Kawasaki vs briggs

[jerrybob]

JD Lt180 with Kawasaki 17hp. engine........over 400 trouble free hours. Engine runs great. Replaced the tranny but engine is great!!

 

[SARG]

I have three MTD's and a Husky with the B&S 20+ hp and one ole Deere with a Kawi single lung......... All I can say is the B&S are easier to work on.

 

[TomSeller]

I have three MTD's and a Husky with the B&S 20+ hp and one ole Deere with a Kawi single lung......... All I can say is the B&S are easier to work on.

Is that because you have more opportunities to work on the Briggs? Just joking. I like Briggs too. Easy to get parts. But Kawi V2s are special.

 

[Red Bull]

Just from internet forums I would probably go with a Kawasaki next time BUT... from personal experience I would be happy with Briggs also. I bought an MTD made lawn tractor 13 years ago with a 20hp Briggs vtwin and it has never given me a seconds problem and it usually sits in the weather and I don't take the best care of it.

It will blowup the next time you start it now.

 

[crazyal]

I have only had a few "newer" Briggs engines. One is a late 80s rider that didn't get a lot of use, less than 100 hours, and it has an oil problem. If you bog the motor down it'll suck up oil and burn it like a fog machine. It's done it for the last decade. It's on a sub $1000 Sears Craftsman. The second is on a slightly newer and pretty well used garden tractor that has a v-twin Briggs. It smokes a little and burns oil. But when it was given to me I found out that it doesn't have an air filter. Don't know when it was removed or why it never got reinstalled but it could be smoking from sucking dust, can't blame Briggs for that. The last is a 10 year old walk behind DR string trimmer with a Briggs Intek engine. The float in the carb seals against a rubber washer. When we were forced to Ethanol gas it ate the washer and the engine would flood itself out. I had to make my own seal as a couple of years later the replacement carb had the same problem.

Since then I have bought Honda engines. I think if I had the choice I would buy Kawasaki. As a kid I had lots of toys with the older Briggs engines and they ran great. The occasional adjusting of the points and that's it. Go carts, mini bikes, lawn mowers, you name it, I had it and they all just worked. Now I'm not so sure. I had the option when I bought my Troy built rider and got the Kohler courage engine over the briggs. It will not start unless you fully choke it no matter how hot it is but it starts every time. Of course it's 5 years old with well under 50 hours.

 

[vrmnthntr]

After owning several Briggs or knowing people who have owned Briggs. They are not as reliable as they once were. I have only owned Kohler and Honda. If I had a choice I would choose Kawasaki.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

If you're going to buy a Briggs, make sure it's the Briggs Vanguard engine. The Vanguard line is made by Daihatsu, which is owned by Toyota. It's a really good engine, and is commercial grade that is built to better specs than the consumer engines. Between the Vanguard and the Kawasaki, it's a coin flip.

If the Briggs is not a Vanguard, I'd go with the Kawasaki.

 

[hslogger]

I have an older LX178 Deere mower with a bigass Kawasaki. It is liquid cooled. It is with out question the finest engine imaginable.
For walk behind self propelled mowers I go with Honda Honda Honda.The whole mower.

 

[bluewater 23]

I have a Toro 60" zero turn with a 27 hp Kawasaki motor with 197 hrs with out any problems. I know that's not a ton of hours but I've been impressed as a former owner of mowers with other motors that have been oil hogs!

 

[rjwerth]

I personally want nothing more to do with B&S. I have machines from nearly every name there is and the only ones that I have problems with are the Briggs.

 

[mikehaugen]

So with all of the manufacturers making different "grades" of engines... kohler's "courage" and "command" line, or briggs' "intek", "i/c", and vanguard", I would have to imagine the kawasaki does the same thing. I always just hear people refer to them as kawasaki without specifying which line. There are multiple lines, right?

 

[MHarryE]

Are Kawasaki and Briggs priced the same? I have had many Briggs over the years with almost no problems. In the late 90's I had a Craftsman push mower that wore out its self propelled gear train so I bought a Honda since everyone said they were great. Worst engine I have ever owned, and the only one that actually had to go back to the shop. Got rid of it when the warranty expired and have all Briggs now with excellent luck - 2 cheapo JD riders. The old one did need a new spark plug in its 11th season.

 

[DmansPadge]

So with all of the manufacturers making different "grades" of engines... kohler's "courage" and "command" line, or briggs' "intek", "i/c", and vanguard", I would have to imagine the kawasaki does the same thing. I always just hear people refer to them as kawasaki without specifying which line. There are multiple lines, right?

Yes... Kawasaki has different lines of engines too. I believe all of theirs start with "F" and the letter(s) after that designates which line it is.

 

[TomSeller]

Yes... Kawasaki has different lines of engines too. I believe all of theirs start with "F" and the letter(s) after that designates which line it is.

http://kawpower.com/engines

 

[Ginormous]

The OP was asking about the Husqvarna yth18k46, which has an 18 HP Kawasaki FR (R is for residential) line of engine.

Anyone have any more comments on this mower specifically or the FR Kawasaki engines in general? I'm also looking at this Husqvarna mower...

Cheers,
G