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Let's keep this to lawn and garden-type machines, single or two cylinder, two or four stroke.

My favorite is 4 stroke B&S, and here's why:

B&S, IMHO, are the longest-running, simplest, cheapest to fix, most abuseable engine on the market. Bar none.

I have never had luck with tecumseh. Constant carb problems, electrical problems, and the rings don't seem to last as long as they do on other brands. When the rings go, the oil thins out, and you end up siezing up, or throwing a rod. Just my personal exp. with them. You might have had better luck. I've owned 5 of them, and the best one is in my white snowblower. But, that one is starting to have carb problems, too!

The Japanese marques, like Honda and Kawasaki are strong, quiet, and reliable. For a time. But their carbs go to pot real quick. When you do have problems, rebuilding them is hard to do, hard to find the kits for, and very expensive. I've had 2 single cyl air-cooled Kawi's (both on JD's), and a Honda 5 horse I bought from a siezed pressure washer.

Two strokes, although they can really whip that crank around, also suffer from needing the yearly diaphragm replacement, as well as CONSTANT adjustments. New 2-strokes are a lot better, with the primer bulb system, but they are so politically correct with the carb, they aren't adjustable. So, when they inevitably need adjustment, you are screwed.

IMHO

Have had many 4-5 hp Teks, mostly in Craftsman brand mowers and snowblowers, all have been quite reliable, although I did have many carb flooding problems for no real reason. Current push mowers are 3 6.25 or 6.75 Briggs, and one Kohler. Have never owned a Kohler pusher before but I REALLY like the mower with that engine. Easiest starting, more fuel stingy engine I have ever had.

Would you say I prefer Briggs because I have 3 versus only one Kohler? To be honest, I have never had a lot of brand loyalty to small engines. I do have one '89 tiller (Rally by MTD) with a 5 hp Briggs. I cannot believe how relaible it has been...gets used 25 hours a year, all at full throttle, gets an oil change every late fall. Know what I have put into it over all those years of ownership?

THREE AIR FILTERS, SIX PLUGS, ONE SET OF BELTS, ONE STARTER ROPE. I cannot believe how reliable that tiller has been.....:smile: Best power equipment I have EVER purchased for the money. :thumbsup:

JDgreen said:

....Would you say I prefer Briggs because I have 3 versus only one Kohler?....

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Not at all! I have more teks than B&S, but I prefer the latter! Kohler is a fine brand....haven't had much to do with them, tho, since my dad's 76 Wheel Horse with an 8hp cast iron Kohler. Helluva engine, but again, carb issues.

JDgreen said:

although I did have many carb flooding problems for no real reason.

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....my problem as well.

I like the Tecumseh on push mowers and snow blowers. They are always reliable and have had no problems with them in these applications. I always drain the gas and run them till they die at the end of the season and they always start right up at the start of the season. For bigger engines, such as those in lawn tractors, I like Kohler and Kawasaki. Both are reliable work horse engines. Tecumseh engines bigger then 10 hp suck!!

indypower said:

I like the Tecumseh on push mowers and snow blowers. They are always reliable and have had no problems with them in these applications. I always drain the gas and run them till they die at the end of the season and they always start right up at the start of the season. For bigger engines, such as those in lawn tractors, I like Kohler and Kawasaki. Both are reliable work horse engines. Tecumseh engines bigger then 10 hp suck!!

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I'd agree with you on the snowblower part. Their tendancy to end up running rich works out well in the cold. But, gonna have to stick by my original opinion about the push mowers....:smile:

Just so you know, I also drain my equipment's gas (and run out the fuel in the bowl) after the season's done. Doesn't seem to make much diff....:frown:

indypower said:

I like the Tecumseh on push mowers and snow blowers. They are always reliable and have had no problems with them in these applications. I always drain the gas and run them till they die at the end of the season and they always start right up at the start of the season. For bigger engines, such as those in lawn tractors, I like Kohler and Kawasaki. Both are reliable work horse engines. Tecumseh engines bigger then 10 hp suck!!

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If thats the case, I'm so glad the Tek on my genset is ONLY 10 hp....:smile:

i have had alot of b&S youst to race them on go carts but i have to say the kohler has been the best for me i have 2 of them over 10 years old and they don't give any problems:smile:

JDgreen said:

If thats the case, I'm so glad the Tek on my genset is ONLY 10 hp....:smile:

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I've got an 11 horse in that agway of mine. Can't get it running right to save my life....THAT one runs lean..... and the starter is a hunka poop! I've rebuilt it several times (I refuse to buy one at $125!!!!), and the charging system isn't good enough to even recharge a AAA batt.......14 volts, but only 2.5 amps at full throttle.

