Honda vs. Briggs and Stratton

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Tuba707

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Just wondering how many people have used both types of small engines and what conclusions have been formed about these two brands.

I just purchased a GX340 11HP Honda engine and I have read very good things but I have only used Briggs small engines before. Am I in for a treat with a Honda experience?

BTW, the engine is going on a trencher that I will use for irrigation installation. I got a killer deal on a good trencher - had them take off the 4HP engine and keep it so I could put a real engine on ;)
 
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Yes, you are in for a treat. Easy starting, great power, sip gas. When it takes more than one or two easy pulls to start, it's time to change the spark plug. In my experience brands like b&s, tecumseh, toro, and snapper would wear out at a rate of at least 3 or 4 to 1 compared to hondas. Some other brands like Kohler and Kawasaki were also good, but still not in a honda's league.
disclaimer, disclaimer, ymmv, imnsho, etc, etc.
 
That seems to be the general consensus. I have heard that they are relatively quiet as well - anything to say about that aspect?
 
Relatively quiet, but the biggest selling point for me is starting. I had a Toro mower with a Tecumsah (sp?) and after a year or so, it would start on the first couple pulls if you primed it like crazy. I purchased a well used greens mower with a Honda engine. I put it on full choke, give the cord a lazy pull and it always fires right up!
 
Agree that for what they cost they should be good....and they are. I have also had my last Tecumsah (sp?) engine on anything. The last one had a 3 screw carburator and I could never keep it running right. B&S are good, Kohler's are tough....Hondas are better and quieter.
 
Small engine technology has advanced quite a bit. Honda engines have an excellent reputation, but the recent B&S (quantum line) engines are quite good too. The deck on my push mower is rusted out but the B&S engine still runs strong and starts on the first pull.

For high-duty applications, I prefer Honda, but I don't automatically dismiss Briggs and Stratton, nor Tecumseh.
 
When I was actively gold mining in the North Georgia area we had three dredges, two 6 inch and a 2 inch to use for hydro-mining of the river bottoms. The engines were all Hondas and they never ever failed us at all to crank on the first set of slow and steady pulls. These dredges ran for 10-16 hours a day for months for about six years and seemed to love their jobs. All we ever did was to change the oil religiously and keep the air filters clean and the spark plugs properly gapped. NO PROBLEMS at all. [:D]
 
I've got a Craftsman rear tine rototiller with a Honda engine. That engine is SWEET! I can do our entire garden and still have gas in the tank. With the others I've had, I would have to fill up 3 times. (Big Garden) It is much quieter too.
 
We used to have a lawnmower business so what I say is based on my experiences. We sold tons of Honda engines (3.5 and 5 hp) which were used on tobacco priming machines which means they would run for 7 or 8 hours a day nonstop at about half throttle. These would run all season (7 days a week) which went from around Aug 1 until first frost which was anywhere from Sept 15 until Sept 30. These were the only type of engines used in our area for the two man priming machines and were chosen mainly because of reliability with a little bit of consideration for noise as well.
Briggs and Stratton was the next best at the time in that price range and for smaller (under 12hp) engines and in my opinion is still very good but was used mainly on the pushmowers and riding mowers. We did sell some Honda but because of the price and the area we are in they were not a high seller but they were in a class by themselves. At that time Honda only put their engines on their mowers. Anything over 12 hp was mainly Kohler which again was the best there was for the larger engines and very reliable. The big difference is that Kohler used a cast iron block and the others used aluminum.
Tecumseh is a different story. We ended up not selling mowers with Tecumseh because they had a tendency to blow up very easy. The wierd thing is that Tecumseh was great for snowblowers. They ran much better in the cold with no problems.
Again please keep in mind that it has been a number of years since I worked with these so things have changed but you still see a lot more Briggs & Stratton as well as Honda engines than Tecumseh.
 
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