$2500, 1 Acre, A Hill and Shed Restrictions. What To Look At

[Ric]

You have read the original work?
Where you find "complaint" please bring that to my attention.

Further, I am quite sure that were the issue to balloon, become apparent, the
"internet"(sic) would not be big enough. Kawasaki AC twins are
everywhere, just no longer in Wrights.

KK

Perhaps you may want to check on the statement about wright mowers here because every wright stander and Ztr and walk behind come with Kawasaki engines according to there sites.

Wright Commercial Lawn Mowers - Wright Commercial Mowers Welcome - Wright Commercial Mowers

 

[Ric]

So you got no problem with my critique of the design, you simply believe it is "abolutely ridculous" to investigate what you own - I got that right?


And I your's - "song and dance", like. It is almost a mantra among the "mine's fine, what's up with you" crowd.
NOTE "you", not "it".


Some generalisation you make there.
Your're a LC Guy, right?
How could you possibly *know* "thousands/never have an issue".
Answer is you do not, you simply sing and dance out the tune wishing it were so.
I found a design fault AFTER a symptom, I then experienced a repeat shortly after the first.
I reported on the instances, supplying facts, not invention, not rhetorical misinforming diatribe as a rebuttal.
Oh, wait... there was none. Not until you (Ric) got your fiddle out posting chapter and verse of a well known tune.
NO FACTS, NO MECHS, JUST SALES LOLLY.

Let's not broaden the smoke screen in attempting to attach credibility, hey?
Your Kawasaki engines may well use a different design, WE (royal) do not know, you refuse to go look, opting for a string of rhetoric which frankly means nothing to those looking to part with good dollars. Your "say so" isn't good enough when the FACTS are there in plain view.

I got no issue with you personally, I however do know the stereotype well so will discredit the tune each time it is played.
Discuss that with <Rivets> should you wish to question my integrity.

Ric.
Your're the one with "moderator" as a 'title', you have already removed - or had removed - one of my posts referring to your attitude on the Kawa engine issue, without consulting me I add.
Hardly a responsible action it does not surprise me when - as I read now - you have no argument with the science, you simply object to the facts being published.
Please do lay out which brand names are fair game for critique so that WE (royal) all know your rules.

Thanks.

KK

No I have no problem with the Kawasaki design and it would be ridiculous for me to believe there is one because you say there is. . I never said that thousands never had an issue, I said for every one individual that has a problem with the engine you have a thousand and more that run the stuff untold hours and never have an issue. I seriously doubt you know more about the engine than the designers do and if there was a problem I'm sure Kawasaki would say there was and do something about it.
Now as far as removing your post goes, it was never removed, After consulting with another moderator It was however moved for review for spam content in the url.

 

[Ric]

So what you guys are all saying is that everyone makes a pretty good product but sometimes you get a dud or one that has a few failures! I always abide by the new old adage that unhappy consumers come to the internet to complain, happy consumers carry on with their lives.

I'm not saying every manufacturer makes a good product, I think it's more like every manufacturer can have a problem with there product time to time. When you produce as many engines as Kawasaki or Kohler does your going to have a problem now and then.

 

[Shughes717]

W

Same question I put to <Magsrgod> I put to you, Sir.
Do point to where I mention "Dealer" dissatisfaction in the work.

Further, your post reflects that "it is not cared for" mantra, so often trotted
out in covering faults with a product.
Are you aware Kawasaki in Australia has discontinued it's line of engines
using those STUPID pleated block air cartridges?
Loads and loads and loads of Aussies never cleaned their filters or swapped
them out, hey?
There is another example of "cheap AND nasty" for you to blame on a consumer.

I may well be buying another Kawa yet...but I know what I am doing with it on
delivery. Stripping the engine down and removing each piece of SILASTIC I find.
I do wonder if the parent company knows USA builders are using that shite, as cheap.
Make of that what you will...and yes, I am fully aware of "warranty". It's not worth a
cracker to engine specialists today, as these forums well prove.

KK

I was not addressing you with that post. I was addressing the op. I don't know how you gathered that I mentioned anything concerning your complaint about dealer work from my post. I gave my opinion about the Briggs Intek engine and the Briggs els engine. As I was telling the op the els had a design flaw with the air filter housing.

Briggs was using the flat style air filters like seen on automobile engines. The problem was that the air was pulled in from the bottom, through the filter and the filter cover channeled the air into the engine. The filter cover is plastic and warps when hot. When it warps there is a gap between the cover and the top of the engine and dirty air by passes the filter, which causes the engine to fail. Briggs did change the design on their later models of the els engine by fitting it with a canister filter.

