Kawasaki engines...are they really that good...not seeing it

[FergusonTO35]

I believe the Courage was the one that had all the problems.

 

[Bill G]

We had a mid 1990's Deere 425 with a Kawasaki. The mower was good, the engine was chit. Kawasaki bent over and took it from Deere when they built it. In typical Deere fashion they forced Kawasaki to make it proprietary to Deere so all parts had to come from Deere not Kawasaki.

 

[EFSM]

Overall the engine companies have been struggling some with QC since covid, but Kawasaki has still been putting out a great engine. Stay as far away from the FH series as you can and avoid the very early FX921 and 1000 (valve breakage), but otherwise they are fantastic engines. The OP's picture shows an oil problem, not a Kawasaki problem.

 

[RCBS]

Has anyone had any experience with these new Vanguard motors?? The price isn't terrible. Still less than a Kawasaki.

Not been around the new ones. The old Vanguards were top shelf. Intake/carb setup a little bit a of a pain to work on and the stator magnets would seperate every once in a while. Solid engines. Hope they don't ruin that rep with the new ones.

 

[EFSM]

Has anyone had any experience with these new Vanguard motors?? The price isn't terrible. Still less than a Kawasaki.

That is not a vanguard; it is the updated/reworked version of the Commercial Series (a glorified Intek). The small block vanguard (16-23hp) are still very good. The mid block are very decent, but are basically a Commercial Series/Intek with a better air filter. The Big Block are good except for their absolutely trash Chinese starters.

 

[jwax]

JD425 with the Kawa and at 1,000 hours, crappy plastic cam gear broke- right on schedule! Rebuilt with steel gears, and still running fine after 300 hours. Mechanic said, "typical"!

 

[Al Smith]

I've got aToro Titan MX 5400 with a Kaw FR691 engine ,23 HP .It's 11 years old and has 272 hours . I only mow about 2.5 acres .The engine itself runs fine but the carb is a pain in the behind .Couple times a year I have to blow or rod the jets out .I recently replaced the two idler pulleys for the hydro drive plus the deck belt .That danged belt was $119 .However the OEM belts will run twice as long as even a name brand like Gates . I don't baby this thing and run cut down Dixie Chopper heavy blades that will cut vines and saplings about like a bush mower .This model of Toro uses very robust spindles .

 

[lehman live edge slab]

The vast majority of the more recent Briggs I've owned have been V twin Intek motors. All 20hp to 26hp. The main issue I have had with them is that plastic intake manifold warping and getting an intake leak at the flange where it bolts to the head, or blown head gaskets. I've not owned a Kohler engine for a lot of years. I heard so many horror stories about the Kohler "command" I think it was. Seems like I remember a lot of people having issues with the single cylinder command.

Was the single cylinder kohler courage that was utter garbage, cranks and rods let go punching holes in the block. The newer Briggs in the more commercial series seem to all be fine. My Kawasaki is older 21 hp on a cub cadet but it’s been pretty poorly maintained and beat on for 10 years or so. My buddy bought a Stihl 562 z-turn with a Kawasaki on it and it’s been great so far. Personally I don’t think I’ll buy the Kawasaki upgrade on mine when I buy one. He said the Stihl doesn’t have quite as nice a cut quality as his dads toro my ride but still rides much nicer in the rough and it’s built well. When I order my zero turn I’ll probably just save the 1000$ and get a Briggs. I hear kohler may be a thing of the past for engines since they were bought out. Another engine that was great was the Subaru robin line made by Fuji heavy industries but they were discontinued few years back and sold to Yamaha. Pretty sure a lot of the Yamaha v-2 small engines are the robin designs. They made engines forever as robin then Subaru robin but for some reason they never caught on well. I worked on a few and they were every bit as good as a Honda ex series but cheaper. Both very similar design and looked the same from a distance except one was yellow and the Honda red of course.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I have a small engine manual from the 1970's and its amazing how many different makers there were back in the day. I guess it happens in every industry that the big fish eat the little ones until there are only a few left. I'm also surprised that the Chicoms haven't jumped into the premium OPE market, or if they have then I don't see it around here. Like it or not, they definitely have the capability to do so. One of the best push mower engines I ever encountered was a Chicom Tecumseh knockoff on an MTD. The owner did zero maintenance, fed it cheap ethanol gas from an open can, and ran over rocks and sticks with it constantly. The damn thing still started and ran like new when he sold it several years later.

