whats the best engine type?

[dave24 18]

ive heard mixed answers from different people on whats the best motor brand, now i want to ask what you guys think. myne , in order, would be kohler, briggs, honda, tecumseh.

[MikesRJ 552]

Start here: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=22938

My votes with the Kohler K's

[Horse Fanatic 49]

It depends on WHICH Kohler, Briggs, Honda etc.

I'm pretty partial to the single cylinder Kohler Magnums. The good Honda engines (not the ones on box store pressure washers) are excellent. And, in spite of the bad rap they get here, a good running well maintained Onan engine is a thing of beauty.

[Rollerman 290]

Your going to get a lot of opinions on this...

Personally I like to Kohler K & Magnums above all others.

Very powerfull, parts are easy to find & the engines have a forgiveing nature to wanna be mechanics like me.

The Honda is a good engine too.

I have a Honda GC160 (one of there cheapies) on a one ton roller I use to roll lawns with.

It starts every time & pulls the roller very well.

[Kelly 1,028]

I like the cast iron single cyl. Kohlers for ease of working on dependable power, and parts are very common.

[rmaynard 14,932]

It all depends on what you want to do with the engine. If it's for a tractor, my vote is for the Kohler K's, but I don't think I'd replace my Honda walk-behind mower with a cast iron Kohler. My Honda dealer once told me that if I had to pull the starter rope more than once on my Honda mower, there was something wrong with it. After 10 years, it has never failed to start on the first pull.

My vote is for Honda for things like mowers, power washers, and generators.

Kohler K's because of their toughness and simplicity of service for my tractors.

Bob

[stevasaurus 22,258]

I agree with what Maynard is saying...and to go one step farther...I have had some very good B&S engines on my push lawnmowers...first pull for years. :ychain:

[popwheelie 0]

Well Tecumseh gets my vote right after the Kohler Ks, I have all the mentioned motors and belive it or not, the 10hp cast iron sleeved Techumseh will not die! 30 + years and runs like a champ.

My 2 cents.

[Polaris2007 4]

Wow, now that is a rarety! A Tecumseh fan??? Seriously though, I really do not like Tecumsehs. I think they are tempermental, hard to adjust, and generally unreliable. I know that there exceptions to every rule, and I will admitt that I have had one or two nice running reliable Tecumsehs, but I have had far more that were pieces of junk. My 2 cents.

[buckeye 2]

My vote goes to kohler. Honda is a reliable motor, but they dont have the torque of a kohler. As far as a tucky, I have one and hate it. Although my old man has a 10 horse tecumseh, and it will fire up faster than any kohler, or briggs in his fleet of 14 tractors. I know, its hard to believe.....

[Don1977 604]

When your talking about the best engines you need to separate the horizontal and vertical shaft engines. I'll take a horizontal over a vertical any day in fact I don't own but one vertical shaft engine. The old K-Series Kohler they don't come any better. In the new engines I think the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard and Honda is a toss up. I went with the Vanguard on my 77 C-120 because of the gas tank and battery location. The Honda Is a little wider than the Briggs and there is no room to spare with the Briggs. I have five Briggs, one Honda, one Kohler, one Tecumseh and A Wisconsin Robin on usable equipment. The vertical is a 10 HP Briggs on my dads old Snapper it starts on the first pull. I just don't like vertical shaft engines because they don't last as long as the horizontal shaft engines for me. The Wisconsin Robin is the hardest to start but it has a sound like on old K-series Kohler.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

My favorite would be the Kohler K series and to be honest never had a Magnum running in my stable but plan to get there soon! :D

[squonk 39,036]

Read my signature :ychain:

[gwgdog66 23]

Hard to bet against a K Series Kohler.

[theoldwizard1 2]

I am most familiar with B&S especially the old horizontal shaft 5hp. These were good engines for "home owner" applications, but I don't think they would hold up long in any commercial application were they might run 4+ hours a day, every day.

For those of you out there that get wrangled into fixing an old B&S here are a couple of tips.

• [*:1zjw00w1]Don't waste your money on a carb kit. Just buy the diaphragm and gaskets. Make certain the main jet needle is OK. Disassemble and soak overnight in ChemDip.[*:1zjw00w1]The magneto system on those engines is very weak so a new plug frequently is a quick fix.[*:1zjw00w1]For less than $20 you can convert to a Magnetron electronic ignition. JUST DO IT[*:1zjw00w1]If it still won't start, B&S have a bad habit of shearing the flywheel key, especially on rototillers.

Can't wait to get my hands on a Kohler !

[rickv1957 70]

I wll have to go with the Kohler K series also :ychain:

[Ken B 3,116]

The Kohler K series is the obvious best choice. My second choice would be a well maintained ONAN. These are the only two brands of engine I'll have on any Wheel Horse's of mine. If I had to choose the best motor if I had my own lawn service with commercial mowers, it would be a Kawasaki hands down.

[can whlvr 991]

this is a tricky question,it depends on what its going on,i am a kohler man but also a honda guy,i have several hondas,the real ones,a 10hp boat motor too,ita awsome,can sit for years and fires right up and NEVER dies

[evanloock 217]

Have to say the Wisconsin AEN on my Senior is a great running engine with copious torque. It's long stroke has the best power band of all my Horses.

[Brandonsj04 0]

I worked for a large pavement company for 5 years where we used lots of various engines to run all sorts of equipment 10-16 hrs a day, 7 days a week. So I have experience with all of them. If we are talking about the main concerns; value, reliability, longevity, availability of parts, and ease of service. Hands down winner is a commercial grade Honda (the white and red ones, not the cheap auto choke plasticy ones

) Kohler is a close second and in my opinion you can't go work with either a honda or a kohler. Third is a tie between a Onan and a Briggs Vanguard V-twin. Both are good not great motors. The onan's will last longer, but are much more expensive for parts and harder to service, whereas the briggs vanguard is easier to service and parts are fairly priced . I won't even comment on the tecumseh's. I've owned one and is sits with 30-06 slug through the block in the scrap heap

I have a onan on my wh, a kohler on my lawn mower wheel horse, and a honda 4-wheeler, so I don't think my opinion is biased.

[SkyhawkTL 19]

All four are good engines, and they all have their strengths. Also, what ever engine was original equipment has value too.

Honda is a modern tech engine with most of the engineering issues worked out. Tough to go wrong here in almost any application.

The Briggs and Kohlers are simple basic designs, good runners and easy fixers.

The Tecumseh is sensitive to "tune". Having a crisp, great running Tecumseh is just showing off.

Bottom line - I like them all :ychain:

[corn53 4]

:thumbs: Personally the Greyhound motors are the cats meow!!! :banghead: