Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

[chad101]

I'm looking for 5 - 7HP engine. This deal seems almost too good to be true though. It's a newer motor and he/she is asking @ $400 for it. Does this raise any red flags?

http://toledo.craigslist.org/boa/1823346904.html

 

[JB]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

I would consider $400 much better spent on a mature JohnnyRude twin. It would be smoother, quieter and more user friendly.

If you really need a 4 stroke I would still look for a JohnnyRude twin. They made 8 and 9.9 4 strokes in the late 90s. Harder to find, but worth the effort.

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

i just bought a brand new briggs for $700 including shipping for my fishing canoe.

But why briggs?
I read a whole bunch of reviews and opinions. Not a single owner complained about quality or reliability. I am so very tired of buying small gas engines. Every small gas engine I own has died within the last 2 years except for my Briggs lawnmower. I want a plain simple motor that never, ever breaks. No water pumps to replace and no fuel to mix (around here water cooled outboards need a new impeller at the start of every season - a $200ish marina bill). I'll just change the crankcase oil every ten years or so and run it until it dies. When it does die then I'll stop off at lawnower world and grab a whole new powerhead for $150. http://www.brandnewengines.com/briggsverticalshaft.aspx

Yammies and nissans can't touch that. So I bought the Briggs.

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

i will never buy another 2stroke unless it specifically says "designed to last with ethanol". No way I would ever consider buying a small used 2 stroke.

 

[Tom @ Buzzard Bluff]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

<Years past; 2-strokes, had a better power to weight and were cheap to make,---->

And still true! Modern 4 cycle motors outweigh earlier traditional 2 cycles by as much as 2 to 1. Can't be avoided due the greater complexity and parts count of 4 cycles.

<The ritual of madness with Ethanol is almost as bad on small 4-strokes.>

I call it 'The Spawn of Satan'!;o( So long as I can acquire 'the real thing' I'll stick with it!

My own highly opinionated observation is that if I had to listen to a B&S popping away on my transom I'd feel like I was still chained to a lawnmower. Not for me!!!!!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

I was looking at them and was asking people I saw with them, how they liked it. The only positive thing I heard was they were 1/2 the price of a real outboard, common complaints were, shakey, loud. Then there's the ugly factor...

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

haha...the ugly factor indeed! Exposed linkages and cabling that will get caught on all sorts of things .....

I just saw one close up yesterday and I was amazed at how ugly it was. They at least could have put a full cowl on it.

I think that you're gonna get what you pay for here.

Chuck

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

Water cooled engines were never really an option. A water cooled engine would be lucky to finish its first season. I still have my doubts still that any gas engine can handle the backwater and come out alive. Try this experiment at home. Take your outbaord and stick it into a barrel full of saltu, sandy, muck and mub. Throw in a bunch of aquatic weeds and lily pads for good measure. Crank it up and see how long it runs.

To be honest. My biggest fear with the briggs is the propeller. How much abuse can the propeller take? How many times can I grind it into the sand before it has problems? It uses a rigid propeller. My last canoe had a trolling motor with a flexible prop. I already know the answer for my other boats with their water cooled outboards. Once. I get to hit bottom one time before they need service. Immediatetely after running aground they have to go into the shop and have their water pump replaced. The sand and muck grind off the impeller lobes and the engine is at risk of overheating. It's about $300 per engine to fix.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

I had one of those 5HP Briggs... used it 3 times and sold it. There seems to be no shortage of people selling them young like I did.

It's very hard to describe what the problem is..... they are noisy, they vibrate, and there is such a small throttle range, they feel gutless (although they aren't - it's almost a driveability thing.)
I thought initially: "so what.... if it gets me down the lake, I'll be happy"

Lots of pros: no impeller... can run on dry land....no mixing gas....simple design... low cost

well, that's where the hard to explain part comes in..... it just isn't fun to operate....my hand is still buzzing from trying to hang on to the tiller as gingerly as possible.... the sound grates on your nerves. After a few outings, you don't feel like using it.... or at least that was my experience.

I bought a used Mariner 4hp single cyl. 2 stroke with an internal tank. It is a much nicer motor...smooth, quiet, no fuel tank to load.... and lighter.

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

I've got to stay away from impellers. If I have an impeller then I have to get out of the swamp and into the channel. That's what the real boat is for. The canoe is for getting into the spots where all the impeller boats are afraid to go. I almost went electric. But ... the thought of lugging a couple hundred pounds of batteries back and forth to the dock ... that seemed like the greater of two evils.

Did you ever explore a muffler extension that would reduce or eliminate exhaust noise? My sears riding mower from the 70's used an 10" extension to relocate the exhaust. Maybe something like that with a stick of pipe welded on?

 

[bigrockets]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

They work, they are cheap and cheap to run. A bit loud. And they are cheap. Did I mention they don't cost very much.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

my hand is still buzzing from trying to hang on to the tiller as gingerly as possible

I had an ol' 7.5HP Ted Williams (Sears Gamefisher) that was the same way. Run it for 30 minutes and you couldn't feel your "tiller" hand anymore, the vibration would turn your hand numb. That outboard also had a single cylinder (2 stroke) engine hard mounted to the chassis, tiller was also hard mounted to the chassis....

It's almost like they were using the human as a vibration dampner

 

[boobie]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

One thing to remember here " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I think for what it is that little old Briggs mtr is alright. Sure beats an Eska.

 

[mrcrabs]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

Sure beats an Eska.

thats just your opinion boobie

 

[Tommy Two Stroke]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

Hey boobie, a lot of us here like Eskas. They're great engines, reliable and easy to work on when set up correctly.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

If the waters you tread are that treacherous, perhaps you need one of these!
An old Dragonfly (red one) or an Airboy (green one) from the 1960s...

 

[boobie]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

Well maybe I'm wrong, 'cause Briggs & Stratton are a fairly new company and haven't been in business very long.

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

well, the engine came in.

Accounts of noise and vibration are much like accounts of my death ... somewhat exaggerated. It's a 4stroke - if the noise is too much then clamp a length of emt onto the muffler and route it beneath the waterline.

The real problem is weight. It weighs too much (feels like just under 60Lbs) to lug back and forth between the garage and the dock every time I want to hit the mud flats. Unless I figure something out it is still easier to lug two big batteries and a trolling motor. The trolling motor is more total weight and effort with less range but it is easily broken down into smaller bits. I think the Briggs is going to throw my old back out sooner or later.

oh well.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

if the noise is too much then clamp a length of emt onto the muffler and route it beneath the waterline.

it won't run with exhaust back pressure- muffler has to stay as it is

Have fun with it!

I made an old rusty fertilizer spreader into a wheeled stand to ease the back strain.

 

[RRitt]

Re: Briggs & Stratton 5hp - Craigs List AD

it won't run with exhaust back pressure- muffler has to stay as it is

Have fun with it!

I made an old rusty fertilizer spreader into a wheeled stand to ease the back strain.

my sears lawnmower ran great with a muffler extension. are you saying this from experience?