Should I mod the Clone? or not?

[Bluethunder3320]

i woulda fixed the briggs. your clone wont last near as long as it.

 

[slideways]

If its taken care of properly... highly doubtful.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

well, as long as you check oil, youre pretty much fine. briggs quality is very hard to beat by some clone

 

[97mitzugst]

A clone can last a while but I heard someone on her say it the best "Most Briggs are from the era where everyone took such pride in their work", now of days companies are just worried about saving money.

 

[sideways]

well, as long as you check oil, youre pretty much fine. briggs quality is very hard to beat by some clone

Why wouldn't you check your oil?

As for clones not lasting as long well...... Have you taken both a clone and a late model Briggs apart? I have, the castings of the clone were actually quite good quality, I can't really say the same for the Briggs. Whilst the the Briggs castings were accurate and with out fault the aluminium it was made from was quite soft and porous, not a good thing, especially with an aluminium bore. The stuff that was bad quality on the clone was the tin work and throttle mechanism, the tin was poorly stamped and the throttle had broken, it was easy to see why too. The Briggs tin work was stamped much better but was quite weak, a few of the bolts had pulled through from when it had been pull started so I had to solder washers over where the holes used to be. All the linkages were still good on the Briggs though.

The thing that really got me was the clone has ball bearings and a cast iron bore, the Briggs had bushings and and an aluminium bore, so why does the briggs cost twice as much as the clone?(clones cost about $250 here in aussie land) I'm not really sure. It should really be the other way around. What's more, the clone has more power and is easier to start than the Briggs, used less fuel too.

So, the engine that is more technically advanced in every way and has higher quality castings wont stand up to the power you think? By the clones basic design it will make more power than the Briggs and say they were both making 10HP, I think it's fair to assume that the clone would be less stressed making that power than the Briggs.

Sure, older Briggs were pretty good quality, say pre 1990s ones but it's unfair to compare engines of different age.

Not having a go at you mate, just stating my personal experiences. I don't particularly like the clone engines, I don't really like Briggs either, I just don't like it when people assume things because of a general stigma around something.

Thanks

Hayden

 

[modelengineer]

Should I mod the Clone? or not?

Definitely not, I'd sell it and the Briggs and get a bike engine. It cannot be expressed in mere words how much better a bike engine is in every single way (apart from *maybe* ease of installation, but still they're very easy to install).

 

[fowler]

sideways where have u seen clones
im lucky to see a briggs its about 80% honda out at esperance

 

[sideways]

sideways where have u seen clones
im lucky to see a briggs its about 80% honda out at esperance

Geez, it's mostly Briggs down here, your lucky to see a Honda. Anyways, an ag shop just north of me got a whole bunch of pumps with clones on em and a fair few people bought them, that's what I rebuilt. There's a place in Bunbury that sell them, they sell from 5.5 to 13HP ones, I think they're called discount auto parts, it's an awesome shop, they've got everything car or tool related, they're usually pretty cheap too. I think their 5.5HP clones were $249 though. There's always ads in the Quokka for them too.

Thanks

Hayden

 

[Bluethunder3320]

i do agree that lately briggs has been slacking, like 97mitzugst said they were made good in the good times. however, a briggs pre-year 2k is indestructable

 

[slideways]

What happened the the turn of the millenium that made them junk specifically?

 

[sideways]

i do agree that lately briggs has been slacking, like 97mitzugst said they were made good in the good times. however, a briggs pre-year 2k is indestructable

What happened the the turn of the millenium that made them junk specifically?

I think Briggs went a bit crap in the mid 1980s, especially with their lawnmower engines, by the 1990s it was all a bit on the iffy side, modern Vangard Briggs are half decent I hear, never had one apart though.

I mean, they can hardly call an engine with an all aluminium block "long lasting" can they, especially when the rest of the competition are using iron sleeves, you have to buy a "premium" (I/C) engine to get the basic features of the competitors. there seems little point in using a Briggs engine any more when the you can buy better, longer lasting, more advanced, more powerful, more fuel efficient engines for less than half the price.

To bad Briggs seems to hold most of the small engine industry by the balls, I've seen far to many Briggs fail for reasons of bad design or poor manufacturing. It's not quality, it's a cheap engine for a large price hoping a well known brand name will keep them being sold, their succeeding too, dammit.....

/rant

Thanks

Hayden

 

[slideways]

Well now the clones are taking over on most power equipment. Even stuff used heavily by contractors that think they can save some pennies by buying their stuff at Harbor Freight. Guess we will wait and see what happens despite the fact that people already write off these engines because they are chinese "junk". I suspect that they will far outlast Briggs entry level stuff unless they are purposely abused just to see how long they will run. Starting off with a cast iron bore and dual bearing crank in everything sure is a hell of a start. I know almost all MTD products are now clones and they rule the whole industry of buy it and throw it away equipment.

 

[armyvet]

well the sad part is its not just briggs its like that with everything.Case in point look at GM and their suspect current quality,almost put them out of business.Why arent their tranny built here in the USA instead of Mexico and overseas?Money thats why,Briggs is still cashin in on their label that made them what they used to be even though its clear quality is suspect.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

well, this is what happened. they decided they had enough good engines and decided to overprice them and make everything low profile, made in china plastic. now, they say buy briggs, we are the best, in the 1900's yeah....

they just care about making money than they care about making a good motor. also with environmental stuff they are starving of fuel, and they just plain suck.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

army vet i totally agree, every company is doing that. i cant really say theres a single car i like thats in production today. i heard some cars are now equipped with this feature that cuts off half the cylynders to save gas. ever off road a new car and punch it? hear it make a muffled bog? then the governor kicks in? along with anti lock, traction control, and 100's other safety features? pisses me off.