Are you saying the hp of this engine can't be determined. If so, I can't believe
the competition and also the government would likely be after Briggs for not legally identifying
the hp of their engines.
mower engines are CHEAP because the buying public will not pay for QUALITY and if you don't want to believe this download the parts diagrams for some of the engines no longer made.
The Briggs engine code has the capacity of the engine in the first 2 digits and in your case 44 cu inch, just the same as you buying a 351 chev, what is 351, the SIZE of the engine , not the Hp.
Getting back to making engines that are CHEAP enough for the public to BUY.
Castings are cheap to make but moulds are expensive and cranks are more expensive still so the more engines of the same size the cheaper they become.
So the trick is to get the largest variety of "sizes" from the least number of different parts.
Mower companies design a mower, work out the load the mower will put on the engine then specify / buy an engine that is 25% above their design.
Next year it "has to be better" so next year they sell the exact same mower with a different Hp on the sticker because the buying public is both ignorant & stupid.
The next season the mower company can do the same things and they have to do it because the buying public want something that is "BETTER" than last years model and prefferably cheaper as well ( Stupid ).
This has been the case since the first powered mower was made .
Because the engine is governed it is easy to increase the Hp, you fit a lighter governor spring so the engine does 200 more rpm.
The extra Hp means nothing because the engine does not run at peak revs and should run at peak torque ( totally different things )
The mower companies do things like change governor springs, put a choking gasket in the manifold or a strait smaller manifold, smaller / larger carb, different sized main jets and some times different cams.
Back in the old days they could do a few other things but emission laws have killed those.
Do you really think that a 12Hp , 12.5Hp , 13Hp , 13.5Hp, 14Hp & 14.5Hp engine all have different bores, strokes & compression ratios ?
And just so you can get a handle on things, the crankshaft is the most expensive single part of any engine, be it car, truck , motorcycle or mower.
The crank represents 1/2 the cost for a forged crank or 1/3 the cost for a cast crank so the more engines that can use the same crank, the cheaper an engine can be made to the limit of volume efficiencies .
