New Briggs Vanguard 40 hp EFI

C

cbs123

Active Member
Hello,

Curious about opinions on the new B&S Vanguard 40 HP EFI that's being put on commercial mowers. Vertical shaft I believe. I was always a fan of the older Vanguard engines. Someone said they used to be made by Datsun and were top of the line engines. Just wonder if it is still true about the newer generation of motors. Here's a link that gives some info on the new vanguard efi's.

EFI and ETC Engines | Vanguard® Commercial Power (vanguardpower.com)

I have a chance to buy one, but am apprehensive. The Kawasaki FX1000V (35HP non-efi) is about $600 cheaper
 
I prefer Briggs just had better longer service out of them than the last two Kawasaki’s I owned. Plenty of power easy on fuel and you can get parts for them anywhere. 27hp cyclonic is the largest I own and I’m well pleased.
 
I have a 36hp big block briggs on my frerris Z. It says made in japan so i assume by Daihatsu. About 500 hours and zero issues. It has enough power to burn up the deck belt and not stall the engine if you mow too fast in real tall grass.
 
briggs said they were moving all vanguard production to the usa. but that was before they went bankrupt. not sure if it happened.
 
Considering the financial state of B & S in the USA and the ongoing parts supply problems I would not touch a B & S engine with a barge pole.
It is fairly obvious B & S is repositioning themselves as a distributor of other peoples products .
I have 8 B & S engines in stock at the moment and they will be the last ones I ever install.
If a customer wants a B &S engine then they can go to some one else .
It might be different in the USA but down here B &S parts are in so short supply that the aftermarket parts suppliers have had record years.
I regulaly have to wait more then 6 months for parts.
So uunless the deler is going to give you a guarantee of parts supply and agrees to provide a loan mower when ever parts are not available for more than 2 weeks , in writing then forget any B & S engine.
 
I don't wait 6 months for parts but i have waited over a month for a pulley to an MTD snowblower and i waited 3 weeks for a deck brake lever kit for an AYP/Sears mower. Waited about a month for a shaft and seals for a troy bilt pony. Aftermarket parts seems to be recovering but OEM parts are always a wait now. I picked up one of those almost a zero turn cub cadet mowers yesterday for annual maint and when you press the reverse pedal it just whines but forward works fine. That will be fun to look at.
 
All OEM from time to time have part delivery problems. For me it Husqvarna chainsaw parts a few years ago. It took nearly 3 months to get a crankcase. Last year it was Briggs taking a couple months on a cylinder head.When they did send it they double the price. That was before Briggs had the go around with Chapter 11. Since that happen late in the season I have no idea how parts from them will the coming season.

But I am having problems with my distributor charging full UPS rates; unless, I place a $200+ order. It hurts to pay $45 in shipping on a $100 part order. Late last year I was rerouting orders to other vendors that had more reasonable shipping charges. That vendor with the $200 minumun order was also my after market v-belt supplier until they got to where every belt came in short so I quit the belt orders.
 
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