Recently I sold a Deere rider (tractor) to a gentleman in his mid 80s. He had zero interest in a zero turn. He had actually already bought one from Lowe's but hated the buying experience. Stopped in my shop to ask a question with his new rider still on the trailer that he forgot to ask at lowes. Ended up having me order him this specific model tractor, and going back to Lowe's with his brand new unit and returned it and proceeded to tell them why. Nice guy. Vet, lifetime nra member, etc. Yesterday he came back to order some stihl stuff. He asked for my knife for some odd reason. Confused, I gave it to him. He threw it in the trash right in front of me, and handed me a brand new Gerber and thanked me. He said the blowes employee didn't hold a candle to the experience He had at my shop. Further conformation that taking time with people, even ones who you don't think are buyers, can result in a good relationship.
There's surely loopholes, and they'll be used. I think that's how it is here in Wisconsin as well. If the ethanol content is over 10% ethanol ( e10) then they have to post it as being such, but while it's presumed that every gasoline fuel is at least 10% ethanol, even the e10 is marked as such. Locally, Kwik Trip stations have e10 in many grades, as well as e85. They also sell an 88 octane or so fuel that costs less than their regular e10 87 octane. You have to look a bit and read the fine print, because it's e15. A kwik trip just opened where my Mom lives, and I had to tell my mom to not put that in her vehicles, or buy it for anything because she doesn't have flex fuel vehicles. I also told her it will blow up anything from the weedwacker to the 4 wheeler. I had to be a bit overdramatic to ensure she never buys that e15.
Dear people who make money with their mower, or people who don't mind paying for quality, Avoid Kohler. Especially their efi engines currently. My warranty folder is full of Kohler. I threw the Kawasaki file in the trash. Wasnt needed. The rare one I see goes in misc file because I literally have almost no issues on the kaw's. That is all.
I wonder what's going on with that? They've typically been very good engines. However , EFI is a different realm, especially with emissions control and requirements.
We've got a unit in currently that we are a test bunny for Kohler on. 3 harness replacements, 3 o2 sensors, long block, ecu x2, and more. All warranty. All factory involved issues. They are stumped. As is my tech. The tech is ready to run it over with his 5 ton 6wd .mil rig or hit it with his 338 lapua. I've named it the demon child.
I have had fantastic luck with 2 Kawasaki motors on a pair of Toro zero turns-one with 1200 hours on it and one with 180 hours. The one with 1200 hours on it hasn't missed a beat, doesn't burn any oil, starts easily.
It was interesting...he said they are starting to sell the crap out of the battery powered saws. Never thought about it before, but he said there is no "legal" way to start a saw up in a bucket truck...so anybody that is concerned about it has to come down and have the ground man start it, hand it back up, hope it doesn't stall before you get back up on place to cut...not the best procedure either...so the line crews have been snapping them up, said they have been pretty happy with the performance of the lil buggers. (said the Stihl rep )
the city uses some of the battery stuff in town here (where the homes are right up on the roads) so they can work before the noise ordinance. I guess people don't like being woke up to screaming 2 strokes at 7am. Lol The battery has a run time of "up to 20 minutes". To me that reads 15 minutes or less.
It’ll never replace a gasoline for the most part. But my buddy bought the Dewalt 20 volt version. Brought it over me to play with. It was definitely doing better than I anticipated, especially through some oak. I might buy one myself this fall, since I’ve already got Dewalt batteries.
I also found out that daihatsu makes the engines for the Briggs vanguard series in Japan. That's probably why the vanguard is well regarded. With all the rain we've been having, I've been searching for repower options on the Ariens gt17. The old kt17 still runs good enough to mow, but I do notice it dogs a little in deep grass. It's probably tired. What's funny is that according to the internet, every kt17 engine out there stopped running right after they were built. Lol. Don't say anything to mine. Kohler, honda, and Briggs all make ones that fit in the GT. The Honda gx630 is a 24.5 hp vtwin that fits on with a place that has a repower kit that has any engineering/headaches already taken care of. The honda is less $ than the kohler and pretty much drops right in with their kit it is not cheap, but to replace this garden tractor with a different one would be 5 times what the repower kit costs. It'd be like a new tractor too, with moar power!!
Electric motors have instant tq from the moment you squeeze the trigger. I'd say most chainsaw jobs are done in 15-20 minutes, unless it's a tree takedown.
Yeah the line crews that are adopting these saws are not normally dropping trees, just trimming and storm cleanup. And the only reason for buying them is because of not being able to satisfy OSHA safety rules with a gas saw...that, and depending on the crew, their gas saws may not see frequent use, so proper fuel/storage techniques can come into play, those crews will like the battery saws too.
