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Default 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

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Default 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.

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Default 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.

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Default 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



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Default 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.



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Default 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

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Default 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

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Default 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.

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