How can landscape professionals choose the right mower and engine setup for their businesses? Is there such a thing as too much power?

These are some of the questions LM asked experts at Briggs & Stratton. The 114-year-old company operates in more than 100 countries. KPS Capital Partners acquired Briggs & Stratton in late 2020, with subsidiary Vanguard also part of that deal.

When considering the appropriate amount of power, Randy Lockyear, senior director of commercial turf sales at Briggs & Stratton, identifies the commercial mower operator who is staring down a wet lawn early in the morning that needs to be mowed down by 4 inches.

“You have to consider the (power) issue early in the development of a machine,” Lockyear says. “If you ask the vast majority of commercial cutters, they’re probably going to say you can never have too much horsepower. (But) you can put an engine that’s too powerful on a machine, and it will start to break down. The belts start breaking. The pumps burn up. Typically, the pros know what they’re doing once we get that development worked out.”

Product testing is key

Lockyear and Carissa Gingras, senior director of marketing for Briggs & Stratton, pointed to their company’s numerous satellite product testing centers as a vital piece to ensure engine power fits users’ needs.

“The satellite Power Application Centers truly test the application of an engine or battery,” says Gingras. “We look at everything from noise, vibration, heat and extreme cold to understand how the equipment will be used and what engine application works best. This equipment means peoples’ livelihoods, and if a piece of equipment goes down, they’re losing money. We’re acutely focused on innovation that drives productivity and saves them time to keep making money.”

Extending maintenance windows

Gingras and Lockyear tout Vanguard’s Oil Guard system, which continuously exchanges oil between a machine’s engine and an external remote reservoir to further stave off breakdown and extend the time between needed maintenance.

“We launched Oil Guard six or seven years ago as the industry’s first and still only 500-hour oil change,” says Gingras. “Everyone wants power. It’s why we make a 40-horsepower EFI/ETC, which is the largest engine of that kind under 1000 CCs in terms of horsepower. They just need to understand the investment that they’re making in the total piece of equipment as well as their ability to keep it running, which Oil Guard helps with immensely.”

In addition to monetary savings, Oil Guard serves as an “insurance policy” for many users by increasing the amount of oil available at any given time for a piece of equipment, says Lockyear.

“The No. 1 catastrophic failure of an engine in our market is the engine running low on oil, seizing up and then you have to replace it,” he says. “Our Oil Guard system virtually eliminates that issue. Instead of just two quarts, you have six. The cutters can send that piece of equipment out to do its job without needing to check it so often and be confident it’s not going to run out of oil. The oil filter is right in the top of the reservoir, so it’s not hard to get to. We’re focused on making commercial cutters’ lives easier and more profitable.”