OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Wanted b/s 12.5 hp

i am after a 12.5 hp briggs vertical shaft engine if any one has one thank's

Sorry gml, last week I threw an OHV one down the scrap, because it had that very common Briggs problem, a bloody big hole in the side. Haven't decided what to do with the 16hp twin in the Massey Ferguson yet

heehe thank's Norm,i see ebay has some knock off's cheap

They would not have that hole if the operators would keep the oil level checked and get the engines repaired when they notice abnormal oil usage. The 280000, 310000, and 330000 OHVs are have a head design that tends to blow the head gasket between the cylinder and push rod galley. This causes oil to blown into the intake via the breather and burned. Many of today's don't even cause smoking in these cases. Now the older 12.5 280000 L head series don't have this problem.

This is a common enough problem here that I do a leak down test whenever I do a valve adjustment as you can only hear (pinpoint) the gasket leaking while the valve cover is off; although, the normal blow by sound at the oil fill is increased. This is not mention in the service manual. Since I just recently got a proper leak down tester that has a percentage leakage gauge I am still getting a feel for what is normal for this type of failure. My homemade tester did find these leaks too.

One of the problems is the head gasket design in between the cylinder and push rod galley. They don't match the cylinder curvature so instead of fully covering the seating area it only partially does leading to weak area. It also doesn't help to such a wide spacing between the two clamping bolts.

Btw some customers will not tell you that the engines are using oil as I do ask before repairs.

Yes AVB it is nice to have this knowledge to be able to pick what the problem is with the OHV but wouldn't it be better if Briggs built an engine that didn't have these known problems, somehow Honda seems to be able to do it. I guess Briggs are so big they don't care that much about the end user

Hi gml in my opinion you are better off getting one of the Vertical shaft Chondas than a Briggs. My respect for the Chondas is growing, I used to treat those little plastic Lawn Beetles as nothing more than a joke, but my opinion on them is changing. Still a silly mower with having to remove the wheels to adjust the height, but the motors I'm finding are not too bad.

Yes it would if they would do some redesign of these engines. If nothing else make the head gasket actually fit the curvature of the cylinder so more of gasket is actually under the sealing area. The only thing Briggs has done to try to resolve the problem is to increase head bolts torque.

This is not going away until Briggs does a re-design but currently even the new engine that base on this design is still using the same exact setup. Maybe they just don't want to re-design their tooling die to resolve this issue. Just plain stubbornness in my opinion. I not an engineer and I can still see where one minor change probably will resolve this problem.

The problem I have with Chondas here is just part availability. Even Briggs just design an engine on the Honda design. 12V300 Vanguard series.

i'm looking at a millers falls 13hp $400,have you heard of them Norm?

gml, Millers Fall, or whatever they most likely all come out of the one factory, just different stickers on them. I think it might have been a Millers Fall that I put in my mates Anniversary, and he has had no problems with that so far

make that a 17.5 or 19hp briggs,i dont think i will go chonda,have heard too many bad things,(why oh why do i do the thing's i do!)

Hi gml, if I was going to spend that sort on money on a Briggs, I would pay a little more and get a Honda,12/13hp hundred times better motor. Remember you are only putting this in that Stiga and you don't want to spend too much on it because their reputation is not that flash which is why I would have gone for a Chonda

i'm hearing you Norm,ive decided over a few beers to put the stiga on the back burner,the chonda's are very tempting for sure,and i am still chasing the double engine pully,cheer's mate,(i found out the stiga ran a 17hp b/s)

There is still that Vtwin in the Massey Ferguson here but at the moment I am unable to do anything about it because of my leg, very difficult to get around and work on anything

Norm, You could be like me. Barely able to move the left hand middle finger, you know the insult finger. Then the elbow on the same arm very stiff too. I taking the meds and just powering through the pain but does make difficult when you're left handed. Finally after 2 weeks I can now close my hand most of the way but still can't just pickup my impact gun without using the right hand. Sure glad I got an engine crane. It look stupid for to be using it to move around 75-100 lbs engines but the only I can anything done.

Just I knew what I did to get in this shape but I don't.

I do understand about the leg problem and how affect your ability to work though as I got weak ankles and I am bad to sprain them if don't wear my support shoes. If I do I on clutches for a few weeks. Again that why prepared my shop for being handicapped.

AVB, I wish I could just give up doing things and just watch TV but I can't, I must do something every day. I know what I did to get in this shape and it is all my fault over the years, no one to blame but me.

Norm,AVB, today i'm nursing a sprained wrist and gout in the toe! old age aint the golden years,cant sit still just not in me,yesterday stuck in the shed(rain) with nothing to do nearly tipped me over the edge

gml, no shortage of things for me to do, just had a Kingcat dropped in the driveway with Oh you couldn't guess... a Briggs with the whole back end of the motor missing, now how could that have happened..

yep i remember yr shed lots in it! will you replace briggs with a chonda?

Now now Norm you know all us witch doctors mechanics got to do is to mix a little ash and water then rub on the bad place and it is all healed. Just like going out slicing off a ham steak and just rubbing a little mud on that place so the hog can grow a new one.

Some people think we are miracle workers. I had one to show this summer with similar problem on a rider wanting to know if I could repair it. I told it a week as it was a major transplant operation and it the mower need at least a week to recover. That owner's wallet had a massive heart attack when I gave him the estimate. He left the mower behind and brought a ZTR. That wallet must has an insurance windfall or won the lottery. I just can't see spending 4000 for new instead of 400 for a repair.

You think Briggs is rough on the wallet but this was a MTD 4P90 engine that needs a new oil pan @ 200 usd because the owner refused to let me fix the original problem which was frozen engine mounting bolts I could had got out before screwed up the oil pan and the engine mounting plate/mower frame. Heck he ran it a year without a muffler.

I am going to rebuild the engine with a oil pan and weld new plates to remove those long slotted hole in the frame. Basically I be double the frame thickness where the engine mounts, just not in any big hurry.

If things keep on the current path people will be willing to buy an used recondition mower next year as the economy is slower quite a bit now. Our Dow stock market has trimmed nearly 1500+ pts in the last week alone.

Hi gml, I have an 8hp Briggs here that I pulled off a Victa a couple of years ago, might fit that, still thinking about what to do. Shed is getting a bit better at the moment, lot of stuff going out over the last few months, slowly plugging away at the mowers getting rid of one a week and that should get about 50 of them gone over the next 12 months, at least that is what I tell my wife.
AVB out here I'm not sure a change in the economy would change peoples buying habits on second hand mowers because a new cheapie mower is so cheap if it lasts a couple of years it is much cheaper than having somebody come in and mow your lawn. Not many people think about buying a mower they are going to keep for 20 years. Another issue is that the older mowers that were worth repairing are slowly disappearing and the majority of the Chonda type mowers are cheaper to replace than repair