Kohler engine - 22 in lawn mower?

[lbperry]

Just noticed a 22 in Toro Recycler self propelled rotary mower with a 6.75 Kohler engine at Home Depot. First time I've seen a Kohler engine that small. Their larger engines have a pretty good reputation on lawn tractors.
Anybody got any experience, good or bad on the small ones? I like the Toro Recyclers, particularly with the Personal Pace.
I'd appreciate any comments,
Thanks,

 

[PBCampbell]

Wow, that's got to be a fairly new thing. I don't recall a Kohler below 10hp ever. Any indication as to what country this engine is from? I wouldn't be surprised at a rebranded Chinese engine these days from Kohler.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

no help here, but my 8hp Kohler on my wheelbarrow compressor is German Made.

And a PITA to tune- (compared to bricks and scrapiron). But it is a kick *** motor. So, if the HD one is German, that's a good start.

 

[bobcatdan]

Kohler had offered smaller engines like that for a number of years. I can't speak for COO or quality, but the if it has a Kohler name on it, I'm sure the parts carry a hefty price tag like any other Kohler.

 

[PBCampbell]

I don't recall Kohler parts being ridiculous in cost, but Onan on the other hand....

 

[1foxracing]

Probably a XT series, I have one on a Husqvarna mower. 3 years old now and still starts 1st pull every time.
http://www.kohlerengines.com/onlinecatalog/serieslanding.htm?series=XT Series

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Kohler had offered smaller engines like that for a number of years. I can't speak for COO or quality, but the if it has a Kohler name on it, I'm sure the parts carry a hefty price tag like any other Kohler.

I don't recall Kohler parts being ridiculous in cost, but Onan on the other hand....

The parts for mine were always big money. IDK the series or what not, just remember it was the German one. As much as I like it, a good Honda or what not has much more support out here.

 

[bobcatdan]

I don't recall Kohler parts being ridiculous in cost, but Onan on the other hand....

Everything looks cheap compared to Onan.

 

[gravelyca]

The COO is China

 

[Wakefield]

Does a Chinese company now have the name rights and/or tooling for the Tecumseh brand engines?

 

[Tugboatguy]

I have one on a similar toro, not from the depot but a local power equipment shop if it matters. I was skeptical about the lack of choke/throttle/primer but it starts first pull 3/4 of the time after sitting for a week. Going on 2 years old, will try and check the COO for the fun of it tomorrow.


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[dakotart1984]

Everything looks cheap compared to Onan.

My experience with kohlers hasnt been great. Seems like they are using more and more plastic parts on their engines.

My grandfather swore by briggs and to this day I have mostly all briggs engines in my fleet of power equipment with the exception to the Tecumseh snow king on my snowblower, honda on the pressure washer and the kawasaki on the John deere rider. My personal fav is the 8hp updraft on my generator. That thing ran with a crack in the intake manifold during a power outage. It ran like **** but it still ran and kept the sump pump going.

I just saw a toro personal pace with a briggs for $275 at my local HD and im tempted to go take a closer look at it.

 

[lbperry]

Boy, if I can find a deal like that around here I'll grab it. The Personal Pace are at least $400 around here.
Thanks

 

[u118224]

Kohler's aren't what they used to be. I'd go Briggs in small air cooled engines. Honda's and Kawasaki's are good too.

 

[MackMan]

I saw a Husqvarna mower at the pawn shop the other day with the Kohler engine. Was half tempted to go with it but still have a fairly new Craftsman with the B&S that runs fine. I really want one of the Honda powered Husqvarnas. I was surprised though that Husqvarna makes mowers at similar size and price point with choice of Kohler, B&S or Honda.. Looks like in general, Kohler is the cheapest, and Honda the most expensive..

http://www.lowes.com/Outdoor-Tools-...wn-Mowers/_/N-1z0wgdf/pl?Ntt=husqvarna+mower#!

 

[justme-]

Kohler twins are much better than the singles. Stay away from the ones with the deep sump design. We call them bucket engines and one look at the cases its obvious why. Vases crack commonly. Briggs ain't what it used to me either, the just Ruxing brand china carbs they are using are giving them a bad name. Real pita to work on and #$%&@ to rebuild correctly. Kawasaki and Honda are most reliable. Fwiw husky doesn't make any mowers, nor does troybuilt or craftsman. 3 main manufacturers and basically everything is branded. Honda is itself, Deere makes high end and AYP makes low end along with craftsman's, some troy and some husky. MTD makes most other husky and troybuilt. Lots of brands are just names in a corporate holding just like tool companies.

