I've worked in a few factories and I know that when orders are backed up, even the quality control guys at an ISO certified facitlity use the phrase. "Thats good enough, send it out, we dont have the time, parts, or materials to fix it or build another one."

The scariets one was when that was said while I worked building electrical boxes...... This factory was also a sub contractor for 2 major brands and you are likely to have one of the breaker boxes in your home and the meter box outside your house as well....

Second scariest is in a boat factory.......

 

I know, I know.....Just being jamz.

 

Just hire some Illegal Alien Landscapers............

 

Comming from experiance (being a small engine mechanic) I have seen these rods break in the B.S. motors, whats the cause? Take a look right where the big end bearing goes through, it breaks in half usually right there, if not, then about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up the rod, take a good hard look at the metal, notice all the air bubbles inside? Ya, thats what I thought. B.S. have a horrible rod in them, especially on the single cylinders.

Kohler on the other hand (not a Kohler courage, those things are a 10 cent peice of ****) think of a Kohler Command, 25 horsepower, those things will run forever and a day, and never throw a rod, or drop a valve.

 

Ask Raoul for a goat.

Make sure he gives you a dowery with it.

 

Id go for a Deere. You should be able to pick up a decent one for $1000-$2000. Troy-Bilt is an MTD brand, and that means its going to be cheap and Craftsman mowers arent any better.
Im not a believer in Craftsman lawn 'n garden equipment anymore. I had a 7 hp walkbehind and it was a POS. Pretty pathetic that they top of the line mower takes several pulls to start and looked like an 8th grade shop class put it together.

 

If you want to make that mower last longer than you... get a Yanmar 18 hp diesel engine. Should bolt right up.

 

Im not a fan of Kohler. My parents had a 25 hp Craftsman lawn tractor with a Kohler v-twinin it and they have had issues with the engine running on 1 cylinder from time and with it smoking like a 2-stroke for about 30 seconds at startup and my brother has a 30 hp Craftsman lawn tractor with a similar Kohler engine that smokes like crazy for about 30 seconds when you first start it. I dont think that Kohler is much better than B&S. Hate to say it, but as far as small engines go, Honda is where its at.

 

I've had a Troy-Bilt for about 2 yrs now and have had no trouble. I think this would be your best bet in your price range.

 

Those little John deers really fly -

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/b...1600cbec39.htm

 

I've got a Kohler Command 27 HP in a GT1554 Plus... that thing is sick.

 

John Deere is overpriced garbage. .

We've had a Kohler 18 hp motor in a Craftsman mower before, no problems. The thing got beat to hell too, jumped it a few times, did countless wheelies.

 

My briggs does the same thing when the fuel jet gets dirty either from tarnish or debris. Don't matter how many fuel filters I put inline then every once in a while I still have to clean it.
I dont know aout the kohlers but teh briggs has a rather large head bolt on teh side of the carb. Remove that and it drains teh carb bowl, but you have a straight shot at the jet. Squirt some carb cleaner in that until you hear it hissing freely in the carb throat (then i ussually blow it out with compressed air too.). Put bolt back in and start it up. Runs better, more power, uses less gas and dosen't smoke ever, atleast for a while. It's just become part of my dewinterizing routine.

 

That was a freakin joke four posts up - no sense of humor.

 

Who said I was talking to you?