So a Briggs can die...

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Got this for free from my gpa back in 01-02 and is 98 model according to the serial number. He got it out of Tulsa I think for $20. I got another one from him similar (non-self-propelled) a few years back and only used it a couple times since then. Let my dad use it at my other grandma's till they sold the place. They've used it for over a month and has ran normal in this time. Last week he was half way through the backyard and it went bang! and metal started falling out of the bottom and started slinging oil... mom heard it over her mower in the front! Didn't die right away either!

Perfectly maintained and never used any oil. Oil was perfect and new. Interesting I've never had a mower die outside of the deck falling apart. It'll be many months till I get back down there and actually get to look at it. And no he didn't hit anything.. there wasn't any ruts to hit in that yard! I guess it doesn't owe us anything at this point lol ..

 
It might have lasted longer if you didn't do all those burn-outs, jeesh look at that bald LF tire! the poor thing!


It could be said that you got all your money out of that one.
 
Originally Posted By: KGMtech
It might have lasted longer if you didn't do all those burn-outs, jeesh look at that bald LF tire! the poor thing!



A lot of left turns on that one. Wonder if it lost governor control and just over-sped?
 
Well now I'm nervous! I have that exact same mower and have been using it for about 10 years now. Found it in my mother in law's shed after she died.
 
I've seen lots of dead Briggs engines myself.

IMO Briggs is not what they used to be. The new stuff is [censored], especially the Inteks.

From valve issues, to failing governors, poorly designed non-adjustable carbs with hot-start issues, they're junk. Not to mention Briggs doesn't have service manuals online and their parts are priced like gold.

But what other choice do we have for small engines? Kohler? Lol no thanks. Honda? Decent but way too much $, same with Kawasaki, great engines, but stupid expensive.
 
I concur, Briggs is far from top notch. That's why you see them on economy priced machines. Any high dollar machine will have a Honda GX, Subaru, Kawasaki, etc.


That said, on my personal machines, I've had mixed luck with them. Some have been fine, others have been trouble. 2 broke their cranks, another dropped valve seats.

[censored], Tecumseh motors were A LOT more crude than Briggs was, and I still had better luck with the Tecs.
 
Originally Posted By: Canadastang

IMO Briggs is not what they used to be. The new stuff is [censored], especially the Inteks.
From valve issues, to failing governors, poorly designed non-adjustable carbs with hot-start issues, they're junk. Not to mention Briggs doesn't have service manuals online and their parts are priced like gold.


1) Aluminum connecting rods are "Fatigue Life Components".... every time it swings, it's life gets shorter.
2) Briggs keeps cutting corners to make their engines cheaper to buy. Tecumseh is pretty much out of the picture and has been for years. The chinese engines are coming on strong now.

Originally Posted By: Canadastang
But what other choice do we have for small engines? Kohler? Lol no thanks. Honda? Decent but way too much $, same with Kawasaki, great engines, but stupid expensive.


Kohler Command = yes, excellent.
Kohler Courage = chinese garbage.
 
Briggs Vangaurd was a decent engine - but guess the cost keeps them off a number of things.
 
I have mowed my whole life with B&S engines and still do - I'm not having issues with anything but Chonda motors.
 
1978 16hp SynchroBalanced vertical twin Briggs...still going strong.Original points too!
 
Briggs can die like anything else, even with proper maintenance.

From the bald front tire, it looks like that mower has either a ton of hours, or was used on a hill. Splash lubricated engines that are used on hills are usually more likely to have connecting rod failures due to oil starvation. I've seen a number of horizontal Kohler K-series engines and Tecumseh snow engines have connecting rod failures from this.

I also saw a newer Subaru/Robin engine last week where the crankshaft snapped in half from a materials failure, so anything is possible.
lol.gif
 
It's impressive the deck is still mostly solid and everything is still attached to it at ~20yrs old. IMO, there's nothing bad about a Briggs flat head for this application and size of engine.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
I think you got your money's worth


Me too.


The positive side is it got lighter every time something fell off!
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: KGMtech
It might have lasted longer if you didn't do all those burn-outs, jeesh look at that bald LF tire! the poor thing!



A lot of left turns on that one. Wonder if it lost governor control and just over-sped?


I think I dropped something on that tires years ago.. lost another piece every year till it was bald. Self-propelled was awesome till a couple years ago. From what dad said no was just running normal.
 
Originally Posted By: vwmaniaman
My sister had one like that. Had the 6.5hp motor and the crank broke in two.


I'm guessing that's what happened. No complaints at this age! This engine was a low rpm high torque style.

Really how many machines last close to 20 years these days? Small engines are disposable.. well everything is. Even my uncle had a John Deere that eventually wore out. This one was a no name Fridgaire according to the tag on the deck. The mower I have now is also a 98 briggs but is the high rev version, but has less hours. When it dies will go to battery version. The advantages of a small yard!
 
If he got it used, for $20, no telling how it was before.

All one has to do is run it out of oil once and the demise is set. Slowly, aluminum from the rod will continue to transfer to the crank until it finally "welds" itself together, usually resulting in a broken crank and a ventilated block.

Had this happen with an old Techumseh my former FIL used and ran out of oil.

Filled it up after it cooled and used it for a few years before that very thing happened.

From your initial post, perhaps the same sort of thing happened to this mower.
 
I wonder how many millions of B&S engines are still running decades later with the FF, and only top offs since new? I have several old B&S flat heads in my garage, 2 from the mid sixties, that start and run like new.
 
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