My experience with V-type engines has always been that one bank or head will fail before the other. Having said that, I will further state that I don't know if any of these Briggs V engines have a tendency for one particular bank to fail before, or more often than, the opposite bank. I do know that there are a number of things that can lead to head gasket failure, but "pin-pointing" a cause on these engines is hard to do and usually it is just better to make sure you perform the repairs carefully and correctly than to fret over what might have caused the initial failure. The one thing I would definitely check would be to remove the sheet metal shrouding (aka "fan ductwork) and clean out any accumulation of cutting debris or mouse nests. Other than that, proper torquing of the head bolts is about the most critical detail in the repair. Try to clean the old gasket "footprints" from the head and block using carburetor cleaner and a very fine, hand held "scotch brite" pad. Make your cleaning strokes (with the pad) follow the "long side" of the gasket outline. This means: Scuff/clean so all the micro scratches made by the scuff pad "run with" the gasket outline instead of "across" it. The benefit of doing this is: The scuff cleaning creates very tiny scratches in the metal surfaces of the head and block. If you scuff ACROSS the outline of the gasket, it has the "effect" of "digging a drainage ditch" or "plowing an escape route" for combustion gasses to travel through. If you scuff clean keeping your strokes in the same long direction of the gasket shape, you realize a benefit (instead of creating a potential problem). With the micro-scratches running "with the gasket", you create a multitude of "teeth" in the metal surfaces that "bite into" the "clear coat sealer" on the new gasket. This helps to secure the gasket better than having it just pressed against the head and block. If the gasket is "held better", it is not as likely to leak. Clean the surfaces with spray carb cleaner after scuff cleaning and blow dry with compressed air or simply let it dry "naturally". DO NOT clean the new gasket using carb cleaner or any other powerful solvent. Doing so could remove or damage the thin, "shellac like" coating that is on the new gasket. Whether you want to replace both gaskets at this time is a decision for you to make. If you decide to only replace the gasket you find to be leaking, you should at least check the torque of the head bolts on the other cylinder. DO NOT be tempted to "over-torque" the bolts. Too much torque on fasteners will distort both the head and the crankcase which will mean the gasket IS NOT "clamped down" evenly and will fail again soon. You will need to check and adjust the valves on each cylinder that you replace the head gasket on. Possibly Walt Conner or some of the other bona fide Briggs pros will offer comments about the failure rates of these engines and whether it is common to "go after both banks" at the same time or simply address the issue upon failure. In the automotive field, we usually replace head gaskets in pairs on V type engines, except in cases of failure while still under factory warranty. In warranty cases, the OEM dictates what you do. Sometimes they say "only the head gasket that failed". Other times they say "replace both".

This is Taxus not Juniperus but that photo is bad.... Switch to discussion there are more people to help :)

Before you install a wood burning stove, you may want to discuss that with your insurance company!! If you do go forward with a wood stove, make sure it's installed by a local distributor, and that the local building inspector signs off on the installation. Otherwise should you have any problems down the road, you may be out of luck! AL

Divorces should be messy. You've entered into a contract and are breaking it. Why should breaking a marriage contract be easy? Ahh, yeah, to save some of the almighty dollar. That's a really lame excuse when dealing with a marriage and family. If it's too easy to leave your husband/wife, almost everyone will be doing it all the time for no good reasons. Some people think marriages are easily expendable and don't have as strong a commitment to them as others. If you feel that way, then yes, the statement isn't logical. Heck, some think there should be drive through divorce windows. But if you believe that marriage should be forever, and that you should try to stay together through think and thin... when boredom sets in or spouses become annoying, or when you are going through unhappy periods, and that you have to think twice and really hard about getting a divorce because it's not going to be easy, then you may decide to stick it out. (Granted I'm not talking about staying in abusive situations, but when people leave for no good reason, it shouldn't be easy). Dissolutions of companies are messy; why shouldn't dissoluntions of marriages be? And, honestly, I'll tell you another thing, if I ever feel the need to have to leave my husband, I am going to try to take him for all he has --plus some (unless I feel it is not in my best interest). I'm not going to leave him because I'm not happy or because I found someone else or because he has a pot belly -- If I left him, there'd be a good enough reason to try to take it all. I've personally never understood the logic behind amicible divorces...oh, yeah, the money...once again...anything to save a couple bucks. We all know the almightly dollar is everything.