Briggs vs Kohler

Looking at purchasing a new garden tractor. Have a choice between a 27hp Briggs Endurance or a 26hp Kohler for the engines. Pro’s and con’s? Dealer sells a lot of both of them and has had minimal if any issues.

I would be going for the Kohler.

I have the Briggs, it seems to be OK and do the job but if I had the choice I would probably go with the Kohler. If you get the Briggs use the kohler oil filter, it will almost double your oil capacity.

I have a John Deere with a Kohler (six years old) routine maintenance and it runs like a top and I work it pretty hard up at the lake. I have a pressure washer with a Briggs and it can be kinda cold blooded, different size class I know but thats my two cents.

Definitely Kohler because their work horses and built to run strong along time. There’s a reason why things cost a little more and this is one of them and their completely rebuildable.

Kohler, unless the Briggs is commercial grade, then they would be pretty even.

G, I have a commercial grade Briggs 18 horse on my wood splitter and their just not the same as even a 12 horse Kohler. They don’t have the lugging power and the starter on mine has a hard time turning over the engine when its down around zero. I don’t think their starters are beefy enough.

The Kohlers I have, have a car coil on them that helps them start easier and they do start at zero easier then my Briggs. Personally I’d take a kohler anyday over a Briggs when the running gets tough. The bigger commercial Briggs might be ok and I don’t know anything about them. Pound for pound Kohlers are a better engine.

Ford VS Chevy. Same thing. I would look more at warranty, ease of changing oil, ride and comfort. Resale if you are going to get rid of it in the next 15 years. Does one have grease zerks and one maybe not.

BC, I don’t think that this is a Ford/Chevy thing.
Kohler hands down! Even on the commercial engine from Briggs.

Not that Briggs is bad by any means, Just that Kohler is that much better.

Perception is everything…. Briggs line-up and history is SO HUGE, compared to Kohler… how many 2-8 horse Kohlers have you ever owned or seen ? How about the smaller B & S engines ? They were made cheap and as throw aways, that perception then carries over into their whole line-up, cause a Briggs is a Briggs to most (thanks for proving my point about that guys )… I would put their Commercial grade against a Kohler anyday, in fact many professionals do too Now if you want the best engine, get a Honda

Thanks for the replies guys….not sure what I want to do. The Briggs Endurance gets pretty good reviews with the chrome plated valves. I’ve had fairly decent luck with Briggs on previous mowers, pressure washers, etc…but I’ve got one now that’s 12 yrs old giving me troubles.

Does anyone run one of the Briggs Endurance engines?

I agree with you on the Honda G…

B&S are throw aways???? Don’t tell me B.S. I’ve got more hours out of the Briggs and Stratton engine than you got on the water.

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B&S are throw aways???? Don’t tell me B.S. I’ve got more hours out of the Briggs and Stratton engine than you got on the water.

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I suppose you have a 20 year old pressure washer with one of them built tough B&S 2 horse engines…. if so, then go wash your boat, take it out and get some time on the water and maybe you can catch something & change that old avatar one of these days. Shoot away Touche

Thanks for the laugh.

Briggs vs Kohler?

Like saying Favre vs. Rodgers!! Both made in WI, take your pick!!

ET

I’d use your best judgement. 12yrs of what kind of abuse?, maintenence?,etc. maybe 12 is good for what the motor has been put through.
Reviews? depends on who wrote them.
For what it’s worth I’ve used both Briggs industrial and Kohlers in just residential applications without to much troubles.
For all the pro Kohler folks, Remember the old 17hp and the early 18hp’s, what a bunch of POS. If you just look at that mess I don’t know who in their right mind would ever buy a another Kohler.
All manufacturs can make a bad or good motor at one time or another.

I know what your saying Mike. I have three Kohlers that are atleast 30 years old and one is pushing 50 and they all run. The 50 year old one has been rebuilt and starts at zero and its a 12 horse and goes back to when their motors were white, now their black. There’s one way to look at it, Briggs in order to sell their motors had to compete with Kohler and Onan, so they did their best to build a good engine, and they are an ok engine. I’ve also got a few older Briggs engines and they run good too, don’t smoke and start right up and their a decent engine too, but most Kohlers year for year will run better longer then the Briggs will and their rebuild parts are top quality too.

When it comes to the price of rebuild parts Briggs parts are cheaper and don’t know why completely but its probably the same reason why any other parts for anything are cheaper or more expensive, you get what you pay for.

22 year old John Deere with an 18hp Kawasaki water cooled V-twin. Plugs every 5 years, oil changes, one coil 10 years ago. This thing mows an acre every week, plows the drive, has roto-tilled several yards prepping them for seed or sod in good old WI clay.

On a consumer-grade lawnmower, I don’t see much difference between them. On a lawn tractor, you’re not hammering the engine by lugging and bogging it down, most of the time you’re just turning a steady RPM which is easy use as far as engines go.

Personally, I would go Kohler, but that’s because I know these engines best, so it’s not based on better quality, it’s ease of service for me. If I knew Briggs better, I’d go Briggs.

It’s the details on mowers that matter more than the engine. How easy is it to service, how heavy is the deck, are there zerks on things that need to get greased, how easy are the belt changes, etc.

Also, the number one issue I see is people buying mowers that are NOT up to the task of thier current lawn. It’s not just the deck size! If you look at Deere, just as an example, they make multiple models in each deck size. The difference is in the construction and how much lawn each mower is designed to mow. Buy not just the deck size you need, but a mower that is duty-rated to a lawn your size.

Also, if you have a lot of hillside, you MUST get a full-pressure lubricated engine if you want it to last. I can’t count the number of engines I’ve seen fried by running splash-lubed engines on a constant sidehill.

My last piece of advice is that running cheap multi-weight 10W-XX or even worse 5W-30 auto oil kills air cooled engines. These oils cannot stand the heat and stress of air cooled engines. Run straight 30W conventional oil or 15W-50 synthetic for all summer use, and synthetic 15W-50 for winter use. If you want to run straight 30 in he summer and that means changing oil twice a year as you go to winter oil, so be it. Oil is cheap compared to engines. Whatever the recommended oil change interval is, cut it by 10-20%. Change early and often.

Grouse

I have a 1983 John Deere 111 with a Briggs 11 HP. Never have had a problem mow 1/2 Acre of lawn and Blow snow with it in the Winter. It all depends on how you keep them serviced and keeping fluid levels full and changed.

I can tell you that a stage 3 Briggs doesn’t last too long.

Not sure about Kohler but Briggs out sourced most of its production to Mexico about 20 years ago or more, tough to call it a Wisconsin made engine after that. My dad put in 38 years there…

Trev – not sure if you have a cub cadet dealer readily available but they now manufacture their own engine. They took the designs of Koehler, B&S & Onan (?sp) to make their engine. Just something else to toss around. And like G stated, pretty hard to beat the Honda. Best of luck with whatever you purchase. Make sure it fits Drew, lol!