 

[bobcatdan]

Does a Chinese company now have the name rights and/or tooling for the Tecumseh brand engines?

99% sure Briggs bought the rights and inventory on hand. So far from what I have delt with, parts availability is still good. I'm not sure if Briggs got the rights to Peerless, Tecumseh transmission line which were in a majority of riders.

 

[thewatusi]

I have a Lawn Boy push mower from HD that has a Kohler engine.

Two years old. Starts reliably evertime on the first pull.

 

[honcho]

3 main manufacturers and basically everything is branded. Honda is itself, Deere makes high end and AYP makes low end along with craftsman's, some troy and some husky. MTD makes most other husky and troybuilt. Lots of brands are just names in a corporate holding just like tool companies.

You have to divide the mower market into a bunch of different segments like homeowner residential, commercial lawn care, and such. AYP and MTD probably make the bulk of the homeowner / residential mowers in the USA market under a lot of different brands. Briggs & Stratton owns Snapper now. I don't think John Deere makes any push mowers now. Lots of smaller companies making commercial mowers. Ariens is, I believe, still independent.

One thing is for sure, there aren't many quality small engine manufacturers left. Briggs, Honda, Kohler, Kawasaki, Robin/Subaru . I suppose if you want diesel you can count Hatz, Lombardini and a couple of others.

 

[PBCampbell]

I thought it was one of the parts supply companies, like Stens or Oregon, that bought Tecumseh. I haven't noticed a Peerless transaxle in anything new for several years, so I'm not sure what happened to that brand.Briggs did buy Murray many years ago, but never did anything with it as far as I know.
As for John Deere push mowers, they ceased making their own product many years ago too. These days it's MTD, AYP, and Toro. I don't think anyone else exists in this market.

 

[bindernut]

3 main manufacturers and basically everything is branded. Honda is itself, Deere makes high end and AYP makes low end along with craftsman's, some troy and some husky. MTD makes most other husky and troybuilt. Lots of brands are just names in a corporate holding just like tool companies.

Deere makes it's own mowers. They don't make mowers for other people. However they have rebranded equipment from other manufacturers in the past.
AYP doesn't make any troybilts. MTD makes them. MTD owns the Troybilt name.

 

[justme-]

Ariens doesn't make tractors or riding mowers them self, Honda no longer makes any riders, Deere box store models are made by others also. There is a difference in commercial vs home use but no need to really mention it here since noone here seems to consider those brands and every thread about power equipment here always results in someone following advice and buying a low grade homeowner line from a box store because one or two people have had "great experiences over several years" with it. Fwiw snapper is not what it was before b&s bought them.

 

[justme-]

Deere makes it's own mowers. They don't make mowers for other people. However they have rebranded equipment from other manufacturers in the past.
AYP doesn't make any troybilts. MTD makes them. MTD owns the Troybilt name.

I swapped that, thanks for correcting. Deere has very little small stuff they actually make from what I understand. We have a hedge trimmer Deere had rebranded by little wonder in for service. The estate and compact tractor segment is mostly rebranded China tractors just like all the others on that segment. What they actually do make themselves is good stuff tho.

 

[bindernut]

I swapped that, thanks for correcting. Deere has very little small stuff they actually make from what I understand. We have a hedge trimmer Deere had rebranded by little wonder in for service. The estate and compact tractor segment is mostly rebranded China tractors just like all the others on that segment. What they actually do make themselves is good stuff tho.

No, Deere makes the compact tractors themselves. They do use Yanmar diesels. At one point Deere did rebrand Yanmar tractors with their own sheet metal, but they haven't done that in years.
As for handheld(trimmers chainsaws & blowers), Deere never made their own. They rebranded it all, including echo, homelite, and others. Deere dropped selling handheld equipment & struck a deal with stihl. All the Deere dealers sell stihl now. Deere spent a LOT of money trying to buy stihl back in the early part of this century, but the stihl family won't sell out.
Deere made their own walk mowers for a long time, but starting around 06-07, started rebranding mowers made by Briggs/snapper/murray(all the same company). They haven't had a walk mower for a couple years. Deere has a deal with Honda & that's what the Deere dealers sell.
I've worked at Deere dealers since 04.