I will be mowing 2 acres every 1 to 1.5 weeks and am looking at the Ferris IS 700z 52" as a possible candidate for the job. I'm looking to keep this mower a minimum of 10-12 years. Is the Kawasaki engine really worth the extra $400?
I'd say yes! Briggs has been making lawn mower motors for thousands( maybe decades) of years but, up until just recently, they've been one cylinders. I don't believe they quite have the twin cylinder engines completely mastered. Kawasaki builds great twins. If you adjust the valves as they recommend and change the oil w/filter, they will last for thousands of hours. I'm not kidding. My nephew has a landscaping business and uses Ferris mowers. He runs them 3500-4000 hours, then sells them to people that have run them a couple more thousand. gregjo1948
Look at the poll just updated on preferred engines in this forum. My Briggs caused much heartburn when only 2 years old (Intek twin). I would say $400 is a good investment if it provides better reliability. Somehow Briggs has a quality problem with their incoming head material (foundry) IMO.
I will be mowing 2 acres every 1 to 1.5 weeks and am looking at the Ferris IS 700z 52" as a possible candidate for the job. I'm looking to keep this mower a minimum of 10-12 years. Is the Kawasaki engine really worth the extra $400?
I'd definitely pay the difference and get the Kawasaki Engine. Briggs makes a poor to fair residential single and that's about all. IMO there V-twins are poor at best and they never made it in the commercial end of the market. I think if you look at the commercial mowers like Hustler, Toro, Exmark, Scag and some of the others you'll find they use Kawasaki and Kohler engines, not Briggs.
#5
Mike88se
$400 over 10 to 12 years? Yes I'd say it's worth it.
Just wanted to add into this thread with that I believe Briggs now owns Ferris. I hope they don't cheapen them to a lesser quality machine. Maybe down the road a briggs engine is all they will offer. How would you like that? gregjo1948
#7
Ric
I believe it went something like Simplicity purchased Ferris and Snapper a while ago and then Simplicity was bought out by B&S so B&S own all of those now.
