Manufacturers vs. Engine Manufactuers

[ziti]

Hello everyone. I joined this forum last month and have enjoyed reading all the posts and comments, particularly on deciding what make and model to choose when buying a new lawn tractor. I bought a new Hustler 52-inch Raptor last year with a kawasaki 23 HP engine. No problems. The biggest factor for me in buying it was the engine. There are dozens of of manufactuers to choose from, all running the same engines from 4 or 5 manufactures. What irks me is that some companies, who once had a respected brand name, are now installing cheap, inferior engines in their residential models. I suppose that is a trend nowadays in other industries as well. To my knowledge, there are currently no manufactuers in the U.S. who build both the engines and the machines they power. Every summer, I see the old man down the street riding his 60's era Yamaha. He knew what he was doing when he bought it.

 

[ILENGINE]

MTD has control of an engine factory in China that builds engines for some of their products such as Cub Cadet and Troybilt, as well as their cheaper box store products.

Briggs and Stratton owns Simplicity, which also includes Snapper, and Ferris.

 

[pugaltitude]

Murray too.

 

[ILENGINE]

Murray is an oddball though. Briggs owns Murray, but they are manufactured by MTD and Husqvarna, but are required to use Briggs engines.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Hello everyone. I joined this forum last month and have enjoyed reading all the posts and comments, particularly on deciding what make and model to choose when buying a new lawn tractor. I bought a new Hustler 52-inch Raptor last year with a kawasaki 23 HP engine. No problems. The biggest factor for me in buying it was the engine. There are dozens of of manufactuers to choose from, all running the same engines from 4 or 5 manufactures. What irks me is that some companies, who once had a respected brand name, are now installing cheap, inferior engines in their residential models. I suppose that is a trend nowadays in other industries as well. To my knowledge, there are currently no manufactuers in the U.S. who build both the engines and the machines they power. Every summer, I see the old man down the street riding his 60's era Yamaha. He knew what he was doing when he bought it.

Again a sign of rampant consumerism and the unrealisic demand of the modern consummer that every thing they want has to be cheaper and magically get cheaper every year.
Stop for a few seconds and imagne jus how much work goes into manking an engine, it aint cheap.
The only real difference beteen a motorcycle engine & a mower engine is a gearbox & clutch.
Yet we will happily pay $ 20,000 for the imige of our wild & rebellious self sitting on top of a Harley which never gets ridden but quib at paying a reasonable price for an engine to go into our mowers that we use every week.
Mower companies do not like fitting imported engine into their mowers. It adds a lot problems .
They have no choice becaue you will go out and buy the cheapest mower in the class.
The engine is nearly 1/2 the price of making the mower so we get what we deserive for our cheapness, foreign made engine with no parts back up or support and once out of warantee, tough luck.

 

[motoman]

Great discussion. ziti, where are the Kawasakis made?

Bert, "...the only difference..." I know you did not think this one through or only at a superficial level. If you are saying the lawn mower engine is like a 1920 motorcycle engine...ok. How long will a Briggs engine last at 5000, 7000, 12000 rpm?

 

[pugaltitude]

Murray is an oddball though. Briggs owns Murray, but they are manufactured by MTD and Husqvarna, but are required to use Briggs engines.

I didnt realise Murray were using mtd for ride ons now.
I sell the lawnflite range but come with a loncin and not a briggs.
still like the original murray range.
Easy to work on etc.

 

[reynoldston]

Again a sign of rampant consumerism and the unrealisic demand of the modern consummer that every thing they want has to be cheaper and magically get cheaper every year.
Stop for a few seconds and imagne jus how much work goes into manking an engine, it aint cheap.
The only real difference beteen a motorcycle engine & a mower engine is a gearbox & clutch.
Yet we will happily pay $ 20,000 for the imige of our wild & rebellious self sitting on top of a Harley which never gets ridden but quib at paying a reasonable price for an engine to go into our mowers that we use every week.
Mower companies do not like fitting imported engine into their mowers. It adds a lot problems .
They have no choice becaue you will go out and buy the cheapest mower in the class.
The engine is nearly 1/2 the price of making the mower so we get what we deserive for our cheapness, foreign made engine with no parts back up or support and once out of warantee, tough luck.

So you are saying the engine in my Harley is nothing more then a lawn mower engine?? I don't think, so not even close. Mine motorcycle engine was made by Harley Davidson and my mower engine was made by Kohler. Maybe your motorcycle has a lawn mower engine in it but not mine. When you get down to the facts all engines work on the same principle from day one but they aren't all alike. Its like saying a Ford model T engine is the same as a 2016 Mustang engine, not even close.

 

[bertsmobile1]

probably not the best comparrison but I have done a few Briggs motors for racers that will happily do 7000 rpm.
Once you take the counter weight off and balance the crank, there is not all that much difference.
Latter engines will toss the piston if you don't fit a stronger rod however the earlier side bangers will usually take 7000.

 

[ziti]

Thanks Motoman. Kawasaki has an assembly plant in Missouri where they build FS, FR, and FX series engines. I've never owned a Kawasaki engine before in any machine so I thought I'd give it a try. Just a side note here and being an average homeowner with a one acre plus yard to mow, the best engine for my money in a rider is in my old 89' Honda 3011H which I still use.