- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Coaching Changes
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Briggs vs Kohler stand by
Posted on 8/21/25 at 10:43 pm to Dtbtiger
Posted on 8/21/25 at 10:43 pm to Dtbtiger
My dad is a small engine mechanic. Told me a long time ago, Kohler is better than Briggs.
That being said, when I was in the market for a zero turn, I went with Kawasaki. Way too many people swear by them to by wrong.
That being said, when I was in the market for a zero turn, I went with Kawasaki. Way too many people swear by them to by wrong.
1
Posted on 8/22/25 at 6:19 am to Dtbtiger
Cummins or Generac. Good friend sells and repairs both he prefers the Cummins.
I have had a Generac at my house since 2009, knocking on wood hard it's been relatively maintenance free.
I have had a Generac at my house since 2009, knocking on wood hard it's been relatively maintenance free.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 6:22 am to Cosmo
20 yrs ago? or it was used? That unit new has a cost higher than 18k
Posted on 8/22/25 at 6:37 am to Dtbtiger
I have a Kohler. No complaints so far.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 6:58 am to Dtbtiger
22kw Generac. No issues.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 7:12 am to Dtbtiger
Cummins diesel. 1.5 MW
Posted on 8/22/25 at 7:19 am to Swazla
The problems people have when "they need it most" are nearly 100% maintenance failures. Sometimes a control board failure but 99/100 of them are low oil or plugged up enclosure louver problems.
An air cooled engine is just fine to run for 8 days non stop with just a brief shutdown to check the oil daily. If buying a way oversized water cooled unit for nearly triple the price is worth it to you to avoid adding oil every 2 or 3 days during a 2 or 3 times a decade power outage event, have at it. It doesn't make good sense.
You could even get super wild and somewhat manage your energy usage while on generator power and the oil consumption issue will go away and save you a ton of money on the gas bill that month too. I know thats asking a lot of the average suburban man in louisiana, but it works great
An air cooled engine is just fine to run for 8 days non stop with just a brief shutdown to check the oil daily. If buying a way oversized water cooled unit for nearly triple the price is worth it to you to avoid adding oil every 2 or 3 days during a 2 or 3 times a decade power outage event, have at it. It doesn't make good sense.
You could even get super wild and somewhat manage your energy usage while on generator power and the oil consumption issue will go away and save you a ton of money on the gas bill that month too. I know thats asking a lot of the average suburban man in louisiana, but it works great
Posted on 8/22/25 at 7:52 am to greygoose
quote:
That being said, when I was in the market for a zero turn, I went with Kawasaki. Way too many people swear by them to by wrong.
Kawasaki is definitely top dog right now. The older Kohlers were really good though. They're spinning off the engine division to its own thing now (Rehlko) so we'll see if it pays off.
Briggs, as a company, is pretty dogshit. Some of the Vanguards are ok but even then I'd go Kawasaki or Kohler if possible.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 7:58 am to Bourre
My FIL installed a Trane liquid cooled gen for around 11k. The unit itself was 9k ish.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 8:09 am to shoestring
quote:
20 yrs ago? or it was used? That unit new has a cost higher than 18k
That’s just the mark up though. Basic Google calculations are 36kw is about 48hp. You can buy a lot of 50hp motors and larger for well under $10,000. A 50HP marine outboard is $7,000-8,000.
Personally, I really don’t understand someone that would get an in home generator and not know how to do the basic maintenance and repairs themselves. If you are going to do that, just save the money and live/ work somewhere while the power is down. There can’t be much worse than having a back up generator, needing it, and it not working because of low oil or another basic maintenance item.
I think most people would be perfectly served by any of the top brands. Take your savings on the cheapest option and buy some extra maintenance parts. Move on with life
Posted on 8/22/25 at 8:40 am to Dtbtiger
I have a 13 year old briggs 20 kw on my home. Zero problems with the generator. The way i look at it is that that vanguard motor has been around a long time. Its on practically every mud boat in the country.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 9:01 am to baldona
quote:
don’t understand someone that would get an in home generator and not know how to do the basic maintenance and repairs themselves. If you are going to do that, just save the money and live/ work somewhere while the power is down. There can’t be much worse than having a back up generator, needing it, and it not working because of low oil or another basic maintenance item.
I think most people would be perfectly served by any of the top brands. Take your savings on the cheapest option and buy some extra maintenance parts. Move on with life
I deal with this stuff a lot. MOST people would be well served with a manual transfer switch and a portable generator with a proper backfeed cord setup. That's about $3000 if you go retarded fancy with it, and is perfectly serviceable for the rare extended outage event.
Buying a water cooled generator big enough to power half the neighborhood with auto transfers and expensive maintenance plans is silly but the water cooled backup generator has become the new 300 quart yeti ice chest of south louisiana. You are poor if you don't have one. Most of these rigs are horribly oversized and the selling and installing company is making a killing off the dude who needs to flex on his neighbors that his 1800rpm water cooled $30k behemoth is quieter than everybody else's for the 22 hours it runs every 5 or 6 years.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 10:04 am to FCP
Honda for sure
Posted on 8/22/25 at 12:03 pm to Dtbtiger
My house is a natural gas Kohler.
The Here to Serve trailers all have 14kW Kubotas on them. I think the last one was about 13k
They are liquid cooled diesel. I think they use about a gallon of diesel an hour.
They have been awesome and never give us problems.
The Here to Serve trailers all have 14kW Kubotas on them. I think the last one was about 13k
They are liquid cooled diesel. I think they use about a gallon of diesel an hour.
They have been awesome and never give us problems.
Posted on 8/22/25 at 1:02 pm to Dtbtiger
Kohler
Posted on 8/22/25 at 1:45 pm to Dtbtiger
quote:
Which yall prefer?
No generac
I have a 55kw briggs liquid cooled...i love it compared to the generac air cooled we had at my old house. Have had for 3 years now with zero problems
Posted on 8/22/25 at 1:51 pm to Dtbtiger
Had a Kohler 26kw installed in May. Only about 2 hours usage so far besides the weekly test, but it's been reliable to this point.
Posted on 8/23/25 at 7:05 pm to Cosmo
Probably not the same but rolling a $30k genset into a mortgage is bound to make it more comfortable.
Posted on 8/23/25 at 7:06 pm to lsu777
quote:
have a 55kw briggs liquid cooled
quote:
for 3 years now with zero problems
Well I certainly hope not. What'd that behemoth cost you?
Posted on 8/23/25 at 7:33 pm to LSUlefty
quote:
22kw Generac. No issues.
Same. Ran for a week after Ida. Shut down for 30 min or so in the evenings to check and top off the oil as needed and fired it back up.
Page 3 of 4
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News