So I just mapped out the area I mow on my property. It's just over five acres. I mow it weekly with a 2017 Tiger Cat II with a Kohler 29hp EFI and a 61" deck that I bought last Spring. I am aware that lots of people have a strong allegiance to one particular brand and with that sometimes comes strong negative opinions on certain other brands. I've owned Kohler and B&S in the past and haven't had problems with either brand. I haven't owned a Kawi but see no reason to condem them. Still, due to some very strong verbage on this site targeting Kohler engines specifically, I felt compelled to spend a lot of energy looking for others' opinions just as you are doing now. After exhaustive research, I found that all motors are great and they all stink too. They all last forever but they don't hold up. Nearly everybody loves the brands that almost everybody else hates. Seriously though, I'm pleased to see that my particular motor has received a ton more positive reviews than negative. If I was going to buy another Tiger Cat II tomorrow, I'd buy the exact same setup as the one I own. It's been very good to me; the cut is terrific, the engine's powerful, and the overwhelming opinion on the internet in general is that this particular engine will hold up just fine. Good luck.
Like every other consumer item those who got a good one will say they are great, those who got a bad one will say they are all rubbish & to be avoided.
As a bloke who crawls under them I really see very little difference one brand to another
Vertical shaft engines are almost exclusive to lawn mowers.
The lawn mower market is about 95% price driven so the big push is always to come in a couple of $ lower than the competitors.
Mower engines are not designed to be run 24/7 like the exact same horizontal shaft engine so they are made from cheaper materials, to a lower build quality for a lower price.
The best life will come from a mower with a horizontal engine but there is a massive price jump thus by & large horizontals are only fitted to the top end models that cater for the 5% who are not singularly driven by price.
And this is before we get to differences in maintenance , those who change oil & occasionally filters to those who change oil monthly, filters regularly & pull blower housing off to clean cooling fins, lube all of the "oil daily" points and check the valve lash regularly.
FWIW I have a customer with a roads contract to cut the verges on semi rural roads.
He has a great dane that gets used exclusively for this as he mows over whatever is there, dead kangeroos, old tyres, bags of rubbish, bottles, old batteries, whatever goes under the deck gets mowed, every week, every year, rain , hail, heat wave, bush fire, drought or flood
IT is fitted with a 18Hp Kohler Command with the optional Donaldson air filters .
The hour meter had 5740 hours on it when it stopped working, but the Kohler has not. It does go through a bit of oil, he buys 50l a year of SAE 30 and the only mower it goes in is the Dane & the two walk behinds.
The only major repairs have been for fine gravel getting past the cooling air guards and busting up the magnets & stator which has been replaced 2 times by me & a few more by my predecessor
The mower goes through a set of blades each month and spindle bearings annually.
I could not think of a rougher use for a mower.
OTOH his Toros got both heads on one & a single side on the other replaced on the Kawasaki engines under warranty because the rocker supports gave way.
These were both from the same dealer and both under dealer service at the time cause I am not a certified kawasaki repairer, so it could have been bad predelivery.
I service them now as they are all out of warranty and the single bolt mounting for the rocker pilliars do come loose & needs nipping up every now & then.
