Hello again envy. (I just said hello) . If I buy again I will let engine trump after owning Briggs Stratton Intek with problems There is a poll about engine choices. I will go Kaw.
#3
Ric
Engine plays a bigger role, Kawasaki is the engine I look for first, then Kohler.
#4
Arnezie
Engine played a major role. Then was hydro gears and then was overall build and price.
#5
Carscw
Ok I will be the odd one.
Engine plays no roll in buying a mower
My big things are the deck and drive setup.
I have not found any engine to be better then the rest.
For me I start with mower brand, then engine brand. I stay away from briggs as much as possible. My experience with them is that they slowly lose there power under heavy use. Often parts go out faster on low end briggs causing the initial much cheaper investment into a much larger investment over time.
The bigger briggs engines are a lot better I don't see the power loss as much and parts are quite inexpensive.
I have used the older Suzuki engines which I absolutely love. The newer commercial kawi on the proline series, the big kawi on a scag both of which I liked except the smaller kawi seemed to bend crankshafts easy. I worked at the other place 5 summers and saw well over 50 cranks being replaced and only 6 go out every day.