briggs and stratton engines

so I think I found the mower for me. its a Husqvarna yta18542 with a briggs intek 18.5 hp engine. on sale at lowes for 1399, and 10% off if you use their card.

my problem is that I have never had any luck with briggs engines. they have all (well, except 1) died within a couple of years, usually due to rod failure. this is mowing a 1.5 acre hilly yard. done every week, and takes about 1.5 hours when the mower is behaving itself. my best friend thinks this is because all my briggs engines have come from craigslist/side of the road/bargain priced/not running/etc. been neglected and worn out before I ever got them. he may be right. he may not.

being as I only want to spend this money once in the next 15 years, and I am OCD about maintenance and upkeep, I want to make a good purchase.

what says the hive?

I haven't had much luck with their push mower engines. Mine usually do alright for a couple seasons, and then it's all down hill.

Do they have any actual dealers nearby or just the big box store?

For service, parts, pricing, a standalone authorized dealer should be better than a big box store. At the very least, the person selling it to you should at least know something about it instead of just having drawn "riding mowers" from the morning work assignment jar(that's the only way I can explain why no one at any Lowes I've ever been to knows ANYTHING about the department they're working in).

I've had one good Briggs motor. It came on a push mower that was a loaner from a small engine repair place in the 80's my dad bought for like $20. It sat outside, uncovered, with gas and oil in it for its entire life on my property, the better part of 20 years, and only got used 3 or 4 times a year. A little ether and it would fire right up. Smoke like a brodozer, but no maintenance done and no death.

I've noticed ones from the 90's have been pretty trashy whether they were maintained or not. I have no idea about the brand new ones.

I'm still partial to Cub Cadet, but that's because of my old IH Cub Cadets with 10hp Kohler cast iron blocks and 3 speed manual transmissions, I have no clue what the new ones are like at all.

Were they all 12.5HP vertical shaft engines from the 90s? Those were really the only ones that would randomly throw rods that I'm aware of. Of course they all throw rods if you don't keep after the oil level, even new something like 1oz per cylinder per hour is considered normal consumption, 15 or 20W50 helps with that but you have to check it at least every tank of fuel.

I've never thought of B&S as nice engines, but they're reasonably durable with a minimal amount of maintenance (oil level, not running it with a mouse nest in the fan shroud, don't get dirt in the motor when adding oil, etc.). Or at least the older ones are, I've not messed with anything from the last 10 years or so.

My Husqvarna YTH150 is near 20 years old and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Husqvarna tractor. They are well built and have good parts supply of factory and aftermarket parts even after 20 years. Kohler engine tho, doesn't use or leak oil. Big Kohler fan now.

Was researching new tractors several years ago. B&S engines got a bad rap on some small engine sites from owners and small engine mechanics. Don't know if it was model/ hp specific but there was enough carnage to turn me off and I grew up on B&S engines.

Maybe research the small engine forums for the B&S Intek skinny. There's a lotta small engine mechanics there who seen it all.

Mine have mostly been the 12.5 hp, yes.

And oil gets checked every time before startup. It also gets stored in the enclosed shed.

We do have a husqvarna dealer about 20 miles from here. Went there first, but closed. Their prices on the same mower eere about 400 more. And that dealer is who does the warranty work for liwrs in this area on the husqvarna stuff. They fixed the weedeater for me.

In reply to fasted58:

Been doing that research all night. All the bad rap posts seem to end about 2012. Very little on the intek since then, and virtually none on the bigger hp versions. Smaller ones primarily.

Reviews on the mower itself are a mixed bag, mostly with failures in the first week of small things that are either manufacturer errors or assembly errors. But i tend to look down my nose at most reviews, as people want a Cadillac for Suzuki money. Or give no explanation for the rating. Maybe im spouled by guys like us.....

In reply to Dusterbd13:

I was just ready to edit my previous post to say I'd take the box store customer reviews w/ a grain of salt. How many times I read reviews that the product was the Debil and it turned out the most trouble free product ever. 4 star outta 5 ain't bad tho, that'd make me look. I would trust 'verified purchaser' reviews more tho, if available.

After 2012 would be about the time when I was reading forums and reviews.

Good luck.

If you can swing it, find something with either a Kohler or a Kawasaki engine in it. Both companies buy quality machining and assembly equipment, and have great statistical process control plans in place and (more importantly) in actual use. Not so much with the other guy from what I have experienced there ....

Also, with a hilly yard, a pressurized oil system is a must. The combo partial pressure plus sling oil system of b/s is not as effective.

The other thing to look at (if you are getting a hydro trans) is who makes that unit. Hydrogear is pretty good, same process comments apply there as made on the engines above. Other brands, ???

My Scott tractor has the B&S Intek 22 horse engine. I've had it 18 years now and it finally started running on one cylinder a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't a spark issue, one exhaust rocker had fallen off ! Replaced that and adjusted the valves and away it went, running just fine. Regular oil changes and fresh plugs are all I've ever had to do previously.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Did you get the tractor?

