I have worked at a lawn mower shop for several years. We've sold both cub cadet and John Deere. This is what I can tell you. John deere's quality has had a big drop, just like everything nowadays. one of the best mowers you can buy for the money is a cub cadet ltx 1042kw. It has a good Kawasaki engine and hydrostatic drive. If you get it from a dealer and not farm supply etc. you get a free front bumper to protect your hood when it's on the trailer or just mowing. Hoods can get over 500 dollars. John Deere about 5 years ago, was the brand I would recommend. But, now I'm afraid nothing runs like a cub. If you can spend more money on a mower, I would recommend a zforce s 48 inch. It is a true zero turn with a steering wheel. The front wheels turn like a normal mower, and the back ones spin like a stick zero turn. Just driving it is very convincing, it is very agile. It runs so smooth and is very nice to ride with the pivoting front axle. How many yards are flat like the floor of a showroom. Just my opinions of driving and working on both of them, hope I helped. Oh, if you mow several yards or a lot of land, check out the commercial line, the highest quality you can get besides a hustler. But without the 10000 dollar price tag.

Let's see if I have this right. Briggs decides to cut back on the number of it's employees due to a drop in engine sales and suddenly (according to Hippy) it's really about corporate greed and the Japanese being one step ahead of the US when it comes to engine design. And when those two unfounded opinions are not based on any facts spoken to in the article that spurred Hippy to start this thread, he then tosses in a quote from that marginally talented skank Cheryl Crow (as if anyone really gives a crap what that self-professed druggy has to say about anything) and another alleged quote from Junior Johnson regarding ethanol saving us from air pollution. In regards to the JJ comment, the experts have already voiced their concerns regarding increased use of corn for bio-fuel. Right now, the demand for corn has out-stripped the so-called "surplus" Hippy has referred to. And that demand is already affecting the price of corn for all of the traditional uses, thus driving up the prices of a wide-range of consumer products, including meat. Right now, farmers are attempting to meet the demand by planting more corn. Who can blame them? They are in business to make money and if corn prices are high, then it's only natural that they would want to get a piece of that action. However, there is always a downside. When farmers rush to grow more corn, they invariably stop growing other types of grains and produce. If the drop in production of those items drops well below the demand for them, then the prices will suddenly spike due to demand outstripping the supply. Ironically, all of this demand for corn has created a need for more corn seed and the "evil" Monsanto people who are embroiled in the GMO controversy are now at war with Dupont over market share. http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2007/01/high-demand-for-gm-corn-in-usa.html This is a huge set-back for those who are totally against genetically modified foods dominating the fields of the world. If everyone grows the same variety of corn and an incurable blight (can you say "potato famine") suddenly appears, imagine what would happen to the world economy if all the corn suddenly died once year? Once again, food prices will increase, all due to an attempt to find an alternative energy source that is "made in the USA". And it's not just corn prices that are increasing, either. Demand for sugarcane in ethanol production has caused the price of sugar to jump dramatically and that tranalates into increased food prices across the board. Sugar is in the list of ingredients of a huge number of products on the grocery shelf. http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/5/10/135951/485 Fortunately, there are those who realize that corn and sugar production are not the answer and are looking at new methods of producing bio-fuels. http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18476/ The whole point of what I just posted is to demonstrate FACTUALLY that the decision by Briggs to close one plant isn't as simplistic as Hippy thinks it is. We live in a global economy. What happens in one part of the world has a huge ripple effect elsewhere. Copper prices have soared as a direct result of China's demand for this metal. And who helped create that demand???????? We did because we rushed out and bought low-cost Chinese-made items that contained copper, such as power tools. And you can throw global-warming into the mix here along with smog, air pollution and increased medical costs due to both of these items affecting the health of citizens. To top it all off, there is a theory floating around that cell--phones are the very reason why honey bees are dying at an unprecedented rate. And if they don't figure that one out soon, then how will crop pollenation take place? Once again, food prices will jump dramatically as demand outstrips supply and cost of production also rises due to some sort of artificial pollenation method. Now, you guys can all post ways to solve these problems while I go for some fresh popcorn and another brewski.

The entire Briggs theory is apathy, same as a Craftsman Tractor. The thinking is that most people don't pay much for Briggs powered equipment, so it doesn't see any maintenance, and for the most part is abused; e.g. left outside all winter, no storage, fuel contamination and so on and it is really a shame to see what shops are quoting for repairs when they can get to them in September! Two cases in point just today: Two Craftsman tractors, a 1000 and a 2000 series. The 2000 I started in on first, a two-year old machine which would only run with the choke on last fall was subjected to outdoor storage, on Cape Cod with the crazy wind and driving rain all Winter. Long story short, with a crankcase full of water, the #2 connecting rod in the 20 HP Briggs I/C Plus broke. What a shame. It now has a 14 hp Kohler Command sitting between the frame rails, thanks to Craigs list. The 1000 is not so fortunate. The 14.5 hp Briggs Intek had no air air filer housing on it, and is packed full of water. No worries, I/m not an Intek fan anyway. Thanks again to eBay motors, a local pickup on a Vanguard twin was made and once again these nice machines will mow acreage. Flip these machines over and they are pretty much the same underneath. Sure some have a cast front axle and electric PTO's however they share the same powerplants and transaxles. My personal mower? A Deere (later model ) 317 with a Kohler and a hydro rear mounted tiller. Have a great one!

Well, the GT345 has a 20-HP Kawasaki V-twin and it runs a 54-in deck, so I would think 20-HP is as much as you could possibly need on that. Jim's Tractor Repair and the Small Engine Warehouse sell repower kits using the Briggs Vanguard...great engine. May be the safest way to go with a totally different engine/mfr.. Check the link to Jim's Here is a link that might be useful: Jim's Tractor Repair