Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.


Dean

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

On Apr 13, 1:08 am, "dean" wrote:
Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.


Depending on how big you're going, I'd seriously consider diesel
instead of gasoline if it's available.

That said, I've all of the above plus Tecumseh and have B&S engines
still running well that are nearly 40 years old as well as the
Kawasaki and Tecumseh. I did blow a B&S 9 hp a couple of years ago
but it was my fault -- I replaced the spring on the throttle return
and inadvertently put it on wrong and over-rev'ed it and stretched the
rod-clamp before I got it cut off. I'm sure I could replace the rod/
piston in it, but Northern had a sale at the right time and I just
replaced it. Other than an old push-mower w/ a little 3 hp B&S, I
don't recall ever having another go bad before I was ready to dispose
of the mower/tractor/tiller anyway.

I did finally wear out the Tecumseh on the old JD 110 put a new
shortblock in it, but it is well over 40 years old now and has been
over uncountable acres and a lot of heavy weeds as well as the lawn...

The key ime is maintenance and not abusing any of them.

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.

I had a vanguard engine in my lawn mower for 14 years before the lawn mower
broke and I couldn't justify the cost of the replacement part. The engine
held up fine with no maintenance.
But I was just cutting my yard. If you use your equipment enough to burn
out several engines, you really ought to get the kawasaki.

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

You'd be better off basing your decision on the machine rather than the
engine. the best engine in the world ain't worth a crap if it's bolted to a
piece of junk.

--
Steve Barker




"dean" wrote in message
oups.com...
Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.


Dean

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

On Apr 13, 1:08 am, "dean" wrote:
Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.

Dean

If I had the dough I would pitch for the Kawasaki, no question.

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

On Apr 13, 9:38 am, "Steve Barker"
wrote:
You'd be better off basing your decision on the machine rather than the
engine. the best engine in the world ain't worth a crap if it's bolted to a
piece of junk.

snip

Agree with that. Engines have different torque characteristics that
can make a machine a PITA or a joy to use. The Kohler twins used in
Simplicity coupled with hydrostat take all the misery out of big jobs
and are much less $$ than similar sized Kubota, altho the latter is a
real sweetheart of a diesel. It all comes down to try before you buy
and take proper care of it after. HTH

Joe

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

On Apr 12, 11:08 pm, "dean" wrote:
Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.

Dean

Recently did some research on this subject and got input from a dealer
who sells commercial machines with all 3 engines. Based on % of shop
repairs and user comments, he rated the engines best to worse as
follows: (1)Kawasaki, (2) Vangard, (3) B&S.
In cases with failure under warranty engine problems, Kawasaki was
replacing the whole engine whereas the other two were rebuilding the
engines.
I bought a unit with the Kawasaki engine and have never been sorry.

Red

Kawasaki vs. Vanguard vs. Kohler
 

On Apr 13, 9:38 am, "Steve Barker"
wrote:
You'd be better off basing your decision on the machine rather than the
engine. the best engine in the world ain't worth a crap if it's bolted to a
piece of junk.

--
Steve Barker

"dean" wrote in message

oups.com...



Trying to decide on a z-turn mower. My preference right now is for a
Kawasaki, but I have never had a proper commercial B&S or Kohler
engine. Any preferences? I'd prefer the quietest / smoothest one.

I have a Kawasaki (husky) air blower and love it, that engine really
is nice! Burnt out a handful of B&S (I guess homeowner) engines, can't
say I like B&S at all, but I never had a vanguard.

Thanks for any comments.

Dean- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Many machines are stocked with a Briggs but can be ordered with the
Kawasaki. Hence, the different motors are used on the exact same
machine.