Honda GCV160 or Briggs 725exi

[Anthony]

I ended up with the Troy-Bilt Honda. The particular deck on my mower I noticed is used on several other mowers just with different brands and engines.

Walmart had my exact deck but with the Briggs engine and a snapper logo.

My Troy-bilt is not self propelled but is very light so I don't miss SP at all. It starts very easily and has good power even in thick grass.

I'm slightly annoyed that the engine has an occasional stumble or miss like it's about to run out of gas. Fuel valve is definitely on. It has less than 2 hours on it.

I'll be paying attention to it. The fuel I initially ran through it was the non ethanol 92 octane that Home Depot sells in the store. Just wanted to save time.
I topped that off with quick trip Non Ethanol 87 octane.

I've see some complaints about the Honda Auto choke. Does this have anything to do with the occasional stumble?

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by Anthony
I ended up with the Troy-Bilt Honda. The particular deck on my mower I noticed is used on several other mowers just with different brands and engines.

Walmart had my exact deck but with the Briggs engine and a snapper logo.

My Troy-bilt is not self propelled but is very light so I don't miss SP at all. It starts very easily and has good power even in thick grass.

I'm slightly annoyed that the engine has an occasional stumble or miss like it's about to run out of gas. Fuel valve is definitely on. It has less than 2 hours on it.

I'll be paying attention to it. The fuel I initially ran through it was the non ethanol 92 octane that Home Depot sells in the store. Just wanted to save time.
I topped that off with quick trip Non Ethanol 87 octane.

I've see some complaints about the Honda Auto choke. Does this have anything to do with the occasional stumble?


Hmm maybe check the spark plug or swap it with a known good one? I've seen a bad plug cause this on a brand new mower. The Honda auto-choke is kinda funky sometimes. Most of the time it seems they stick and won't come off choke in my experience, but that just makes the engine run very rough.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Originally Posted by Anthony
I've see some complaints about the Honda Auto choke. Does this have anything to do with the occasional stumble?


Probably not. The auto choke is just a simple choke pulloff. You set the choke, when the mower starts the arm swings sideways to open the choke, should take a couple seconds. Sometimes they gum up and the choke stays on but you'll immediately notice because the engine won't stay running. You can physically move the choke arm to the open position to make sure it's not partially closed, but on a new mower, I doubt this is the case. You typically don't see the auto choke problems until a year or two down the road when gunk builds up on the mechanism.

You can see if the engine is running lean (most are set very lean from the factory to help with emissions) by manipulating the choke and seeing if that stumble disappears if you partially close the choke.

 

[pbm]

My last mower had a B&S....my latest has the Honda 160....the B&S never bogged down no matter how tall the grass...the Honda just doesn't have the same power (I realize it's probably lower HP but they were both priced similarly when new)…..the B&S was a beast for power.... On the other hand, the Honda uses less gasoline...

 

[FastLane]

I have the 725exi. It's a beast. I didn't really care for it at first. The valves were not adjusted properly at first. Now I love it. Tons of power. Uses very little fuel. I run M1 10W30 in it.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by pbm
My last mower had a B&S....my latest has the Honda 160....the B&S never bogged down no matter how tall the grass...the Honda just doesn't have the same power (I realize it's probably lower HP but they were both priced similarly when new)…..the B&S was a beast for power.... On the other hand, the Honda uses less gasoline...


That has been my experience as well. The Honda GCV160 is quieter and uses less fuel than a Briggs flathead, but has less power. A GCV190 is much more comparable.

 

[4WD]

Yeah … I went from a B&S 6.75 to 7.25 … was out of town … lots of rain … thick grass …

Thought I put the new mower on mulch … it must have been "munch" setting

Good power and the whole mower is lighter plus quicker gears …