have a tired and worn Briggs and Stratton , 5 horse that needs to be changed. looking at a Honda. what's the general feeling. Briggs lasted over 20 years but like the quietness and oil sensor on the new Hondas.

If it's a bolt on, Hondas are great.

20 year Briggs will likely outlast you unless you're a pup.

Hondas are the bomb but a cast iron Briggs is hard to beat if you can find one.

not all Honda's are the same. There's a reason for the price difference in a Honda powered Honda machine and a Honda powered non-Honda.

One of the new Briggs OHV commercial/industrial engines would work just as well.

Those Briggs do last. Just put a new 6 hp on my Merry tiller last year. The one it replaced was 25 years old.

I like the Hondas, but they're pricey. I've never had a problem with a Briggs motor as long as it had a cast-iron liner. I can't say that for their aluminum bore engines. Most of those have been pure junk in terms of longetivity.
I recently picked up a 13hp I/C Briggs vertical on eBay for $39- the guy was selling it off a parted out Toro rider that blew a hydrostatic drive. Runs like a watch, doesn't burn oil- I put in on a rear-engine Toro I have for a backup (Forrest Gump rider).

My big log splitter runs an 11hp Briggs I/C and has never hiccupped. I use Schaeffer synthetic in it for oil. Now about 10 years old.

I just got a new sliter with a Subaru engine works great we'll see how long it lasts.

i say either honda or kohler.The only prob i know with honda's is the carb sometimes let's the gas by and will fill a crankcase.This has happened on the last 2 brand new mortar mixers we bought plus seen on generators

my current splitter (5 years now) has a honda engine. quiet and works very well. the splitter before had a briggs (maybe 15 years). it worked well also but in a moment of weakness it got sold. if i were just replacing the engine, and thought i'd be using it for many years, i'd get the honda. ymmv.

Kohler is supposed to be a good engine, but I got 2 lemons in a row, back in '97. New lawn mowers and neither would run for over 20 minutes, die, and then they had to cool down to restart. I figured it was bad coils, but they were under warrenty, so I took them back. Finally wound up with briggs and ran it for 12 years.

I have got a kohler on a tiller that 22 years old and runs like a top.

I guess you can get a goodun or badun at any time.