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Briggs and Stratton or Kawasaki

Only person I know who has a ZTM with Kawasaki had the engine replaced twice under warranty. Crankshaft broke both time. Third engine had oh, just guessing, 200 hours on it by now. MILs John Deere has a Briggs, been OK except oil consumption is a little higher than I would expect, she has to add "some" every time she uses it. Were it for me, Id probably go with the Kawasaki, or go back with the Kohler if its available.
 
Kawasaki is my vote. I have a JD Gator with a Kawasaki with 2200 hrs and runs good and uses no oil. I went with a Kawasaki in my new zero turn I brought last fall.
 
nothing wrong with the briggs. have had good luck with them. these kawasasaki engines dont have enough hrs on them to know. have a couple hundred on mine. have over 1000 hrs on my briggs engine. kohler engines are the bottom of the barrel. you need to compare whats inside the engine not the name.
 
While the Kawasaki has a better reputation, it’s not infallible. My brother has a John Deere zero turn with a Kawasaki and it had less than 30 hours before the whole engine got replaced under warranty. The second one has behaved okay...so far.
 
Dad bought a Ferris last year with a Briggs. The dealer steered him toward the Briggs for some reason which I don’t know.
 
Nord of you in clare--have 2 ZERO Turns- the cub commercial tank model one with the KAW other with the Honda. Both are very good. Have more faith in the Honda....
 
Depends on which Briggs. IMO the Vanguard is as good as any. I have one in an Ingersol (used to be Case) garden tractor. But, my zero turn has a Kawasaki. Just because that's what the maker chose and it's warranted for 4 years.
 
I have no complaints about the Briggs on my Husqvarna rider, other than the choke was out of adjustment making it hard to start. After I learned how to adjust the choke, it fires right up.
 
I was glad to get rid of my John Deere Zturn with a Kawasaki. Bent push rods multiple times. Valve guides migrated up and had to be pressed back down and epoxied in place. Wouldn't go a summer without breaking down at least a couple times. Kept thinking it would be alright after each repair. Finally bid it good riddance.
 
I have a John Deere lx188 1996 with a v twin water cooled Kaw still going strong. only thing replaced carb and radiator cap. Has mowed five acres or more a week and some rough stuff sometimes.
 
B&S & Kawasaki both have different versions and quality of engines. Top of the line B&S is a really good engine and so is the top of the line Kaw. I have a B&S on a high wheel mower bought in '74, still runs good....has worn out 2 sets of wheels. Have a Kaw in my JD rider & it's been a good engine.
 
Any company that thought a plastic cam gear was a good idea, should have paid to fix everyone of them.
 
Kawasaki. I bought my ZTR used from a lawn care business.
They said the 23HP Kaw was worn out and on it's last leg.
I used it for 5 years then decided to rebuild the engine.

While I had it out to rebuild it, I put a spare 25HP BS Vangaard in it.
I noticed during the swap how much heavier the Kawasaki is!
The Briggs wouldn't spin the deck fast enough to mow the grass.
I had to go really slow and most of the time cut everything twice.

One down side to the Kawasaki, every one I've had is harder to
start cold than the BS engines and I haven't figured out why.
Another down side too, I guess, they are expensive to rebuild!
 
Kawasaki.

But a Briggs VANGUARD is a good second choice. Vanguard is Briggs commercial engine and I am told it is actually made by Dihatsu in the far East somewhere. If it is the cheaper Briggs Intek engine, it will start oozing oil at about 600 hours. Up till then, it will give pretty good service if you change the oil and keep it maintained.

Kohler COMMAND engines are also a good choice.
 
When the Kaw failed I put in a Briggs, couldn't believe the improved fuel economy. Briggs is holding up OK but will rebuild the Kaw.
 
The small diesels in zero turns and such don't get the life of a truck or heavy equipment diesel
 
I have Tecumseh 4hp OHV engine on a push mower I bought used in the late 1990s. It has worn out two decks and I don't know how many wheels.
 
If you just want gas, then go with the Kawasaki, but if you are looking for the best engine in general, go with a 3cyl diesel.




Rock
 
John Deere wanted Kawasaki to build there engines with the Plastic gears to reduce engine noise and some other nonsense. Kawasaki advised against it. Deere insisted. So Kawasaki made John Deere buy the warranty rights for those spec engines. All warranty repairs for those plastic gears had to go through John Deere. Deere used to fight them trying to say customer abuse, etc.

I’ve worked on small engines a long time, never saw a Kawasaki on any other brand with plastic gears in it. Dealer I worked for was a John Deere dealer and a Kawasaki dealer.

Did a lot of them in Deere’s. Used to be able to do them pretty quick.
 
I've always had good service out of B&S but I bought a new Kubota with a 24 HP B&S a few years back. Never again. Nothing major, but small minor trouble one thing after another. Love the mower, don't love the engine.
 
(quoted from post at 17:17:11 01/22/21) I have a John Deere lx188 1996 with a v twin water cooled Kaw still going strong. only thing replaced carb and radiator cap. Has mowed five acres or more a week and some rough stuff sometimes.
Click to expand...
X2, same mower, all original but same experience.....
 
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