Stihl is the best brand that I have ever worked with (in trimmers, chainsaws.....)

But as for push/riders I love to use Briggs because there pretty cheap, easy to work on, and most important, they are reliable. I love any mower with a Kohler engine in it
they are great. Husqvarna and craftsman are prob the best.

I do not like Tecumseh, I hate the way the whole carb system is set up. The carb is Too low and gets gummed up very easy. I prob cleaned it out 2 times a season and I always use fresh super gas in my machines.

jteuban said:

Stihl is the best brand that I have ever worked with (in trimmers, chainsaws.....)

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I have an echo, used it for small chain saw duties for four seasons now - never a problem. But, like I said, when I DO have one, the carb isn't adjustable.....not even a little.

jteuban said:

I do not like Tecumseh, I hate the way the whole carb system is set up. The carb is Too low and gets gummed up very easy. I prob cleaned it out 2 times a season and I always use fresh super gas in my machines.

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I agree. Seems the tank is always about 1/64th" higher than the carb......never flows right, then the needle gets gummed up, and it floods a bit, then you try to adjust to compensate, then you rebuild the carb.........on and on and on........

Yes Twall I know what you mean I have never personally owned 1 for any time to run into major problems but I have worked on them for years and I will never buy one. A man gave me one a few years ago so I said why not, Ill give it a try. I DID, it took 9 pulls and when it finally started I used it for about an hour and it overheated. I was so mad at it I did not even bother to fix it. I just gave it to my friend who needed some parts from it.

They put them on snowblowers which is a big mistake because they will not even start in the hot weather so there is no way they can start in the cold.

Not a huge fan of Tecumseh, but mainly because parts aren't as readily available as other brands. There is a briggs, kohler, or kawi behind a shed or grainery on every farm in this area. Tecumseh is a Sears engine and the nearest Sears is 5 hours away:tongue:

My biggest peeve is companies like MTD, Yardman and the like putting out lawn care, snow blowers etc with systems that may as well be considered disposable. If they malfuntion internally, parts can be a bugger to track down and sometimes individual parts can't be bought. You have to buy the crank, rod and piston as a set.

I have a Kawi, Yami, stihl, briggs, tecuseh, Polairs, Josered and a Honda on my yard and as long as I look at them eveynow and again:wink: they work ok.

mumptia said:

Not a huge fan of Tecumseh, but mainly because parts aren't as readily available as other brands. There is a briggs, kohler, or kawi behind a shed or grainery on every farm in this area. Tecumseh is a Sears engine and the nearest Sears is 5 hours away:tongue:

My biggest peeve is companies like MTD, Yardman and the like putting out lawn care, snow blowers etc with systems that may as well be considered disposable. If they malfuntion internally, parts can be a bugger to track down and sometimes individual parts can't be bought. You have to buy the crank, rod and piston as a set.

I have a Kawi, Yami, stihl, briggs, tecuseh, Polairs, Josered and a Honda on my yard and as long as I look at them eveynow and again:wink: they work ok.

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I have *****ed many times here about what a ripoff parts prices are, it is usually more cost effective to just buy a whole new item instead of repairing...such encourages a throwaway society.

JDgreen said:

I have *****ed many times here about what a ripoff parts prices are, it is usually more cost effective to just buy a whole new item instead of repairing...such encourages a throwaway society.

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Agreed. I find people are taking a more hands off approach because of how difficult these engines are to fix / maintain. Like many other industries its a racket. I drive a 3/4 ton cummins and I changed out the brake rotors not long ago. $250 each at the dealer or go to the local parts store for a jobber and it was $50 each. Go figure. I know some jobber parts aren't as good as OEM parts but that ia another thread.....

Seasoned journeyman partsman ( Journeyman Parts is a ticketed trade in Alberta) have a hell of a time finding parts for the "blue" honda. I know mechanics who consider it a throw away engine. Who would have ever thought of Honda as disposable?

Handy thing about being a shop teacher is that I get the oldest, most give-up on engiines on the planet coming into my shop. The dads are coughing up engines with full intentions of never seeing it again because its pooched ( or at least they think it is). Many times ( not all) we get em running mainly because they are so old and the parts of older engines are easier to get ( and my stash of parts id for older rigs anyway)

I guess having a throw away engine line will allow us to build up a pretty good cache of parts in a hurry eh?