Briggs L-head; what an engine!

JBtoro

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Family member brought me his Briggs 7.25 on a 5 year old Troybilt walk behind. I hadn't seen it nor serviced in a year. Turned it on it's side to drain the old oil; nothing came out. Dipstick showed nothing either. He had somehow failed to check the oil during the last year and also let the air filter get completely clogged. I feel certain that he mowed with it many times in this condition or when the level was quite low. So I put oil in it & it started right up. I ran it for at least 30-40 minutes & it ran & sounded great with no smoking whatsoever. So here's a post of praise for B&S and this engine. But, it appears the co. has gone to OHV's on all its newer offerings. Too bad.
 

Russ2251

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"But, it appears the co. has gone to OHV's on all its newer offerings. Too bad."
Small flat head engines (for our usage) have not been manufactured for many years now due
to emissions issues/concerns.
Too bad? More horsepower per lb. is a good thing in my book.
 

tom3

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The newer motors, even with the plastic camshafts, seem to be pretty decent engines with routine maintenance. Usually outlast a steel deck mower.
 

Tinkerer200

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"But, it appears the co. has gone to OHV's on all its newer offerings. Too bad."
Small flat head engines (for our usage) have not been manufactured for many years now due
to emissions issues/concerns.
Too bad? More horsepower per lb. is a good thing in my book.

The OHV engines are having a much higher failure rate I think is what he is referencing.

Walt Conner
 

JBtoro

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The OHV engines are having a much higher failure rate I think is what he is referencing.

Walt Conner
Folks, I guess I left the impression that I thought OHV's are inferior. Not at all. I was merely trying to point out that the tried-&-true B&S l-heads are really sturdy engines if, as I reported, they can run with low or no oil for ... what?... several weeks , months maybe. And then start on 1st pull with no smoke? Pretty impressive.
 

bertsmobile1

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The L heads date back to the slide rule days so are substantially over engineered, which in a product like a lawnmower is not such a bad idea.
The OHV engines have been designed with the aid of computers to be made with a little metal as possible and to a finite service life.
 

tom3

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I used to work in the slide rule days. And logarithms. Then got a Remington (?) calculator @ $169, a full week's take home pay. Worked that thing to death. We were some behind here in Appalach I guess.
 

jp1961

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Hello,
I remember old timers back when I was a kid, saying they don't make things like they used to. Now that I'm an old fart, I'm saying the same thing,,,lol.

The engine would be even better if it was one of the old cast iron type, not the "Kool Bore" with aluminum cylinder with no steel liner.

Time to change my Depends and take my meds,,,ROFL.

Regards

Jeff
 

bertsmobile1

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Hello,
I remember old timers back when I was a kid, saying they don't make things like they used to. Now that I'm an old fart, I'm saying the same thing,,,lol.

The engine would be even better if it was one of the old cast iron type, not the "Kool Bore" with aluminum cylinder with no steel liner.

Time to change my Depends and take my meds,,,ROFL.

Regards

Jeff

And that is true.
Almost everything you buy from candy bars to lawnmowers get cheaper and nastier every year as the factories chase more profit .
And the days of the profession screen jockie investors have made it worse as they have only one objective, maximum possible dividend and if that kills the business then who cares they just pull their funds the instant the business they have destroyed starts to look shakey and go destroy some one elses company .
As computer modeling got better you get things that were considered impossible decades earlier like aluminium bores on engines with a non replaceable barrel .

As the customer got further & further divorced from manufacturing industry the lost the ability to properly to properly evaluate what they bought so they started relying on other peoples "expert" opinions and price.
We are now at the stage when what we buy has become so complicated we really have no idea so price becomes even more important in our purchasing decisions.
Thus the number 1 rule required to make the demand economy work has not been meet and the system is now spiraling out of control to the point where a technical no body on face book with absolutely no idea about the subject they are posting on can control the destiny of a company .
 
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