[O P M]

Please advise ! I am looking at a SCAG. There are a lot of people that would say Kawasaki is the only one but I am VERY interested in the Honda 24hp.

I do not want to dispute Ford vs Chevy, but am looking for feedback from people with Honda engines.

This is happening ....... possibly today, please reply NOW !?!?!?!


Summary - HELP ?!

 

[saw man]

you cant go wrong with either of them.

 

[65hoss]

Oh yes you can go wrong. The larger honda motors suck. Had one, never again. I would strongly suggest the kawi or kohler.

Do a search, me and others have post problems here before.

 

[saw man]

i have never had problems with larger Honda engines, and I used to be a mechanic at a local shop. Most of the problems that occur are from owner neglect, and not the machines problem.
Trust me, you cant go wrong with either.

 

[65hoss]

Originally posted by saw man
i have never had problems with larger Honda engines, and I used to be a mechanic at a local shop. Most of the problems that occur are from owner neglect, and not the machines problem.
Trust me, you cant go wrong with either.

Trust me from an end user that makes a living with them, you can go wrong with the honda. Wasn't owner neglect either.

I'm a diehard honda supporter on small engines, just not the big ones. Anything 13hp and up.

To each his own I guess. I'm not attacking you sawman, hope you don't see it that way.

 

[lawnMaster5000]

I agree with 65 HOSS, if you search you should be able to find 2 or 3 posts of mine giving my reasons.

 

[ScotLawn]

I agree with Hoss, I bought his mower that had the 13hp honda and the motor is the pits, getting parts takes forever and are more costly due to the name. carb issues with gas leaking out the float all the time, low power compaired to Kawi motors, very particular on how clean the fuel is.

to top this off this was on a HONDA 36" WB mower. the mower was very poorly designed.

As Hoss said do a search if you want more info from him or me on honda large motors.

Kohler and Kawi motors are more common this parts are easier to find and cheaper than Honda large motors. Honda has not been in the large motor market for WB/ZTR mowers long.

My .02 worth, get the Kawi motor. more torque than the kohler and i'll bet the Honda. you will not be sorry.

 

[saw man]

My search came up that only you 2 had complaints about their big engines. And from what it sounds like is that it is the same machine.

This will be just like the Ford vs Chevy debate, but i would check parts availability in your own area. Honda parts are more accessable than Kawi. in my area. And I have not found Honda parts expensive, that depends on the dealer you go to more often then not.

I have a 36" Honda w/the 13hp as well and have not had problems w/the machine or the engine. And i have torn this whole mower apart because of an accident that the Ins. Co. didnt want to buy a new unit. And i felt it was designed just fine, not hard to work on at all.

Like i said "Ford vs Chevy" debate

Check w/ your dealer and see which he get parts easier for.

 

[O P M]

I want to thank all of you for the attention this got.

As it turns out, the dealer did some back peddling and withdrew the deal we were close to. I guess I will buy neither the Kaw or the Honda today.

 

[grassdaddy]

I have 2 scags with kaws--love the motors

a 23hpkaw makes more torque than a 24honda

 

[TLS]

I demoed a 24hp Honda on a DC back when they were first introduced. Really felt gutless. Bogged when mowing up hill and you wanted to climb it faster.

On paper, here's how it looks.....

Manf. - HP - TQ - cc's
Honda....24...37....670
Kawi......23...40....675
Kohler....22...38....674
Kohler....23...38....674
Kohler....25...40....725
Kohler....27...43....725
Kohler....28...45....725
Kawi......27...43....745
Kawi......29...44....745

So, as you can see, it is a smaller cc engine and it has considerably less torque than its competition. Then you have the fact that VERY few of these engines are in commercial ZTR use compared to the Kawi/Kohler's out there, and I would vote to steer away from the Honda.

I really wish Honda would produce a large HP V-twin. Both an aircooled and a liquid cooled would be terriffic. The 30hp range is NEEDED in todays ZTR's, and I believe Honda IS capable of producing good large displacement/HP engines.

 

[bayfish]

I bought a HustlerZ about a month ago with the 24 hp Honda. Loved it at first because the motor is smooth and good on gas, but, I have to agree with TLS. I have found that in thick stuff, it does not have the torque of my Kohler 20hp's. Now the Kohler's are attached to Toro's with the SFS deck which is a different animal from the 60" 5 1/2" Hustler deck. The SFS cuts it once and sends it out. The Hustler deck cuts the clippings a couple of times. I think the 25 Kohler would do a better job on this Hustler. IMO

 

[lawnMaster5000]

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=47596

look for my post on this tread.

it is as follows.

-----------------------------------------------------

I have seen problems with the Honda 13hp, and 20hp engines. The 20hp are the same basic engine as the 24.

I currently run the Honda GXV620 on my Honda WB.

Last year I had severe engine problems where the top bearings went bad. The engine had less that 400 hours, and oil was changed regularly every 50 hours. My dealer claimed the engine was low on oil but it was in about the middle of dip stick hash marks (not low). It was unusual for my engine to be even that low. The dealer refused to disassemble the engine to positively diagnose the problem. Another thing to note - the air filter is of poor design and leaks air creating dirty oil accelerating the problem.

My dealer claimed that b/c i was low on oil they would not honor the warranty. I tried rather hard to contact Honda directly but they don't really have a support staff that i could find, and the regional engine distributor said he couldn't do anything without my dealer doing it. I spent $1,500 to put a new engine on my one year old mower.

The same dealer has denied other people for the same reason of low oil for other problems.
The most common other problem is that at about 350 hours I have seen probably 3 - maybe more - of the 13hp engine wobble loose at the bottom of the engine, and start leaking oil from the crank case.

A design flaw to note, Terrible air filter design, my redmax EB 7000 has a better air cleaner than my Honda engine - and yes this is the new model air cleaner.

or this thread.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=21449

-------------------

New Honda 20HP
I just had to purchase a new honda 20HP (GXV 620) b/c my old one quit.

- on the old engine (GXV 620 w/ 300 hours) they dealer claims that i was running low oil and didnt take care of the filter. Well i would argue with both of those, but whatever. They said i should be running the engine with over full oil (thought that was bad) and that my filter was too old, pretty new, but cant argue with the fact dirt was getting through)

What i am wondering though, is should i purchase an aftermarket air filter and the amsoil oil filter system for the new engine. Both of these things would be cheaper than another new engine. but would they really benifit me at all. and if so where is a good place to get aftermarket air filters.

PS honda just redesigned the filter b/c it was a poor design and air was getting past filter element. (could this qualify me for warantee claim?)