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I'm in the market for a used mower. I understand that Briggs use a lot of Chinese parts these days. Are they still a reliable bet? I'm also looking at a used Tecumseh in one Kijiji add. Would that be a better choice?

i bought a big box store john deere la145 with a briggs and stratton 22 horse v twin. i change the oil once a year with a new spin on type oil filter and have never had a probem. last week i changed the spark plugs for the first time with 145 hours on it in 4 years. its been great to me so far. i also use stabil fuel stabilizer on every tank so that may help the carb and the quality of the fuel and what not.

That is encouraging to hear. I should have been more specific but I was talking about the push type mowers in particular.

All of the engine manufacturers source parts from all over the world, not just China.

I'm 43 years old and have been mowing yards since I was 6. Needless to say I have plenty of experience with mower engines, from a 3.5 hp push mower to my current 26 hp rider. Granted, the vast majority of that experience has been with B&S, but a few Kohlers and a couple of Tecumsehs(sp?) have been in the mix. I can only think of two B&S engines that crapped out, one was on a rider about 30 years ago. The governor broke and the engine ran away and grenaded before I could get it shut off. The other was on a push mower about 10 years ago, one of the rings broke and dug into the cylinder wall. You mentioned a Tecumseh. I have first hand experience with only two, one being on a rider and the other on a go-cart. Neither one lasted very long or impressed me very much. I tend to stay away from them.

That's my $0.02 worth and you'll get exactly what you paid for. :laughing:

They are decent. I haven't had a lot of luck with them lately. The one on my Toro threw the rod after about 4 years, and on my other Toro, the engine is getting a rod knock and it is starting to smoke (needs new rings?) after two years. But Tecumseh isn't any better. CARB PROBS!!!!!!! I could suggest a Honda. :smile:

Well it all sounds good enough for me.

My family has its own briggs story. When I was a boy of about 9 years old (1994 I about) or so I set out to mow the lawn one day. My dad had prepared the mowers for the season, both with briggs engines both dating from the 70's or early 80's, around there. I used the "yellow one" (no idea of the brands) because it was lighter and easier to push and I mowed the whole 1/3 acre lot. When my dad got home he didn't believe me that I used that mower, it was impossible, there's no oil in it. It took some time to convince him. As it turns out he had only prepared the other mower for the season so far and the yellow one was still without its oil that was drained for the winter.

He inspected that yellow mower with his millwright trained mechanical skills and couldn't find anything wrong with it. Still seemed to have lots of compression and so forth. It never ran anything but 10w30 conventional oil. We've always held it up to briggs and stratton toughness ever since.:laughing:

Every engine manufacturer has had good and bad engines. You will hear mostly the bad ones on this forum, as that is what sticks in people's minds. For every horror story you can find a good one, like your's with the yellow mower. If the engine works great for you, you recommend it, if your experience is bad, you'll trash it. In my opinion the best engine ever made was the Tecumseh Snow King, you couldn't beat them with any brand, but it's not built any more. Purchase what makes you feel good.

Supernaut said:

I'm in the market for a used mower. I understand that Briggs use a lot of Chinese parts these days. Are they still a reliable bet? I'm also looking at a used Tecumseh in one Kijiji add. Would that be a better choice?

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I have had used plenty of mowers mostly the b & s engines just don't seem to have the power under load bog down and or die :/ me personally I like honda style engines and kaw engines even the cheap versions don't seem to lose a lot of power when under heavy load but that's just my experience b&s are an old company full of good engineers and I'm sure I have had bad luck is all.

seeing you are buying a used mower you really don't know how it was cared for. You will find that any of the popular brand engines are good.

Yes they are still good the biggest problem is people not giving them regular maintenance and this gasoline these days does not help i just overhauled the engine on my mtd and it is performing reliably. check you fluids before use and repair any broken or missing parts and you should have no problems. :thumbsup:

jakewells said:

Yes they are still good the biggest problem is people not giving them regular maintenance and this gasoline these days does not help i just overhauled the engine on my mtd and it is performing reliably. check you fluids before use and repair any broken or missing parts and you should have no problems. :thumbsup:

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I Think you hit the nail on the head over maintenance. I used a briggs motor on my last mower for 12 years and it still ran like a new one when I sold it. I changed the oil every year if not twice and used Pennzoil 30wt oil, Put in a new air filter and prefilter every spring. I never blew a filter out, if needed wash the prefilter and replace the air filter. A good friend of mine owns a Lawn Mower Shop and he showed me a short block that he had replaced from a guy who mows yards for a living. Well the block was eat up. He said, you know what happened to that engine? I said no oil, he say's the guy blew out his filters and would not buy new. All the littler particles he loosened up but didn't get out got sucked right back into the engine on start up and eat up the cylinders. He laughed and said a $20 filter cost him $700 or more.
I know this is long winded but a engine needs maintenance to stay at the top of there game. I'm just say'n.

So.....the ZTR mower Im looking at right now has a B&S engine in it.....but no matter which one i buy (gas) what gas should i put in it?
I know it's a stupid question, but people have told me it doesn't matter and even told me not to put the "best" gas in my little push mower.
And should I buy a gas additive in to put in every time I put gas in?

I know they have instructions that come with the mower......but who knows better than you all who deal with it all the time.
Thanks a million!

I use 93 octane in everything that I own, and anything that I have to add gas to in the repair shop. Most of the time is also has star-tron added to the fuel, both as a stabilizer, and as a cleaner. Where I purchase my gas, the 93 doesn't have ethanol added either.

ILENGINE said:

I use 93 octane in everything that I own, and anything that I have to add gas to in the repair shop. Most of the time is also has star-tron added to the fuel, both as a stabilizer, and as a cleaner. Where I purchase my gas, the 93 doesn't have ethanol added either.

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ILENGINE,
I'm breaking in my new Gravely(as well as using in all my small engine applications including my boat's 125hp outboard) with non-ethanol mid-grade with Stabil added. I used to run the premium, just like you, but the price(especially the non-ethanol) has gotten so ridiculous that I figure the mid-grade will prevent any pinging with being a step up from all of the manufacturer's recommended 87 Octane. Also, the last lawn mower I had(54" 2006 Craftsman YS4500 with a 24hp Briggs & Stratton Intek) would not run right with anything above 87 Octane. I don't know whether it had to do with all of this CARB emissions compliance, but mid-grade & premium would make it surge/drop/surge, miss and backfire. If I put Regular in that Intek(really didn't care for that particular B & S) it ran fine. The mower before that one(46" 1993 True Value Lawn Chief with a 16hp B & S Vanguard) ran fine on premium and that was twice the engine(power included) of that piece-of-junk Intek even after the Lawn Chief was 19 years old and the Craftsman was 7 years old!!!!