Lawnmower question - honda or briggs & stratton engine?

[Eli]

Originally posted by: kranky
I wish my mower wasn't so durable. I have a 12 year old bottom-of-the-line Craftsman with a rear bagger. I bought a cheap one because I needed it in a hurry and didn't know anything about mowers. Two years ago my wife and I agreed we could get a new self-propelled mower when this one died. So I quit doing any maintenance. Didn't drain it, didn't change the oil, nothing. The sooner it died, the sooner I'd get that new mower.

It ran find all last year. So I was sure after another year of no maintenance I'd be set. The last couple of weeks I was doing mower research to be ready. Yesterday the grass needed cutting so I figured I'd go through the motions, show her that the mower was now dead, and run out for a new one.

That stupid thing started on the first pull. Die already!

LOL!

Yeah. If you performed good maintenance on it before giving up, it will last at least a few seasons with no maintenance. Our old mower is the same way, this is its 3rd season.

See.. the thing is, that these engines will run with very low compression. Just because it starts doesen't mean it isn't, for all intents and purposes, dead. You'll find that it has very little power. It will start having trouble with even the smallest clumps of grass.

I just bought 150$ worth of new, old stock antique Briggs parts.

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I plan on selling a lot of them in smaller lots to recoup some of my losses. But I'm going to use the parts that I can to
rebuild some of the antique engines I have laying around.

I also just picked up a brand new 4.5HP shortblock and carburetor to rebuild the 20 year old old, cranky, worn out 3.5HP Briggs on our lawnmower. I'm surprised it even mowed the lawn the first time this year. I expected it to finally give up and throw its rod at me at any moment.. lol.. It takes twice as long as it normally should, because it has so little power.. you have to go slow, nomatter how tall the grass.

 

[TGregg]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
OMG that is WHY I bought a LawnBoy... NOTHING says old-school Miller time like mixing up some 2-cycle and gas on a Saturday morning (and maybe just slipping in a bit more oil to give a nice smoke cloud....) MMMMMmmmm love the smell.

2-cycle for life

LOL, I bought a two-cycle weed trimmmer just as they were phasing them out. There's something about cutting weeds that just begs for blue smoke.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: TGregg

Originally posted by: Homerboy
OMG that is WHY I bought a LawnBoy... NOTHING says old-school Miller time like mixing up some 2-cycle and gas on a Saturday morning (and maybe just slipping in a bit more oil to give a nice smoke cloud....) MMMMMmmmm love the smell.

2-cycle for life

LOL, I bought a two-cycle weed trimmmer just as they were phasing them out. There's something about cutting weeds that just begs for blue smoke.

Huh.

2-cycle trimmers, until recently, were the only ones you could get.

Up until a couple of years ago, 4-stroke engines that can be operated in any position were non-existant.

 

[Yzzim]

Get a Toro lawnmower and replace the B&S with the Honda....

We have a Toro factory here in town and it pretty much keeps the town running.

 

[HokieESM]

I think either would be just fine, to be honest--maintenance is key. I've seen lawnmowers come and go even in my short lifespan (although I did spend six years cutting grass in the summer to make extra money)... mostly from lack of maintenance.

Dumb question for Eli: I'm relatively certain that Honda engines (even for the lawnmowers) are OHV/OHC--I know ours is--are the higher end Briggs and Strattons? Not that it makes a big difference... I just think its fascinating (and bordering on ridiculous) that Honda actually makes a car-like overhead valve engine for a lawnmower. (or course, I do own one... and am ridiculously happy with it).

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: HokieESM
I think either would be just fine, to be honest--maintenance is key. I've seen lawnmowers come and go even in my short lifespan (although I did spend six years cutting grass in the summer to make extra money)... mostly from lack of maintenance.

Dumb question for Eli: I'm relatively certain that Honda engines (even for the lawnmowers) are OHV/OHC--I know ours is--are the higher end Briggs and Strattons? Not that it makes a big difference... I just think its fascinating (and bordering on ridiculous) that Honda actually makes a car-like overhead valve engine for a lawnmower. (or course, I do own one... and am ridiculously happy with it).

Yes, Briggs has OHV engines. They are found on mid line models, though. I think Briggs actually has 4 levels of performance now, Entry, Mid, Performance and Premium.. I believe that it is only the Quantumn I/C and above that have OHV, could be wrong though.

OHV small engines aren't anything special anymore.

OHC on the other hand.. Believe it or not, Honda has just come out with an OHC engine during the last few years. Pretty cool stuff.

Honda GCV190 - 6.5HP

 

[Lizardman]

HONDA

After tuning up about 100 honda mowers and 100 briggs mowers you see how much better quality the honda mowers are.

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: Lizardman
HONDA

After tuning up about 100 honda mowers and 100 briggs mowers you see how much better quality the honda mowers are.

Just a quick comment on this...

If my girlfriend were to buy a lawnmower, she would probably buy a Honda, and use it to mow a yard about the size of a large bedroom. It would be used once every 2 weeks when the grass looked like it had split ends. It would be stored in a climate controlled garage, and dusted off before storage so as not to get any grass clippings or dust inside.

If some redneck with a 17 acre lot were to buy a lawnmower, he'd probably buy a Briggs and Straton. It would be used every so often when the weeds were so high you couldn't see through them anymore. Plus sometimes Dale would come over and borrow it to mow around his trailer, where the weeds grow up through the rocks. In between uses, it would sit outside underneath the cardboard box it came in.

So.. how can you tell which one is the better mower??? :beer:

 

[silverpig]

Honda definitely.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Lizardman
HONDA

After tuning up about 100 honda mowers and 100 briggs mowers you see how much better quality the honda mowers are.

They may be better, but it all boils down to how much better. My $100.00 mower has been kicking around for 22 years now. Would I have gotten any better service from a $450.00 Honda? That's what the price difference was back then.

 

[RossMAN]

What about Toro lawn mowers?