 

[EFSM]

He said the Stihl doesn’t have quite as nice a cut quality as his dads toro my ride but still rides much nicer in the rough and it’s built well. When I order my zero turn I’ll probably just save the 1000$ and get a Briggs.

If you're wanting a Stihl you'd better pull the trigger. Ferris completed their contract with Stihl in December, and I haven't heard that Stihl has renewed it with anyone else.

 

[EFSM]

I hear kohler may be a thing of the past for engines since they were bought out.

Kohler changed their brand name to Rehlko (scrambled the letters). They were bought by an investment firm and wanted to change their name to differentiate them from the kitchen and bath products. They are still producing engines and parts.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

If you're wanting a Stihl you'd better pull the trigger. Ferris completed their contract with Stihl in December, and I haven't heard that Stihl has renewed it with anyone else.

Time will tell they actually started to sell quite well up here and as dumb as it sounds a dealership that handles Ferris and Stihl both had the equivalent Stihl for 300$ less than a Ferris. Maybe they’re just waiting for a bit and are working on something, for awhile i know a few people weee under the assumption that Stihl was going to purchase the Briggs and Ferris decisions from the investment firm that saved them from bankruptcy. See what happens I guess but I don’t know if that will happen anymore or not. It is pretty nice they started to sell the Stihl gas push mowers here finally only have owned Viking for over 30 years.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Kohler changed their brand name to Rehlko (scrambled the letters). They were bought by an investment firm and wanted to change their name to differentiate them from the kitchen and bath products. They are still producing engines and parts.

That’s good because my sawmill has a kohler command 14 hp on it

 

[EFSM]

It is pretty nice they started to sell the Stihl gas push mowers here

Do you know who makes them? Echo recently started selling ones made in China by Daye, which is one of those companies that makes anything from pure junk to decent products, depending on how much they're paid.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Do you know who makes them? Echo recently started selling ones made in China by Daye, which is one of those companies that makes anything from pure junk to decent products, depending on how much they're paid.

Stihl makes their own push mowers and have for years. Make regular riders also they have been made in Europe for over 30 years as Viking brand that Stihl bought in the 90’s then probably 8-10 years ago they brought the Viking line into the Stihl line and changed from lime green to the Stihl orange and grey.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

Stihl ride on mowers available in uk and other countries just not here but who knows next couple years. The push mowers have been around for years.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Do you know who makes them? Echo recently started selling ones made in China by Daye, which is one of those companies that makes anything from pure junk to decent products, depending on how much they're paid.

Good to know, I guess I won't be buying an Echo push mower unless it's used and cheap.

I have a Walmart brand push mower which was made by Daye with B&S engine. It is actually quite well made by cheap mower standards. The deck metal is surprisingly thick and the wheel mounts and adjusters are pretty sturdy. The wheels even have metal rims. I did change out the weird blade mount to the common as dirt MTD style for more blade options. Would I buy it new, probably not unless it was the only thing available. But for 40 bux from a pawn shop I'm quite happy with it.

 

[EFSM]

Good to know, I guess I won't be buying an Echo push mower unless it's used and cheap.

I have a Walmart brand push mower which was made by Daye with B&S engine. It is actually quite well made by cheap mower standards. The deck metal is surprisingly thick and the wheel mounts and adjusters are pretty sturdy. The wheels even have metal rims. I did change out the weird blade mount to the common as dirt MTD style for more blade options. Would I buy it new, probably not unless it was the only thing available. But for 40 bux from a pawn shop I'm quite happy with it.

We've been selling them like hotcakes. For $600 they're one of the best value out there.

 

[Lions fan]

I've got aToro Titan MX 5400 with a Kaw FR691 engine ,23 HP .It's 11 years old and has 272 hours . I only mow about 2.5 acres .The engine itself runs fine but the carb is a pain in the behind .Couple times a year I have to blow or rod the jets out .I recently replaced the two idler pulleys for the hydro drive plus the deck belt .That danged belt was $119 .However the OEM belts will run twice as long as even a name brand like Gates . I don't baby this thing and run cut down Dixie Chopper heavy blades that will cut vines and saplings about like a bush mower .This model of Toro uses very robust spindles .

So it isn't just mine! I've been told it's bad gas, it's lack of maintenance, it's blah blah blah. Truth is, it's a *s-wordty design.

 

[Al Smith]

More on that carb .I've read the reason the engines surges is because of the locked in idle jet whoch appears to be plugged but can be cleared and adjusted .Under no load the gov can't control it because it runs out lean .Under load at above idle it holds it right on the money .It's more of a nusance than actually harmful .