Lawnmower (push) - Briggs & Stratton vs Al-Ko engine?

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rphenix

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#2870610 17-Feb-2022 21:21

insane: I'll follow up and say not to get a Lawn Master. Though the 125cc B&S is plenty powerful and starts effortlessly - first pull everytime.

I stupidly bought one with a composite deck as they last longer, also thinking it would be lighter. It's composite metal, not some fancy carbon fibre. It's actually way heavier and the grass catcher has broken in only four years of light use.

Next mower will indeed be electric - probably DeWalt to match all my other yellow and black toys. Have their electric weed wacker and it's savage.

Every review I've read of the first few Dewalt mowers has been surprisingly poor hopefully it improves with newer models as I would like to stick with flexvolt batteries and prefer to go electric for my next mower as well. I do have KiKuyu grass so not sure how well an electric would handle it.

Regarding lawnmaster - I have a 190cc lawnmaster with the Aluminium deck which was made in NZ apparently or so I was told obviously the B&S engine is from overseas its been great.

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rphenix

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#2870627 17-Feb-2022 21:46

Bung: I haven't spent much time on it but Al-Ko is quite an established garden equipment manufacturer. In the past they've used Al-Ko, B&S and Honda engines. Apparently they now own Masport. I don't know if the Al-Ko engine is theirs or a rebrand. Unless you know the current B&S engines are any good you can't rely on past glory.

From what I can tell all the B&S dislike recently is due to the carb not the engine itself. I've helped a neighbour fix their mower - the plastic carb has a smaller jet that blocks much easier than the old ones. You can fix it by either replacing the plastic cartridge in the carb or get a cheap micro drill kit with an 0.3mm bit from aliexpress. Carb cleaner spray didn't unblock it for me (though soaking might have) Increasing the hole size to 0.5mm apparently helps avoid it blocking.

insane

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#2870648 17-Feb-2022 22:50

rphenix:
insane: I'll follow up and say not to get a Lawn Master. Though the 125cc B&S is plenty powerful and starts effortlessly - first pull everytime.

I stupidly bought one with a composite deck as they last longer, also thinking it would be lighter. It's composite metal, not some fancy carbon fibre. It's actually way heavier and the grass catcher has broken in only four years of light use.

Next mower will indeed be electric - probably DeWalt to match all my other yellow and black toys. Have their electric weed wacker and it's savage.

Every review I've read of the first few Dewalt mowers has been surprisingly poor hopefully it improves with newer models as I would like to stick with flexvolt batteries and prefer to go electric for my next mower as well. I do have KiKuyu grass so not sure how well an electric would handle it.

Regarding lawnmaster - I have a 190cc lawnmaster with the Aluminium deck which was made in NZ apparently or so I was told obviously the B&S engine is from overseas its been great.

Admittedly I haven't read the reviews, but after being solidly impressed with their weed eater, hedge trimmer and large blower I assumed the mower would be of equal performance. Honestly the weed eater motor has so much torque when needed. It's auto sensing so most of the time it's hardly trying, but the moment there's resistance it comes alive and is significantly more powerful than my Echo petrol trimmer. Little top heavy though.

I have a lot of other DeWalt power tools so quite invested and have plenty of batteries so ideally would like to keep with the 20v system.

As for the B&S vs this Ai-Ko, I wonder what a garden services company would say. I'd follow what they buy so long as cost wasn't too prohibitive.

Kiwifruta

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#2870689 18-Feb-2022 08:40

I have an 82 volt Victa that I picked up second hand. Goes a treat and is quieter than a petrol engine. I’ll buy a second battery so I’m not waiting for the battery recharge.

I don’t see a reason to use a petrol one again. Before this I had an old push power, i.e. non powered, which I prefer for environmental reasons.

1101

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#2870749 18-Feb-2022 10:32

The motor is only part of the mower...

So, get something with an aluminum body (not steel) .
Ive had to replace a few rusted steel mower bodies before getting an alu mower (Honda engine)

20+ years life is what you should expect .
Will an electric mower last that long & how long will replacement batts be available for it ?

1101

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#2870755 18-Feb-2022 10:41

Just wondering..

How well do batt electric mowers cope with month(s) old long grass (where average petrol mowers struggle) assuming batt & engine are reasonable size.

I would have thought electric would work better on long grass, electric having more low rev power(torque?) , but I assume its not that simple
Any overheating issues with electric & months long grass ?

insane

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#2870839 18-Feb-2022 12:55

1101:

Just wondering..

How well do batt electric mowers cope with month(s) old long grass (where average petrol mowers struggle) assuming batt & engine are reasonable size.

I would have thought electric would work better on long grass, electric having more low rev power(torque?) , but I assume its not that simple
Any overheating issues with electric & months long grass ?

Real-world reviews suggest they don't like really long or wet/heavy grass. Also the type of grass and your preferred cutting height would play a part too.

If you're leaving your grass for months on end then perhaps a weed eater is a better tool for the job, or at least for the first pass?

amurray

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#2871042 18-Feb-2022 20:17

Cheers for all the replies everyone. Very helpful and lots of food for thought.

