Having grown up using B & S powered lawn mowers, edgers, and even snow blowers; B & S was a source of anxiety and cuss words.

That said, I bought a B & S Vanguard powered wood chipper made by Patriot 2-3 years ago. Used it regularly for a while but hadn't fired it up in 6-8 months. Didn't do a single thing to winterize it. Added gas this morning and it fired up on the first pull.

Credit where credit is do…….I'm impressed!!!!

I love me some Briggs motors. Those are what I started rebuilding and fixing as a young kid. I've always liked them. Parts are easy to get, manuals are all over the place, and generally they just work if you take care of them. That said, I've fixed a lot of them. Perhaps the fact that I've gained such an extensive repair knowledge is worth reflecting upon.

My nemesis were tecumseh motors. I hated those damn things. Couldn't be happier that they aren't making them any more.

My old Kohlers also were very good.

I saw at Gibson's the other day where stihl's zero turn mowers were running a B&S V-Twin motor. Found that interesting. It's a love hate relationship with B&S.

Up until 2017 the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard commercial engines were built by Daihatsu in Japan.
In 2017 Briggs & Stratton opened two new plants in Alabama that strictly build the Vanguard engines. Totally US made.
The new Oil Guard engine that Vanguard has now is one of the greatest advancements in small engine technology.
Using a dedicated oil reservoir and quick change auto style filter makes the engines run cooler than any other small engine and the oil system makes the engine last many hours.
Lots of commercial lawn equipment manufacturers are using them now.
Kick ass engines for sure!

How timely that this is brought up.

I have 2010 New Holland Rustler side by side that, I believe has a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine. It's been a great little buggy for tooling around the ranch.

i'm having to change out the air filter every few months because it gets saturated with oil. I recently changed the air filter, oil, oil filter and spark plug. Now It idles rough and dies at idle. However, with the air filter removed it idles fine.

Seems like the breather tube is pushing oil into the air filter housing. Oil reservoir isn't overfilled. I found a breather on the New Holland web site and it's $93. Would hate to replace it and end up with the same problem.

Any thoughts why oil is being pushed into the air housing? And how difficult / expensive of a job is it to fix?

Is there a PCV on those? If so, replace it. Also, figure out some breather details (thread size, flow rate, etc) and buy a generic one. There's nothing special about them.

I have a 32 hp vanguard on my scag and have really been impressed.

aggiedent said:

---

Having grown up using B & S powered lawn mowers, edgers, and even snow blowers; B & S was a source of anxiety and cuss words.

---

This. This right here.

BrazosDog02 said:

---

I love me some Briggs motors. Those are what I started rebuilding and fixing as a young kid. I've always liked them. Parts are easy to get, manuals are all over the place, and generally they just work if you take care of them. That said, I've fixed a lot of them. Perhaps the fact that I've gained such an extensive repair knowledge is worth reflecting upon.

My nemesis were tecumseh motors. I hated those damn things. Couldn't be happier that they aren't making them any more.

My old Kohlers also were very good.

---

I don't think liking an engine manufacturer because you got to repair a bunch of them over the years is a good reason to buy one. Damned with faint praise. Just saying.

Yeah, that's kind of obviously the whole point I was making.

But if I'm being honest, 99% of the issues are just basic neglect and lack of maintenance, though.

"For sale, crappy mower with crappy engine. Won't run. Ran fine when new and when I stopped using it 3 years ago! Now it won't start. Best offer."

Briggs & Stratton was the largest selling small engine manufacturer in the U.S. for many decades. Back in the 50's -70's I read that 80% of the mower companies used them so tons of them out there. As Brazos says most issues are from neglect and not doing regular maintenace.
The Vanguard Commercial line of B & S is no comparison to the old 1.5 - 3.5 HP lawnmower engines. They have built a good reputation over the last 4-5 years. They got my attention when Scags started using them. One of my marine dealers sells Scags and Ferris and he said his old landscape company customers are coming in to by commercial mowers and actually requesting the Vanguard over Kawasaki now.
I had a Scags with a Kawasaki and it broke the crankshaft and piston rod and it was just out of warranty. Bought a Ferris two years ago that has the Vanguard and it has worked perfect for three years. Guess time will tell.

Spot on. For some it's easier toss a $125 mower into the dumpster than change the air filter, oil, plug, pull cord/spring, and run ethanol free through it.

Sounds like the Vanguard is a good motor.

I was looking at a small Toro Timecutter ZT (42") today at a dealer that had a 22 hp 750?cc Toro motor on it. Does anyone have any experience with Toro V-twin motors?

TIA

SanAntoneAg said:

---

Spot on. For some it's easier toss a $125 mower into the dumpster than change the air filter, oil, plug, pull cord/spring, and run ethanol free through it.

---

It's sad but sometimes, especially if you can't or you don't have time to do your own labor, that's the only thing that makes financial sense. 90 bucks an hour plus parts and markups….hell…buy a new mower for that….in some cases.

I've always fixed all my own stuff but this past month I flat ran out of time to fix one of my saws. They fixed it for 150 bucks. Labor plus a carburetor and adjustment. The carburetor is 100 bucks alone even if I buy it myself so there is no savings there. That leaves 50 bucks for them to order it, f- around with it, fix it, make it run, all the things that would take me a couple of hours to do. It made little sense.

got a 36HP B&S on my Ferris ZTurn. 300+ hours and crushing it every time I need it to.

I've got the same oil guard Vanguard on my Ferris ISX 3300. I mainly mow pasture type land with Fescue, Orchard grass etc. I always am behind so it gets to 14-16" tall and thick.
It doesn't even load up cutting it. Beast of an engine.
I replaced a Scags with a Similar Kawasaki and it had a hard time cutting the same grass.
It eventually broke a crankshaft and a piston rod. Scag dealer told me I was pushing the engine to hard cutting high thick grass like that.
So I changed and have been very happy as you.