Mower engine choice advice please!

[TooSlick]

Lightman,

I've worked as a propulsion engineer for twenty years and Honda/Kawasaki make the best small, four stroke engines I've seen. I have a 16 year old Honda HP-214 push mower and it runs as good as it ever did. My John Deere 265 has an 17 hp commercial Kawa engine and it's very well designed also ....

Take a look at how many equipment rental places use the honda engine for tillers, pressure washers, etc.

TooSlick

 

[Schmoe]

Lightman, drop a blower on it!!! Look at the carb, there is a limiter on it. There will be a long spring that goes from the throttle control to a carb. valve. Or try this, get it running and pull that spring, you will hear the rpm's jump.

 

[penzdude]

schmoe, lawnboy also makes 4 stroke equipped mowers. i have a silver series. they are tecumsehs. no problems yet. around 3 years old, heavy use. i suspect, as they are now owned by toro, you will start seeing the briggs gts engines showing up on them eventualy. i beleive the xenoy deck which i have on my honda harmony 215 is a great idea. not effected by moisture, oil, gas, or lawn chemicals. i beleive it was designed by general electric for the space industry. it comes on the more expensive honda's, not the cheaper ones. mine has the ohv engine, not the resident homeowner ohc. the honda motors seem to be much more fuel efficent than their briggs and tecumseh bretheren. although i beleive all 3 to be good motors, i would probably go honda. penz

[ July 02, 2003, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: penzdude ]

 

[Lightman]

thanks much guys for all of your replies. There is no question I'm going with the Honda. If TS endorses it, you know it's good, Ted is the man!

 

[darrenc]

Schmoe. The plastic you seem biased against is some of the most durable material I have ever come across. The plastic deck on my Honda Harmony has taken big hits from rocks, brass sprinkler parts, bolts, etc. Resulting damage? None. Barely a nick in the deck. My previous steel deck mower, on the other hand, suffered dents, gouges, and in one instance, a tear in the deck from hitting similar material. Sorry, I’m sold on the Zenoy. “They just don’t build ‘em like they just to.” Thank God!

My mower and GV series motor is made in the US.

 

[Lightman]

WEll guys, I got the swisher pull behind mower with the 11hp honda. I'm not happy with it at all and am returning it tomorrow. Not because of the engine...it just doesn't work well for my yard.

So the quest moves to riding mowers. I've been looking at a Husqvarna rider, and they offer a 17HP Kohler engine for $500 less than a 13HP Kawasaki. Can anyone explain this or give a reason to get the kaw over the kohler? Both have spin on oil filters and the same deck size etc...

 

[mrchecker]

I can't explain that, and I can't think of any reason not to get a Kohler. I know Kawasaki has used plastic for the camshaft in the past, but I think they came back to their senses and started using metal again. 4 hp is a lot, and at $500 cheaper, how can you argue against it?

 

[Redwing]

Pre-1998 Honda small engines are tough to beat, but recent production has switched over to "Made in China". I work in comercial construction and we use the tar out of these small engines and the new Honda's reliabilty is way down. The B/S horizontal Intek engines are awsome.
I also own a J/D 425 that has the Kawi 20hp that needed the "PLASTIC" twin cams replaced at 341hrs

. Swapped out to metal per J/D recommendation.

 

[Lightman]

Folks, thanks much for your direction and advice. Although it was tough to fork over the dough, I bought the 42" Husqvarna XP with the 15HP Kawasaki v-twin with full oil lubrication and oil filter. Woohoo. It cranked right up and rides like a dream. I did my yard literally 5x faster than with my walk behind! I'm guessing this thing will be smiles for years to come. Thanks everyone for all your help!

 

[Bror Jace]

For all you current and future Honda power equipment owners out there, I deal with manhonda.com in Connecticut and they are fairly cheap and good to deal with regarding purchasing parts.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Lightman]

Mr checker, I have found out a few more differences. The kaw is a v-twin 2 cyl with full pressure oil lubrication and filter, the Kohler is a 1 cyl. Husqvarna is claming the kaw's have more torque, fuel efficiency, and lower emissions. They claim the kaw's are their commercial engine, but I always thought Kohler's were supposed to be pretty good too. Isn't that what are in john deere's?
Regardless, the extra $500 gets you the kaw engine, cupholder, adjustable seat, padded wheel, cast iron front axle with grease zerks, AND the ability to attach baggers etc. The kohler model is pretty stripped down... For $700 more, at a full $1999 you can get a 15hp kaw with the above features...ahh decisions...

 

[Cujet]

Something I forgot to mention. The EPA now requires all current production engines (except a few small volume manufacturers) to be EPA phase 2 compliant, and as such there is a really cool rating system.

It goes something like this.

For larger engines (I think about 275cc and larger)

Catagory A = 1000 hour EPA compliance
Catagory B = 500 hour EPA compliance
Catagory c = 250 hour EPA complaince

The scale works the same way for small engines and it is something like this:

A= 300 hour
b= 125 hour
c= 50 hour

I am doing this by memory, so please be aware that the numbers may be slightly off. However they are close.

Of course the EPA compliance period is not the expected life span of the engine. From what I hear, small engines generally last up to 3 times as long as the EPA compliance period.

In any case look for a catagory A engine.

By the way, Honda often places a number value on the EPA compliance sticker, so it is up to you to determine how many cc,s the engine is and what catagory the engine falls into.

Honda engines are nearly all catagory "A" with the exception of the (I think GC series), homeowner overhead cam engines. The ones that are around 5HP belt driven OHC. The overhead valve engines are very good.


Chris

 

[tom slick]

you will not go wrong between the Honda or B&S. both are quality and american made. i perfer Hondas, when they get older they seem to still start easier and run better then the B&S. tecumseh is crap

 

[Lightman]

Thanks for the repeated replies guys. Again, I've changed my mind about that pull behind mower with the briggs/honda engine choice.

I am the happy owner of a new husqvarna 15HP kawasaski v-twin 42" riding mower. It's sweet, has some serious power. Sounds kinda throaty like my v-twin kaw ATV.

Anyway, thanks again everyone, sorry if I wasted ppls time with all the briggs/honda choice. After finally deciding on the honda(which was probably a fine engine), the mower sucked!

 

[Cujet]

See, you finally went with my favorite engine in the first place. Kawasaki!

Chris

 

[mcmech]

Lightman...I've been thinking of buying a Swisher 60" pull-behind mower to help with the mowing chores of 3 acres.
What didn't you like about the one you bought?

 

[Lightman]

The quality of the cut was decent, but the manuverability was awful. Atv's dont have the best turning radius, and especially with how far back the swisher is, its a pretty long rig. It would be ideal for big square fields that you didn't have to turn around trees or bushes etc, and you could cut in a straight line.. The riding lawn tractor is 800 times better for my application and goes just about as fast as you can cut with the swisher (8-10mph). Also I started thinking, why add extra hours and wear to my atv, why use 2 engines when I could use just one... All that low rpm pulling is hard and HOT on the atv...