...that's one reason I despise (Feel contempt or a deep repugnance for) China Mart.I may be wrong here, but I recall reading somewhere that only the high-end line of Briggs & Stratton industrial-grade engines (the most expensive ones) are US-made. All the others are foreign now. Or made with foreign castings, or something.Small engines? Can't think of one made in the United States. I am also a believer in buying American made
Yea one comes to mind...Briggs & Stratton.
You got me thinking that you might be right, things change and they may of moved overseas...so here is what I found.
Well by reading that I think they have outsourced the castings to China. Probably gave them the molds to be their supplier. Then ship the parts back, finish machine them in house with cnc machines and assemble them here. That is exactly how the company I work for does. Only on a way larger scale construction equipment. Parts from suppliers all over the world all come in at once like a bike kit just when they want them there and machine and build as they need to. And sell it when its done. Lean manufacturing or JIT (just in time) manufacturing same idea. Anymore if you don't do that you can't compete and your out of business. Nobody is going to fire up a supply chain and machine shop to spit out a few cool motors for a few kooks like us.
You bet ya...the ole flathead is my favorite. Easy to work on and like you say, cheaper then dirt. Been using them since 1963, and still have 4. Tiller (5hp), edger (3hp), go cart (5hp) and a spare (3hp). They just want to run and run and run some more.
It's nice you want american but for my money I'd take the honda motor in a heartbeat. If you ever been inside one they are neat. The fit and finish is far superior to the briggs I remember with the splash oiling thing what a joke. There are plenty of honda dealers around to get you parts. And you wouldn't have near the vibration. The Briggs is fine at what it does, run at one speed with a governor setup. Over rev one a few times and that crank will come apart like a cheap shirt.
Well, you've got the right handle, jokesonu, if you believe everything you just posted. Honda's are a superior engine but they also use the splash oiling system and are governed like a Briggs. I over-rev mine regularly with no problems. In fact my two Briggs and Stratton motorbicycles just won their class at the Willow Springs race last Saturday. Very durable and capable engines. I own Honda, Briggs, Wisconsin, Lauson, Faribanks, Fuller and Johnson, Maytag, Clinton, Bean, IHC, Cushman, Whizzer, Tanaka, Kohler, Motobecane, Economy and a few other engines, so I know what I'm talking about. What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of choices other than Chinese that are from democratic nations. A determined builder can do without a kit. Lots of us have.
When I worked at a Harley dealership I was in the shipping and receiving department.
