Posted by Larry Rarus (72.192.36.15) on October 25, 2009 at 10:23:07:
I know this an antique engines web site but I thought a comment on the recent demise of Tecumseh engines (Tecumseh is still in business but has divested itself of engine manufacturing) wouldn't hurt. Apparently this happened over a year ago and I'm amazed it occurred with nary a ripple across the field. In fact, I only learned about it a couple of weeks ago. "And then there were two." So, that leaves us with Briggs & Stratton and Kohler as the only American companies producing small engines. Is that correct? I'm not certain whether Wisconsin is still around but I think that's the case. There may be a couple of smaller manufacturers here in the states but certainly nothing else on the scale of B & S or what Tecumseh used to be. One could argue that foreign manufacturers are using American labor to produce their engines here (e.g. Honda and Kawasaki). However, while I'm grateful jobs are available, I still have to bemoan the fact that these are offshore companies and that an industry virtually created here has been ceded to the Pacific Rim. I am particularly annoyed by the inexpensive engines making their way here from China. You've seen them in just about every available outlet like Harbor Freight and Northern. They offer relatively high horsepower for very short money. The thing is (aside from not employing American labor) that they're disposable. Try finding a decent parts network, not to mention that it's likely easier to financially justify replacing one altogether rather than to spend the time and effort to fix a broken one. OK, I'm off my soapbox.