Sorry no working knowledge , but the spec,s sheet looks good . The predator looks like a nice unit for the price .

You might check and see if oil and air filters are readily available.

You can X- reference any oil or air filter from your neighbour hood supply store . I always upgrade from the oem products which are the minimum .

Agree, every small engine I have which has an oil filter is upgraded to an automotive style. Adds oil which means better cooling and has better specs and is usually cheaper. Well, picked up the little engine for the tiller today. Looked at the 22HP Vertical shaft unit. Purty, looks easy to service, no idea how long it'll last but at less than half the cost of the home grown units, will probably see a lot of reviews shortly. e.g. the replacement tiller engine was $100, what would a new Briggs, etc. cost in 6.5-/HP (212cc).

Talking with a buddy today who repairs small engines and we chatted about these. He felt it was a great deal if it holds up like the smaller predators. What had us both scratching our heads was since most LT/GT's are hydro's in late years, would a hydro outlast two engines?

Yeah cast iron sleeve , so not a throw away design spec . These Clones are pretty well bullet proof now . Originally parts and spares or replacement pieces were scarce , now numerous aftermarket parts available . Hell yeah Briggs are twice the price ! Still many people shun offshore units , it gets about the dollar eventually .

If your nervous , you can get a Briggs service Intek twin for nearly that if not less than if you look hard enough. If you are replacing the same style Vtwin, the stock exhaust likely will match up. The Predator engines are great to take a $100 chance on, but it wouldn't be the first choice for my moth laden wallet,.. https://www.kohler-engine-parts.opeengines.com/-p-52048?gclid=CjwKCAjwt5DXBRAtEiwAa3vyEvZWVzca7tl5FPgQemlwZpa0SzEaj5q7hwnYoibCmCvNWH0Uwx_SAhoC1jwQAvD_BwE

Hell Tom up North here the Briggs $ 1199.00 plus tax . $800.00 makes you think , however the Briggs had issues with head gaskets and valve train previously or was that the Vanguard line ?

The twins rarely have a head gasket failure unlike the singles. It's crazy the way they felt a bigger bore would help that when they went to a 33" engine. I swear, somedays I think the head gaskets on these are like fuses. Some head issues on twins but relatively few. More than a Kawasaki though. The older twins big downfall was the suitcase air filters. The new twin's sumps have been set with sealer over the last few years. We'll see if that helps with the pesky sump gasket issue that some develop.

Tom, this is old news, but I'm curious about that link you posted for the Briggs. Looks a lot like a 22HP I had on a Craftsman GT which had the air cleaner issue. Sears replaced it once, same engine, same filter. Went after Briggs and they replaced it with a different design and also a 26HP (:-) ).

It looks close, but in my opinion has the best air filter sans the cyclonic. This has the big oval filter. These don't leak. The suitcase filters weren't the greatest idea, were they? :)

Tom, nope, not so far anyway. The replacement has the big oval filter, just changed it today in fact.

So, many of you will cringe when I tell you I haven't bought an air filter in years. I cut out some medium density foam rubber the size and depth of the air cleaner cover. I add a good bit of oil to the foam rubber and squeeze out the excess. Sorta like cleaning and recharging a K&N filter for your car. Honda GC160's (2 of them), Kawasaki FR730v's (2 of them), 6.5 hp predator, 6.0 hp Kohler Command, and 460 cc Big Block Vegas Carts engine on my utility cart. Most of these engines have multiple years of use on them with no failures yet.

Reminiscent of oil bath air cleaners on farm equip. and cleaning and reoiling the air filter on the old briggs push mowers.