I kind of thought huh, but such an engine does exist according to the link.
I have NO idea about quality etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click this link or else

i have more experience with this peice of s$%& engine than i care to admit. it was a utter market failure and rightly so! impossiable to start!!!! avoid it like the plauge! besides parts are impossiable to get as its been out of production since the early 90,s. was made in japan (dont know who actually made this trukey) for briggs. i had 4 of them. 1 hit a tree root-2,3 -i got so fed up with -i trew out while still running. no 4 is still around here some where but hasnt run for many years. i will toss it if i run across it soon.

lawnmowerdan:

I never said I was considering buying this 2 cycle Briggs. Just thought is was interesting that there was such a mower.

Just think, IF this guy can get someone to buy it for $275 (even though it is in mint condition), you just discarded 4 of these mower. You just tossed over $1000 to the junk yard!

i only tossed the engines-i saved the bodies and put other engines on them

Briggs had someone in Japan (Mitsubishi??) build them and then private label. Engine wasn't too bad, but lacked strong parts support, so you were eventually left with an orphan that was impossible to service. Starting problems were usually traced to poor crankcase sealing, or air leaks past the main bearings.

Briggs pushed them hard in Southern Calif for the professional market, the appeal being that now all of your equipment was now 2-stroke and you only needed one pre-mixed fuel. Hard on engines if your minimum wage help put straight gas in a 2 stroke. TAS and/or Tanaka were also selling 3.5 to 5hp rotary engines for the same application, as did Wisconsin Robin.

While I can appreciate the frustration of the guy in FLA, objectively I think it was a better engine, although now an orphan.

By the same token, I have had poor experiences with the Tecumseh TVS840 and consider it at the bottom of this list of engines applied to the Snapper. Just a personal thing.

I had a several Snappers and a McLane rotary pass thru my hands with the Briggs 2 stroke engine in the late 1980's.

I've heard they were made by Mitsubishi also and yep they are difficult to start.
12SB or SP whatever sounds correct for this JD mower to have the two stroke.

Competition was Toro and Lawnboy. Toro used the famous Suzuki and of course lawnboys commercial grade "F" engines were popular at that time.

I've seen JD push mowers with lawnboy engines on them. Don't know the model, but they used that one for a breif time.
Neal

i have had probs with the tech 2 cycle too. mostly leaky sealing of the crankcase and carb float issues. however this engine is the easyist starting i have ever seen. 1 pull is all it takes. even the xl commercial model dosnt live up to its name and has a very short life. one non xl i have has been trouble free for 10 yrs-go figure! still runs smooth and strong as the day it was new. the best 2 cyc is the wisconson robin(subaru) next =suzuki then lawn boy with the tech bringing up the rear in usual thecumche fashion. the echo 2 stroke mower engine lasted even less time on the market than the ill fated briggs.

Somebody dropped one of those off at the shop one day, I took it home to fook with it `cause I'd never seen one before. Went thru the carb and welded a crack in the tank, sold it to a kid down the alley and he's been cutting commercially with it for 3 years. Personally, I'll stick with my 47P Suzu.

Believe it or not I have a Briggs Manual for their 2 cycle engine.
They were hard to start. One of the tricks is there is a crazy thermostatic compression relief valve.
You must get that working properly to start.
Should be on the side. The book doesn't show it.
This was on a 5HP Briggs MTD snow blower.

well this explains a lot! i have the book too and yes there is nothing in it about it. i cant imangine how frustrating this engine must have been on a snowblower. hard enough to start when its 70-80 f . cant imagine what it was like when its snowing!when running -i have never seen a better running 2 cycle.

I have a John Deere 12sb with the Briggs/Zenoah 2 cylce engine that I bought new in 1991. I like the mower and the ergonomics of the John Deere but the carburator has been the week leak. It had a lot of problems as it would leak gas if the shut off valve was not turned off. A replacement carb is about $115.00 new. I replaced the gaskets etc in mine this spring and it is a lot better but still has a little seepage. I have had it apart for cleaning so many time I could put it together blindfolded. I like the 2 cycle engine but for $115.00 I think I would go ahead and replace the whole motor. If anyone has one of these around middle Tennessee I would be happy to take it off your hands just for parts.

i doubt you will find any of these engines still running. best to replace the briggs with a kawi from a 14sb. lots of these around still.

I have looked for a Kawasaki but have not found a used one that runs. The price of a new Kawasaki motor is too much for me to put on a 16 year old mower. Anyone else have carburator problems with this engine?

I do work on lawn mowers as a hobby and sell a few mowers. I have had about 8 of these 2 stroke B&S come through me and after my going through them mechanically they have all started on first or second pull and purr like a kitten and plenty of power. I like them so much I kept one of them and after somes years of owning it it still starts first or second pull. I love them I can just leave it idling very slow and it sounds like a Harley bike