Briggs vs Kawasaki on Ferris IS 700z

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deltabowhunter

Forum Newbie
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.
 
deltabowhunter said:
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?
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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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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