My dad and brother talked me into going to Oakboro Tractor tomorrow. They sell the same gear they are the local Husqvarna dealership that repairs them for Lowes. I will probably buy directly from them to get a full content mower instead of a big box store spec mower. The sale at Lowe's runs through tomorrow so if they are significantly higher than Lowes is I can always go back to Lowe's.

My parents bought a YTH2642 (I think I got those numbers right, 26hp V-twin Briggs and I think 42inch cut) new almost 10 years ago and it's held up well considering the abuse and substandard care it's seen. Only issues it has now is a starter that sometimes doesn't want to engage until after you bump it a couple times and the original tires all have slow leaks now. The aluminum bearing housings on the YTH will bust if you hit something solid with the blades. Not sure if they've changed that design or not.

2 things to note. This engine probably has very little to do with the 18hp you're looking at, and every single other Briggs I've dealt with has been a pain, but every single other Briggs I've dealt with is a used half beat to death pile of junk with an unknown history.

This Husqvarna is now semi-retired because my dad went and bought a Gravely zero turn with a Kawasaki on it.

I'll be following this, like to know thoughts on the Intek.

I'm kinda limited to a 42" being it'll fit through the shed doors, hate to tie up garage floor space parking w/ a larger model. Husqvarna discontinued the Kohler engine in 42's, NLA.

I'd tend to buy a Husqvarna again after the good experience w/ this model... unless they went to E36 M3 later. Besides regular maintenance I've replaced deck pulleys, starter solenoid, rear tires, electric PTO clutch, steering shaft and the seat, not bad for near 20 y/o.

In reply to fasted58:

Fair enough. Ill keep y'all posted on what i learn and do.

I purchased and my father delivered the tractor today while at work. Bought from tractor supply. Reason being setup. They installed the mulch kit free, made sure everything is up to snuff, and told me to bring it back if i dont like it.

One thing i learned from their service guy, that confirmed my suspicion, is that the lowes extended warranty blows goats. The warranty company denies almost everything as improper use ir normal wear.

Another thing i learned us that the most common failures they see in the briggs is either ethanol related carb problems, or the oil pan gasket leaking. They are very robust with proper care otherwise. Proper care includes pulling the plastic engine cover and cleaning the cooling fins every 50 hours when doimg an oil change. Thats once a year for me, so no big problem.

Not pressurized oiling, so running sideways on a hill for extended periods of time kills them.

That means i need to change my wethods on the front yard from circles to straight lines. I can adjust.

Be aware that even though it's a Husqy brand mower, it's probably a Lowes-specific model number and may well be engineered down to that price point. I'd look over the equipment center's version carefully to compare, and see if you can find where the money has been engineered out of the Lowes version.

Duke wrote: Be aware that even though it's a Husqy brand mower, it's probably a Lowes-specific model number and may well be engineered down to that price point. I'd look over the equipment center's version carefully to compare, and see if you can find where the money has been engineered out of the Lowes version.

Those are built at HOP in SC. They do not sell them in their dealers, but they aren't Lowes spec either(most dealers don't want the low end stuff). They are Lowes price point. HOP made the decision to make it the way it is. There isn't anything wrong with the Briggs as far as I know from testing. Run full synthetic in it and double the life. (Testing fact) That transmission is a fiber reinforced plastic CVT from General Transmission. It's not a bad unit but not a great one either. It will fail first of everything.

I should have said oakboro tractor. Local dealer.

So, on the transmission: seems like you might have Insider knowledge on these things. Do you? If so what's the key to making them live longer and healthier? I will change to synthetic after about 5 hours of break in. Anything else I can do to prolong life of this? Hoping to amortize the cost over the next 15 years.

Dusterbd13 wrote: I should have said oakboro tractor. Local dealer. So, on the transmission: seems like you might have Insider knowledge on these things. Do you? If so what's the key to making them live longer and healthier? I will change to synthetic after about 5 hours of break in. Anything else I can do to prolong life of this? Hoping to amortize the cost over the next 15 years.

Units at that level have a 200 to 300-hour service life. If you had a TuffTorq (where I got my knowledge and intimate details of HOP and their inner workings) and Hydrogear (our competitor from 30 miles down the street) I could give you secrets.

Being that transmission is neither, I have nothing for you other than normal belt stuff. There are cables and belts involved. Keep them clean and dry and check often.

That unit won't last you 15 years. Being in NC I would guess that you have a 8 month mowing season, roughly. So 4.2 weeks (mowing once a week during mowing season) * 8 months * 1 hour per mow, gives you 33.6 hours per year of use. given normal wear and tear that unit can have a life expectancy of ~5 to ~9 years. (at 1.5 hours per mow that drops to ~3-~6 years) That is with flat ground use, proper maintenance and you weigh less than 220 lbs and never ever use a bagger or trailer (I have discounted snow blowers/blades because NC)

My advice at this price point is buy a good used commercial unit. You might get something not pretty, but it will be rebuildable, and you will never stress it (ie live forever)