After much consideration I settled on a B+S on an Alloy Masport body. In a nice red and black colour scheme.

Although the quieter electric was tempting, sometimes the grass can get a bit longer/damp in certain months if the year (thanks Wellington weather). I also don’t have any difficulties pushing petrol mowers etc so weight isn’t really an issue (I’m early 30s so to me I see it as just more exercise!).

The old mower was from about 1991 (B+S on a masport body, body is still fine but engine met its point of replacement) if this can last anywhere near that length who knows what will be available when I’m 60+.

Looking forward to when the grass grows a bit more now so I can test out the new toy :)

insane

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#2871067 18-Feb-2022 21:33

Just check it comes with oil. Mine came completely dry and needed filling. Luckily I read enough of the manual!

You'll find these newer ones start so easily in comparison. They don't close the exhaust valve until it's fully going, so very little compression to fight.

amurray

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#2871069 18-Feb-2022 21:37

insane: Just check it comes with oil. Mine came completely dry and needed filling. Luckily I read enough of the manual!

You'll find these newer ones start so easily in comparison. They don't close the exhaust valve until it's fully going, so very little compression to fight.

Yep cheers saw that mentioned on another forum during my research but the sales assistant did also ask if I required some so have that too. Will be putting it in tomorrow and running the engine in.

Mehrts

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#2871236 19-Feb-2022 09:48

I've got a 2013 Masport aluminium frame mower with the B&S 550ex 140cc motor. Owned it since 2017.

Mower is fine. The stupid plastic piece of sh*t carb however has given me nothing but grief over the past year.

Any slight contamination in the fuel means the tiny jets get blocked up easily, which means a strip-down & clean, which I've had to do four times so far. There's no adjustment of the fueling either. It's basically set to run as lean as practically possible due to "emissions regulations" or some BS.

The most recent issue was the float didn't seat the fuel-stop pin properly, and that allowed fuel to seep into the cylinder, past the rings & into the crank case when the mower wasn't in use. Luckily I checked the engine oil & noticed it was way above the "full" mark!

At least a new carb is cheap. $30. My next mower (or at least engine) will have a "real" carb, and definitely not this plastic crap.

Rant over 😂

Bung

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#2871265 19-Feb-2022 11:48

What's the fuel line arrangement on the B&S? On my older mowers I have added a shutoff tap if they didn't have one and a pleated paper fuel filter.

Mehrts

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#2871278 19-Feb-2022 12:28

Bung: What's the fuel line arrangement on the B&S? On my older mowers I have added a shutoff tap if they didn't have one and a pleated paper fuel filter.

In my particular case, it's a short hose between the fuel tank & carb. No shutoff valve. Haven't been able to find one that fits in the short space.

insane

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#2871316 19-Feb-2022 13:23

Mehrts:
I've got a 2013 Masport aluminium frame mower with the B&S 550ex 140cc motor. Owned it since 2017.

Mower is fine. The stupid plastic piece of sh*t carb however has given me nothing but grief over the past year.

Any slight contamination in the fuel means the tiny jets get blocked up easily, which means a strip-down & clean, which I've had to do four times so far. There's no adjustment of the fueling either. It's basically set to run as lean as practically possible due to "emissions regulations" or some BS.

The most recent issue was the float didn't seat the fuel-stop pin properly, and that allowed fuel to seep into the cylinder, past the rings & into the crank case when the mower wasn't in use. Luckily I checked the engine oil & noticed it was way above the "full" mark!

At least a new carb is cheap. $30. My next mower (or at least engine) will have a "real" carb, and definitely not this plastic crap.

Rant over 😂

Bought mine in 2017 too, but has the smaller 125cc one. Have never experienced any clogging...I guess there's a lot of variables at play:

- Fuel quality from your local gas station.
- Whether you allow it to run out of fuel and pull in the dregs from the bottom of the tank.
- Duty cycle of the mower.
- RPM typically used.
- Average run time (temperature).
- Skill of the user :P

I'd be annoyed too if mine was doing that!

Mehrts

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#2871344 19-Feb-2022 14:17

It was running fine for the first four years that I had it, and all of a sudden the revs wouldn't stay stable. Put my hand over the intake to block it slightly and then it'd settle down but lack power, indicating a fuel block/running lean.

Stripped the carb & the tiny little brass jets had some green looking buildup, so I suspect that moisture had got into the stored fuel. Anyway, cleaned it all out & put the carb back together. Ran fine for a while with fresh fuel, and then the same problem occurred. Rinse and repeat two more times, and then the icing on the cake was the fuel constantly leaking past the fuel-stop plunger or whatever it's called. I'd like to point my finger at the fuel quality, but I just don't know.

I've always ran this particular mower on 91 octane from the local Z station, same as my car.
Mower fuel is always topped up before starting, never ran dry.
Mower runs for approx 20mins each session, being used weekly during the non-winter months.
There's always the idiot-factor! Haha But this is the first small engine I've ever had any issues with, so I'd like to discount that!

Anyway, we'll see if the same fuel with the new carb (one month old) gives any problems.

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