Honda vs. Briggs and Stratton

Superbuick96

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I really need a more powerfull self propel mower. Currantly have a 4.75 Briggs,and its weak!! I can't decide between a mower with the 6.75 torque Briggs and Stratton, or the 6.9 torque 160cc Honda engine. I am interested in hearing from people who have used both engines, and they're opininions. I guess I am more interested in hearing about the performance of the Honda, ive used a 6.5 Briggs and was happy with the performance. So the 6.75 I know will get the job done.
 
I have a Honda 160 cc and love it!!!

Stingy on fuel and does not bog down even in the tallest heavy grass. Does a great job!

I ran it with the factory supplied oil and then changed it to 10W30 synthetic. I change the oil a couple of times a mowing season. Air filter is cleaned then changed every season.

Neighbor had one for almost 20 years with a big yard and here in the south we have a long growing season.

Would never go back to any other engine for a mower or a generator etc. We had two Honda Generators on our camper. Stingy on fuel and very quiet operation.

Great engine design.
 
I've got two 6-horse Briggs engines, and I run the mowers more like brush hogs than lawn mowers. They're champs. Unfortunately I bent the crank on the older (1994) one last year on a hidden stump. When I opened it up, it was just perfect inside, so a new crank was all it took to get it going again. I've had poorer experience with the sub-5 HP Briggs engines in recent years- I think they've really cheapened those and they were pretty cheap to start with (air vane governors, etc). The 6-horse engines have flyweight governors.

So my general picks would be Tecumseh or Honda for anything under 4 horsepower, Briggs from 5-10 horsepower, and Kohler for 10-30 HP small engines.
 
I think B&S/Honda/Tecumseh all make equal engines... All can't be killed easily with proper maintenance.

I do hate the Air-Governor system and I wish they would go back to adjustment screws. Although I can get these systems to run right I find them a lot fussier than the old system of adjustment screws.
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I think the went this way to keep people from modifying their mowers and so that they could run them as lean as possible when the load isn't being applied.
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Need to compare apples to apples...

The commercial engines are Honda's GX series and Briggs Vanguard series. Iron lined; forged crank and HD bearings as are the Kohler Command; Kawasaki and Robbins high enders. All about equal. Persoanlly I like the V-Twin offerings from each company best.

The residential engines would be the Honda GC series and the plain Jane B&S and Tec.

A Honda GC series engine is made to stricter specs however and you don't see that shimmer in the oil like you do on a B&S and Tec engine. It's inbetween the commercial and residential offerings.


Now we see Kohler Courage series engines making way on the market to sompete with the Honda GC series.
 
Kawasaki engines are out there too.
Can't recall of hand which mowers use them but from their spec. I'd say they are sa good or better than the B&S units.

The 6 hp units have a iron liner and some have a oil filter.
 
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The newer John Deere riding lawnmowers have Kawasaki engines,I believe 1994 and up.My fathewr has one about a year old with the Kawasaki engine and it is fuel injected
 
IMO, it's not so much the brand of engine, but the engine's design. I think you'll find any OHV/OHC small engine will out perform any 3.5-6.75hp flat head Briggs or Tecumseh. They tend not to run out of power like a small flat-head will.

Joel
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I've had poorer experience with the sub-5 HP Briggs engines in recent years- I think they've really cheapened those and they were pretty cheap to start with (air vane governors, etc). The 6-horse engines have flyweight governors


The 4HP B&S Quantum XM engine on that lawnmower I was asking about removing the blade on in another post has a flyweight governor. I found out the mower it's on could be as old as a 1994 model. (It was made by Southland Mower for Lowe's. Southland is out of business as far as I can tell).

It runs well, especially given how neglected it was. It needed an air filter, primer bulb, needle and seat, a safety brake cable, and a JB weld gas tank patch (leaking at the seam). I took the safety brake cable off another mower that was headed to the trash.
 
Originally Posted By: wafrederick1
The newer John Deere riding lawnmowers have Kawasaki engines,I believe 1994 and up.My fathewr has one about a year old with the Kawasaki engine and it is fuel injected


Not all, I have a 2008 JD with a B & S. Pete51 is right, compare same levels of engine designs, not just names.
 
I have a 6 HP B&S cast iron sleeved engine (12J802)on my self propelled Snapper mower that I bought in 1998. Haven't had a problem with either until this year. The mower has been used pretty heavily over the years. My son used it for awhile to cut neighborhood yards when he was 14 through 16 years old. Now I just use it for my yard.

Anyway, fuel has started to drip through the air intake and out the air filter when I shut it down hot. I guess the needle valve seal is worn. My local B&S parts shop has carb rebuild kits for $9.99.

I change the oil once a year these days and always dose the fuel with Stabil.
 
Originally Posted By: Pete591
Need to compare apples to apples...

The residential engines would be the Honda GC series and the plain Jane B&S and Tec.


While those all may be classified as residential grade, they are not even close to apples/apples. A Honda GC, although an inexpensive engine, is light years ahead of a new flat head Briggs or Tecumseh in the same HP range.

In regards to John Deere using Kawasaki OHV engines? This has been true for dealer grade equipment for 25+ years. We had a 1992 model year JD GT262 tractor that had a 17hp Kawi single.

Joel
 
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The small Kawasakis are great engines. I have a 12 yr old FC150v 5.5 hp on a Murray self propelled rear bagger/mulcher. This mower is a blatant copy of Snapper's hi-vac deck. In fact, Murray only made it for a couple of years before Snapper sued them. Some of these engines did come with a spin on filter (I believe the 180v which has replaced it does). Mine doesn't have one (splash lube) but it is powerful, quiet, stingy with fuel, and starts 1st pull when cold, as long as the choke is adjusted right. I've always had good luck with Briggs, but this Kawi is hard to beat.
 
Originally Posted By: wafrederick1
The newer John Deere riding lawnmowers have Kawasaki engines,I believe 1994 and up.My fathewr has one about a year old with the Kawasaki engine and it is fuel injected


Actually Deere fired Kawasaki as its engine vendor in the late 90s. They may have re-instated them now (though I haven't noticed one), but for a period of years there they went back to all-Kohler. I haven't shopped them seriously in years, but all I notice when I glance at them in stores are Kohler and B&S. They were still using Kawasakis in some models when my Dad bought his last JD in the early 90s. The dealer talked them up big-time about how much better they were than Kohler, but Dad didn't buy it having run Kohlers for 30 years. Then just a few years later the same dealer admitted that Deere had abandoned Kawasaki for high warranty claims... good call, Dad. His Kohler is still plugging away despite the tractor getting used more like a Brush Hog than a lawn tractor.
 
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Originally Posted By: Brett Miller
I have a Craftsman with a 6.75 Briggs and it has plenty of power.

I have a Craftsman with a 6.75HP Briggs. This was the year before they went to the torque rating system, so I don't know if 6.75 HP is < or > 6.75 torque. It has plenty of power though.
 
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