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Briggs Vanguard engines are the best!


Les

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Was out bagging clippings with the Broadmoor today when it hit me. Briggs Vanguards are great! I have three of them, 2 Conquests and a Broadmoor with bagger.

The one Conquest has been used hard year round for 12 years, in all that time it has needed one voltage regulator and one pushrod. I mow with it all of the time. The other two Vanguards have had nothing done to them except change oil and spark plugs. They always pop right off every spring, never fail to start.

If you count winter diesel fuel gelling issues, I have spent less time working on the Vanguards than I have with the Kubota diesels!

Kohlers just cannot be that good, can they?

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Theres a reason the kt's and commands are in so many high end tractors. It wasn't a price leader, and the oldies are still going. Briggs Vanguard is a good motor, don't get me wrong, but I am a kohler guy.

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see if it last as long as the cast iron engines. I have 2 landlord bought in 1968 and one has the original engine-thats 46 yrs old. see if you get that from the vanguard. my other landlord went thru the agnes flood in 1974, and would still be running if not for being flooded. im sure other members have better stories then mine.

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I think the Vanguard is a very good engine as well and definitely would prefer it over it`s cast iron brother.

There are Commands out there with over 3000 hours on them in commercial applications and they can be bored as well.

Most people would be lucky to mow an hour a week or 50 hours a year at 40 years would be 2000 hours. I would love to see the cast iron Briggs splash motor with 3000 hours on it:D. Out of the 3000 hours you would spend 500 of it trying to get it started:D.

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Ray, and your not factoring in the cost of the gas that you lose on the garage floor!:D I agree, I have looked at commands on carpet cleaners with 3500 plus hours and still ran good.

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The secret to making the new OHV twins (Briggs, or Kohler)really last is check the valves EVERY year, that's what kills 75 percent of the ones I've seen fail, so easy to do

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Absolutely! Along with keeping the air cleaner clean, keeping the cooling fins clear and engine shrouds in place, and I am a big proponent of synthetic oils and frequent changes. Better lubrication, which translates to less heat and wear. If your not a believer, the cold weather starts in winter are more than enough to sway someone!

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I've been very pleased w/my Conquest 16hp Vanguard purchased in '02. As Ray noted, I run less than 50/yr (460+ total). Had to replace starter and valve cover gaskets. Have changed oil & filter yearly and replaced air filter whenever dirty. Yard looks super in summer and drive is clear in winter. My fdt are nostalgic, fun to tinker on, and do a great job when I call on them but upkeep/maintenance (especially time) is greater. Conquest w/Vanguard is my go-tomachine.

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I ran the old cast iron Briggs for years. Also had a Kohler or two that I had a hard time keeping running. In fact I still own a Minneapolis Moline(Jacobsen) with a Kohler 301S.

What is amazing to me about the Vanguards is that they almost never need fixing! Two times in 12 years. It was a constant battle with the old cast iron engines to keep them going, always something, if it wasn't the carb it was the fuel lines, fix that and have ignition problems, even after I switched to magnetron, was fixing them 2 or 3 times per week!

The one nice thing about the old Kohlers was that you almost never had a carb problem, IF you cleaned them out every once in a while, the Briggs always had finicky carbs, seems like they would have to be re-built every few years. I am not too darn sure that I even know where the carb is on a Vanguard! Must be close to the air cleaner but is it so trouble free I have never even looked!

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Oh crap, I lied! about three or four years ago I had to replace the fuel line on the Conquest as it had rotted out.

Sorry for the mis-information, had to fix three times in 12 years! Maybe I should switch to Kohler for better reliability. Please advise.

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quote:Originally posted by Les

I ran the old cast iron Briggs for years. Also had a Kohler or two that I had a hard time keeping running. In fact I still own a Minneapolis Moline(Jacobsen) with a Kohler 301S.What is amazing to me about the Vanguards is that they almost never need fixing! Two times in 12 years. It was a constant battle with the old cast iron engines to keep them going, always something, if it wasn't the carb it was the fuel lines, fix that and have ignition problems, even after I switched to magnetron, was fixing them 2 or 3 times per week!The one nice thing about the old Kohlers was that you almost never had a carb problem, IF you cleaned them out every once in a while, the Briggs always had finicky carbs, seems like they would have to be re-built every few years. I am not too darn sure that I even know where the carb is on a Vanguard! Must be close to the air cleaner but is it so trouble free I have never even looked!


id="quote">
id="quote">Les those Vanguards are new and modern engines. This hobby can only survive if we have these newer machines or multiple machines (my choice) so as not to put too much dependence and stress on 30-50 year old equipment. Think about this; will that newer machine be able to preform as well after 30-40 years as some of these older machines have, I seriously doubt it. We will need new new machines if we expect to have our older ones.
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Originally posted by OkieGT
quote:
id="quote">You should know that I rebuilt at least a half dozen AC/Simplicity garden tractors from junkyard status, I am a founding member of Simpletractors and keeper of the history section. I love the old stuff, I just kind of graduated into working on Minneapolis Moline farm tractors and really appreciate the reliability of the newer Simplicity tractors for getting my work done. Maybe not as good in some respects, but far superior in others. I mow in half the time that I used to. The old is great, and the new is great. I try to poke fun at the Kohler guys whenever possible. Kohlers are great(except for the Triad). Overall Briggs is just better, as they are more reliable and the parts are less expensive. I apparently put a much higher value on reduced operating cost than most people and Kohlers have cost me more money to run than Briggs, so I guess that really I am jealous of the Kohler guys as they must be really rich and do not care about money. Altough I would have to say that the old high torque Kohler Magnum twins are probably the finest lawn tractor engines ever made.
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Originally posted by Les
quote:
id="quote">You should know that I rebuilt at least a half dozen AC/Simplicity garden tractors from junkyard status, I am a founding member of Simpletractors and keeper of the history section. I love the old stuff, I just kind of graduated into working on Minneapolis Moline farm tractors and really appreciate the reliability of the newer Simplicity tractors for getting my work done. Maybe not as good in some respects, but far superior in others. I mow in half the time that I used to. The old is great, and the new is great. I try to poke fun at the Kohler guys whenever possible. Kohlers are great(except for the Triad). Overall Briggs is just better, as they are more reliable and the parts are less expensive. I apparently put a much higher value on reduced operating cost than most people and Kohlers have cost me more money to run than Briggs, so I guess that really I am jealous of the Kohler guys as they must be really rich and do not care about money. Altough I would have to say that the old high torque Kohler Magnum twins are probably the finest lawn tractor engines ever made.
id="quote">id="quote">Thats a very fair and accurate description, the only thing I would add is that you are basing your evaluation of kohler engines on your experience, and maybe a few other, I believe both older Briggs and Kohlers were great and reliable engines and if you took a couple hundred owners and engines from the day the study would conclude that they were both fairly equally reliable, and none would beat my Wisocns S14-D on My 1476 , lol lol, lol. I have 14 Kohler engines, not one has ever failed, I have 2 briggs engines,I'm getting to know them, both are in great shape and I expect they will preform as good as any of my kohlers. I have 1 Tecumseh engine, a 16hp HH160 OHV, that engine is awesome, of course it was bought new in 1989 and wasn't used until I bought it last year. I also have a Wisconsin S14-D and I'm finding out what great engines these are. What I do know is all these machines and engines were built in the great State of Wisconsin, by the best workers in the world, making the best products in the world, products we will never see again
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