have ever used, but I loved the sound of that Wisconsin.
Tecumseh was a "foreign" brand back in those days and had just started becoming popular, but they were always better than B&S. My current mower is a $40 Toro Recycler 6.5HP Self-Propelled from Craigslist with a Tecumseh on it. The former owner was "tired of messing with it" and was obviously not mechanically inclined--the governor linkage was detached from the carburetor and it would die in high grass. I cleaned it up, changed the oil and air filter and it has been running strong for 6 years.
For me, B&S is nostalgia and while I do not like to see any business fail, I cannot say that I will miss them much.
We had Wisconsin Robins and Clinton engines on some old Yazoo mowers that were the hardest to start engines I have ever used, but I loved the sound of that Wisconsin.
Tecumseh was a "foreign" brand back in those days and had just started becoming popular, but they were always better than B&S. My current mower is a $40 Toro Recycler 6.5HP Self-Propelled from Craigslist with a Tecumseh on it. The former owner was "tired of messing with it" and was obviously not mechanically inclined--the governor linkage was detached from the carburetor and it would die in high grass. I cleaned it up, changed the oil and air filter and it has been running strong for 6 years.
For me, B&S is nostalgia and while I do not like to see any business fail, I cannot say that I will miss them much.
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