 

[KrashnKraka]

No I have no problem with the Kawasaki design and it would be ridiculous for me to believe there is one because you say there is.

What are you really wanting to post? You want to
write I fudged a fault, I am posting misinformation?
That what you want to put out there?

Go right ahead, you are the moderator who accuses
people of posting Spam links without as much of
a thought.... clueless (thought) as it may be.

I never said that thousands never had an issue, I said for every one individual that has a problem with the engine you have a thousand and more that run the stuff untold hours and never have an issue.

Can you say "weasel words"?
You used the cliche as an attempt at justification, a pillar
to your context. It wont wash with the intelligent.

I seriously doubt you know more about the engine than the designers do

Doubt how, what do you know about me?
You however....
You have already well proven you not only lack knowledge on
technical matters, engines and network links at least, but you
refuse to help yourself or anyone else in showing you care less
on what you have bought and own.
In fact it reads to me, and no doubt others, that your fascination
with yourself in rhetorical kudos blinds you to what is plainly before
you. To the point your arrogance leads you into pitfalls.
Example?
The news on Wright and Kawasaki is maybe two weeks old, telephone
Wright, take it from the horse's......

[...]and if there was a problem I'm sure Kawasaki would say there was and do something about it.

Really!... YOU Really Believe That?
You got any idea, any concept at all as to what goes on behind "recall"
announcements? Corporations spend millions dodging those bullets, friend.
That aside, Kawasaki have not had near enough time to respond. But you go
right ahead making it news every other five minutes and that might change.

Now as far as removing your post goes, it was never removed, After consulting with another moderator It was however moved for review for spam content in the url.

Sooo... you are saying that if I go look I will find the post with an apology
from you?
Or are you saying you do not know the link is a genuine info link and
want it removed to be sure?
I trust we are talking about the post in Site Discussions and not yet another
post removed?
FWIW...this site does run a PM function...your end broken?

Question for site operators.
What is it a fella is required to own in skills to be a moderator on this site.


KK

 

[KrashnKraka]

I was not addressing you with that post. I was addressing the op. I don't know how you gathered that I mentioned anything concerning your complaint about dealer work from my post. I gave my opinion about the Briggs Intek engine and the Briggs els engine. As I was telling the op the els had a design flaw with the air filter housing.

Yes,, I understood you were not addressing my work directly.
You did though quote the mantra at the OP where if the unit
was cared for the purchase would prove fine. And that is simply
not a truism as you now point out yourself in fine detail (edited out).
It is true many many users of lawn equipment drive 'em like they
stole ' em or have borrowed it from their FIL. It is not however
ALWAYS the case a problem is owned by the operator, again as your
example well illustrates. Who paid while that was sorted out?
THAT is what I published my work for, so folks know what they are
buying. No other reason, I sort my own shite myself. The engine is
mine, I will deal with it.
And thanks to these forums I have been able to determine I have
been putting 5 TIMES the American average of oil through that engine.
Now tell me the engine is not cared for :-/

Thank you for your post.

KK

 

[SeniorCitizen]

So I'm looking for some advice on what to start poking around at. I have about an acre and right now and I use a crappy LawnBoy push mower. I basically hate life come mowing time and I put it off forever so it's beyond a chore when it comes time to mow. Growing up I had this baby blue Yamaha mower that was unreal and I mowed the lawn all the time with it, I want to get back to that time.

I have $2500 to spend and a shed with a 48" opening and 89" deep, so I can fit almost any 42" deck ZTR or tractor. I will snap a picture of the little hill in the morning and post it up tomorrow. I don't think its a deal breaker with any types but I will have you guys take a gander for me.

So what's worth looking at on the market? I liked the look of the S240 for a tractor but I'm thinking a ZTR will be more beneficial, are there any ZTR's in the $2500 range worth purchasing?

I'd probably go with your first impulse S240 but the " electric clutch " and word " Sport " is hardly worth the extra approximately 500 bucks to me.

 

[Shughes717]

Yes,, I understood you were not addressing my work directly.
You did though quote the mantra at the OP where if the unit
was cared for the purchase would prove fine. And that is simply
not a truism as you now point out yourself in fine detail (edited out).
It is true many many users of lawn equipment drive 'em like they
stole ' em or have borrowed it from their FIL. It is not however
ALWAYS the case a problem is owned by the operator, again as your
example well illustrates. Who paid while that was sorted out?
THAT is what I published my work for, so folks know what they are
buying. No other reason, I sort my own shite myself. The engine is
mine, I will deal with it.
And thanks to these forums I have been able to determine I have
been putting 5 TIMES the American average of oil through that engine.
Now tell me the engine is not cared for :-/

Thank you for your post.

