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I have a few 5hp, horizontal Briggs engines. They are aluminum with the tank mounted carbs and mounting bolts at about the 10 and 4 clock positions.
One has a slide type, pull choke. The others don't. They are all due for replacement.
Is there a "better" carb to look for?
They are just old tiller engines that I want to run each spring.

The BEST you can get is OEM (Briggs) Or Stens,Oregon, or known quality aftermarket manufactures like them...
once you get on Amazon and Ebay from sellers like "Best carb USA" or "BEST Cowboy hotdog rocketship Carburetors", that's when quality goes down....

Personally I don’t think you will be able to find a better carb. Those carbs are about as simple as they come and with proper maintainance work well. Most common problem is where the carb mounts to the tank. Tanks like to warp, making it difficult to get a good seal for the carb to work properly. If this occurs I’ve found that using two gaskets and a fuel resistant sealant, like Permatex 85420, works great.

Just be aware that Briggs no longer makes the metal fuel tanks used on these. Plus they prone to rusting leading to clogged carburetors or the fuel well becomes pitted and leak all the fuel out of it.

unless you are blowing snow or working soil in mid winter the prime style carbs give less problems than the choke style
Auto choke carbs are a joke and regularly fail
I would replace 10 auto chokes for every regular carb that requires repair or replacement.
Right now I am trying to chase down the factory that makes the auto choke so I can buy them in bulk because they are regularly out of stock .

If you are talking about the 5hp flathead 13xxxx series engines the carbs themselves are dead simple. I have never neede to replace one of those carbs. The usual problem is rusted tanks. If you pull the carb and the tank is a rust bucket you are pretty much screwed. The tanks are no longer available. Sometimes the fuel pickup tube on the carb needs replaced and the fuel pump diaphragm but that is about all the goes bad on the carb. There are a few different carbs used. The slide choke one may have an adjustable main mixture screw and idle mixture screw. The butterfly choke ones probably don't have an adjustable main mixture some have an adjustable idle mixture screw, some don't. There are a few differen tanks too. If you have never removed one of these carbs enjoy the bottom screw on the carb. Smart people replace the carb to block bolts with 1/4-20 allen head cap screws. I have saved a few with rusty tanks by using Red Kote fuel tank liner but it is a PITA.

How about the plastic tanks and carbs on Amazon?

Nessmuck said:

How about the plastic tanks and carbs on Amazon?

Click to expand...

Got a link?

Here is a tank for the old slide type choke 13xxxx 5hp horiz briggs.

Same picture on ebay, $5 cheaper!! Hummmm

Use only ethanol free gas in small engines. It won't draw water and rust your new tank.

What is the difference between the various diaphragm type, horizontal flat head carbs for the different numbered engines?
I see different air cleaner mounting, and different choke systems.
Is that all?
Also, why do the slide choke carbs cost double the money,
and will a 1 quart tank work if needed?

There are 2 basic designs.the older slide type choke and the newer butterfly type choke. There is almost nothing interchangeable between the carbs. The linkage is different and so is the tank. The block bolt pattern is the same so you can put an old style carb and tank on a new style and vice versa but all the linkage needs to change too.

Thank you.

I'd get a gallon or two of white vinegar and soak the insides, and look up videos on sealing gas tanks, you need to seal them so they don't start rusting again, Taryl Fixes All did a good video on that.

The only problem is if the fuel well is rusted through. I haven't seen any replacement fuel wells for the tanks that uses them..