Just to add my two-cents-worth in support of my vote, I was convinced from several sources(this forum, next-door-neighbor & other friends) that the most reliable high-quality mower engines were currently the Kawasaki's and the purchase of my new Gravley Pro-Turn 152XDZ included me stongly considering the Kawa FX691V 22hp engine that came on it. Historically, I had always been a Briggs & Stratton "fan" and for many years felt they dominated the market. My first lawn tractor I purchased in 1993 was a Lawn Chief sold by True Value hardware. It was a 46" cut and had a B & S Vanguard 16hp engine and this had to be the best lawn mower engine I have ever seen!!! My son "just retired" that mower(yes, 19 years old) and that engine still ran like new, never used a drop of oil and had never seen anything except premium grade gasoline. I gave that Lawn Chief to him in 2006 when I purchased a larger 54" Craftsman(made by Husqvarna) with a 24hp B & S Intek engine which I gave to my son just recently when I purchased my Gravely. Like I said, the Lawn Chief still "ran", but the deck was beginning to rust out and the deck lift system had gone to pieces and the deck simply "rolled on the gound" so it was time to retire it. The Craftsman B & S engine(24 hp Intek) was a far cry from that 16hp Vanguard. It would not "accept" premium grade gasoline(ran like the choke was always on, sputtering and backfiring) so I had to run regular grade in it and unlike the Lawn Chief the Craftsman would "bog down" when I let the grass get a little tall and actually kill the engine even though the engine had 8 more hp that the Lawn Chief Vanguard. When the Craftsman was 3-yrs-old(just out of the engine warranty) the choke came apart inside the carburetor. A local shop wanted $200 to repair the caburetor so I just opted to remove the air filter and spray starter fluid in it each time I mowed which was a lot cheaper(very disappointed in the engine "breaking" so soon)!!! Fortunately, my-father-in-law who had some experience with small engine repair took the Craftsman and repaired the choke before we gave it to my son(he said the tiny screws that held the choke in place had vibrated out, were "gone".....so most likely went into the cylinder and out the exhaust into the muffler.....and "fortunately" didn't RUIN the engine). I consider the lack of proper "torquing" of those screws when the engine was built as a major manufacturer fault and another reason why I believe B & S is no longer the "dominant" mower engine!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
P.S.
My ZTR weighs 1,051 lbs and I doubt that Craftsman weighed half that. But the 22hp Kawa FX691V doesn't give the least indication it is "bogging down" in tall grass versus the 24hp B & S engine "dying" on occaision. I know there has been a topsy-turvy(and I think even class-action lawsuits) hoopla over the last few years about small engine "horsepower ratings", but I still can't recommend that 24hp B & S Intek to anyone!!!
P.S.S.
My other next-door-neighbor has a 15-yr-old Ariens residential 42" ZTR that has the exact same B & S engine(16hp Vanguard) that my old Lawn Chief had. His mower also still runs like the day he bought it. I think B & S has lost sight of how they built engines 15-20 years ago!!!
First use had to take it back because the o-ring gasket in one side of the valves was crimped in manufacture. Month or so later back to the shop because it lost power, valves stuck and had to wait two months for new parts to be made by the factory, a few months later same thing. In all I took it back to the shop three times for valve parts replacement and it's been sent a 4th time to the area distributor 50 miles away for valve train rebuild, that was over two weeks ago. Already looking for a new engine and it will probably be a Kawasaki that was on my last mower. Sold it to a mechanic at the dealer where I bought the Hustler and the compression was still like new, just wanted a zero turn.