KK

I understand that you found an issue with the fr Kawasaki engine on your mower. I appreciate that you posted the problem that you discovered in case anyone else has a similar problem. The point I was attempting to make to the op was that he will not be putting much stress on any of the engines he is looking at. A 42" ztr or 46" lawn tractor should be able to mow 1 acre in 2 hours or less. He won't put more than 50 hours a year on the mower. I understand that not every engine failure is the result of operator error. Sometimes the engine just fails no matter how well you maintain it. That's why there are warranties. Hopefully the problem is discovered in the first few hundred hours and gets repaired with no cost to the owner.

You should acknowledge that many times engine failure is the result of operator error though. Some people abuse mowers, don't change the oil (or check it for that matter), don't store it out of the weather over the winter, don't treat the gas when it's stored, and then don't know why the mower doesn't last. I never meant for you to believe that I implied that you don't service your mower. I don't understand why you took it as a personal attack. I explained why I was not a fan of the low end Briggs engines. You explained why you had a problem with the fr series Kawasaki. The two ztr mowers I mentioned in an earlier post about the ezt hydros also run the fr series Kawasaki engines. One has over two hundred hours on it. The other has over four hundred hours. Neither has had an engine fail like the one you described.

 

[KrashnKraka]

KK I understand that you found an issue with the fr Kawasaki engine on your mower.

Not being picky at all, Shughes717...I found an issue with that model, that
series run (if you like), so have others - from dealer and agent feedback.
We clear on that? It is all laid out in my original post.

I appreciate that you posted the problem that you discovered in case anyone else has a similar problem.

No. I bought the issue out so that others could AVOID having the
same problem. There is a distinct difference between your read and what
I have posted as comment, more often than just within the original work, I add.
You are not alone.
And quite frankly I would question seriously the intelligence of those who
read the work, owned a Kawa of similar manufacture (year), and shrugged their
shoulders to mutter, "not mine".

You explained why you had a problem with the fr series Kawasaki. The two ztr mowers I mentioned in an earlier post about the ezt hydros also run the fr series Kawasaki engines. One has over two hundred hours on it. The other has over four hundred hours. Neither has had an engine fail like the one you described.

At this time it is an estimation only, this as counting hours is somewhat
ambiguous..as another of my LMF threads is proving. I am settling at around 400hrs
for my engine.
Regardless, a failure may occur in the first ten hours... the owner is not going to be
told. Period.
A failure may occur at 2500hrs, where "out of warranty" the owner is likely going to
be told the engine simply wore out and directed to the sales desk :-/

Thing is, none I spoke to could say what was the cause for the damage they found,
shrugged shoulders to comment... "s**t happens", to simply threadlock a new bolt in.
I know/knew, and know it is a time bomb sitting in every engine of the model made in
Maryland, a fault which will be ignored as others report of Kohler, B&S et al.
Self help is going to prove smart in this instance.
IF,, if others were to check their engines to find the same construction then they too
share the problem I have now. A well cared for stuffed engine well out of warranty and
long short of it's serviceable life.

I never meant for you to believe that I implied that you don't service your mower. I don't understand why you took it as a personal attack.

Let's just put this misunderstanding down to poor editorial?
I don't take Interwebs stuff as personal affrontry, that is pointless..it's what the
0ff tab is for. And I certainly did not read you critiquing(negatively) my care for the
engine.
I was simply pointing out it is the care factor (mantra) that is trotted out when
consumers present a malfunction or breakage, rightly so in by far the majority of
claims, as you eloquently reiterate [edited out].
Comment such as "if you look after it on that acreage mow you will have a
machine for years",,, despite the possibilty that may well be true, it is assumption
of two factors which immediately puts all responsibilty on the new owner.
In the >$3000 market the manufacturer should not be putting machines out there
with faults no amount of "due care" is going to save from self destruction inside
of an expected/proven service life.

I know dealers and repair shops know about the rocker assembly failure. I fail to see
how Kawasaki (USA) does not know but be assured I will know they know shortly.
Meantime...those that choose to take a chance...?.. not my problem.

Are we done?

Thanks for your post.

KK

 

[Shughes717]

I am done being a part of hijacking this thread. We can continue this somewhere else if you wish. Good luck to the op, and let us know what you went with.