Briggs & Stratton "Quality"

[Jet boater]

Tearing down a 6 HP B&S off of a Crapsman push mower for a friend tonight.

Compression was around 40 PSI and the thing wouldn't start even with ether. I figured a stuck valve or broken spring. Got that far and they were OK.

Got ready to split the crankcase open and turned it up on it's side to drain the oil and something rattled inside. As I drained the oil a 1" long bolt fell out of the oil fill hole!!

Went ahead and split the case and two teeth were sheared off of the (plastic) timing gear that is connected to the (plastic!!) valve cams. Problem found. I think that damn bolt was in there when they built the engine and it finally worked it's way into the valve cam gear. It was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I also noted there are no lower end bearings in this B&S. Just the aluminum case journal type "bearing" that the drive shaft goes through. Wow! I don't know how these things hold together.

I hope I can at least buy the replacement gear/camshaft assembly in metal, but I doubt it.

No question for anybody here...just postin' for general knowledge of what's inside a B&S IF you elect to purchase one.

[geogunn]

I just replaced the starter pulley on my MTD tiller. please, no crank comments, it's my personal garden tiller, not meant for professional use. anyway, it was plastic. lasted four years, BUT, is hardly ever used. I expected better (at least better plastic).

GEO

[thelawnguy]

There is a reason that premium equipment does not offer briggs & scrapiron engines as an option.

There is a reason that Honda, Kawi and Kohler engines are usually several hundred dollar upgrades over the basic price-leader splash-oiled b&s model.

[steve]

:blob3:
Briggs & Stratton has a variety of engines from the ElCheapo push mower market to the Commercial/Industriel market. When you get to the Vanguard Series they are a high quality piece.
:blob3:

[Mark]

Briggs Vanguards are as good as any lawnmower engine on the market. Ive got a 16hp Vanguard with over 4000hrs its a 92 and have had to only a regulator and plugs. You say commercial mowers don't use them,,not so Scags Sabre Tooth has the 31hp Vanguard. Sure the low end of there products are far from the top,but the Vanguards are a whole different ballgame they to are made by the Japaneese,and are a top of the line engine. Marks Mowing Service

[Dave]

did ya know that kawi uses plastic cams also

[awm]

sorry but cant be knocking the briggs engines.
i havnt been able to wear one out in 25 yrs .
if i put all the hrs on it.at one time they made 5 different grades of engine.that may have changed now.
should explain the equipment wore out around the motors.

[thelawnguy]

I demoed two Wacker rollers at an equipment expo, one with a Honda and one with a Vanguard. Mercedes Vs Hyundai. They both may last 10 years but one will be an easier ten years to handle. You hardly knew the Honda was even running compared to the BS engine.

[Jet boater]

Agreed that there are some high end B&G engines out there.

I've had some even the cheapee B&S's last me a while on old mowers.

I think though the "guts" of this lower-end engine has been designed by the accountants at B&S, not the engineers.

Of course, this engine failure also got the help of the "dis-gruntled" employee that donated the extra bolt to the crankcase during assembly.

[Evan528]

I wouldnt mind a vanguard on my toro ztr. The vanguard engines are the most quit smooth running engines that ive used.

[Toroguy]

I have had great performance from a 2000 Briggs Vanguard 16hp motor.

I agree with the comparison of Honda vs. Briggs is like Mercedes vs. Hyundai. Honda makes auto engines, I have yet to see a Briggs motor in an automobile.

Mercedes-Benz should make a commercial lawn mower. I think they make bicycles?

[John DiMartino]

I have a 1999 Vanguard 16hp-its a much better engine than my Kohler Command,by far.I have friends with 5000 hrs on many of them,no problems at all,still in service.They are on toro Greensmasters,that usually burn up a Kohler in about 2000 hrs.As far as the hyundia to Mercedes comparo,Ive found my Briggs 16hp to be the smoothest,quietest air cooled engine Ive ever owned or run,and I have 4 honda GX's at work.The Briggs is just like glass at any RPM.I love my Honda's too,just the briggs is in a league its own as far as quiet,smooth running.

[eskals]

I work on the SAE Mini Baja car at school and we are required to run B&S engines. The last one we got was an 8hp model. We dynoed it after the races and only got 5.5 hp. We tore it apart and found that the piston could be wiggled by hand and the crank was loose as well. In all fairness, I should say that the engine did have about 40 (somewhat hard) hours on it. However, we did run mobil one and changed the oil very often.

Eric

[lawrence stone]

I have a 1985 toro walkbehind with a original 11 hp IC B & S.

It rocks with a 44" deck. Makes for a nice lightwieght trimming mower.

It's on consignment at a local mower shop. I have too many units and have to cull the herd.

[jonspolaris]

Did u happine to go to lawrence Tech??? i went there and i have seen the baja Carts your talking about.

unfortunally not all briggs are created equal, some are better than others.

jon

[geogunn]

all ofthese affirmative comments are great but it didn't help me a bit with the POS recoil starter malfunction. the $1000 dollar upgrade was not an option on my tiller.

GEO

[sdwally]

As mentioned by others B&S offers both commercial and non-commercial duty engines. One thing I noticed is that in commercial grade engine is that the piston rings are chromed and in the the non-commercial engine they are just plain steel. While you have the engine split you may want to consider buy the chrome set of piston rings, you double to triple the life of the engine.
Kohler engine also use a plastic governing gear, never had any problems with them unless an operator blew up an engine due to a lack of oil. By the way a B&S can be rebuilt for a about 1/3th to 1/2 the cost of a Kohler, however Kohlers last much longer.

[Grassman]

I've got 2 16hp Vangaurds on 48" belt drive Bobcats that are 98 models and not a single engine problem yet. Both units have around 1700hrs. They are smoother than the 23hp Kaw. on my Bobcat ztr and it doesn't quite have 1000hrs. Russ

[John DiMartino]

sdwally, from my experiences the Briggs Vanguard will outlast a Kohler command any day in average service,this is an apples to apples comparison.The Japanese built Vanguard has tighter tolerances,and finer finishing than the unrefined,thrashy Kohler command.If you listen to them run side bu side,its apparent right away which one will last longer,the command sounds like its beating itself to death,while the Vanguard is just purring smoothly.The side valve aluminum briggs are throw away engines,you get what you pay for and they are not made for commercial use anyway.