Posted on 07/20/2020 9:37:48 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
Briggs & Stratton Corp., billed as the world’s largest manufacturer of small gas engines, has filed for bankruptcy protection citing challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Monday.
As part of the Chapter 11 filing, the Milwaukee-area company said Monday it has secured secured debtor-in-possession financing of $677.5 million from KPS Capital Partners LP, the private equity firm purchasing its assets, and its existing lenders to allow it to continue operating ahead of the closing of the deal.
“Over the past several months, we have explored multiple options with our advisors to strengthen our financial position and flexibility,” Chief Executive Todd Teske said in a statement. “The challenges we have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic have made reorganization the difficult but necessary and appropriate path forward to secure our business.”
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
Poorly managed operation? There shouldn’t be a shortage of engine demands.
Thanks, Dr. Fauci!
in my backyard
This is why Soros invests in panic and upheaval following the Rothschild maxim, “Buy when blood runs in the streets”.
What a shame. They are the greatest little engines ever made. The lawnmower always falls a apart and rusts away, well before a B&S engine gives out.
What a shame. They are the greatest little engines ever made. The lawnmower always falls a apart and rusts away, well before a B&S engine gives out.
How will kids build mini-bikes?
Great, just when I was getting ready to build my first go-cart.
With the Honda engines they were already using - those dozen or so kids still doing that.
Ferris lawn mowers pretty much use only B&S engines nowadays. Ours is an older model with a 21hp Kawasaki engine in it. I went by our small-town Ferris dealer last week looking for parts for our 48” model. When I asked where the new machines were, he showed me a three page list of folks waiting for new 48”
& 60” models to arrive. He’s been trading low-selling models for this area to other dealers for the models he needs, but now he’s almost out of anything to trade. He’s had parts on order since March that still haven’t arrived and no shipping date in sight. There were only 3-4 large commercial machines left on his showroom floor. Fortunately, he had the parts I need. The parts I purchased were ordered over a year ago, and he only had one or two of those left in his stock (idler pulleys for the cutting deck). He normally carries at least 35-40 of those at any given time. To say he’s concerned about his business is an understatement. With B&S filing bankruptcy is only gonna make it worse.
Disagree. They’d been having quality problems in recent decades and other manufacturers had been supplanting them in commercial applications.
They’ve been having management problems for years and bleeding money has become common of late, pre-COVID. They blamed the weather and other things for their giant loss around this time last year; COVID-19 is likely just a convenient excuse:
Tecumseh Engines
Ferris has been moving to Kawasaki motors for a second source or alternative engine for a while now, even though they’re owned by the same conglomerate that owns Briggs.
Also, quality has dropped on those Vanguard engines that Briggs was using:
Years and years ago my buddy ended up with a B&G engine. We went “havsies” on a centrifical clutch and built our version of a go-cart using the wheels and axles of a Red Flyer wagon and some lumber. Very narrow and high-centered! My buddy and I were the only ones that could drive it. We let others try but they would always tip over!
One winter I “tuned up” the engine. I’m guessing I was in the 6th grade. I ended up with a few bolts left over. It ran better than before I cleaned it up though!
They’re basically just a licensing name now:
https://www.lawnmowerpros.com/blog/index.php/what-happened-to-tecumseh/
“...Ferris has been moving to Kawasaki motors for a second source or alternative engine for a while now...”
Well, ours is a 2009 model with that 21hp Kawasaki engine. That engine has been trouble-free and has a lot of hours on it. We cut over 4 acres almost every week with it. But it’s taken care of with proper maintenance pretty much by the book as well. So if the new ones are as good as the one we have, transitioning back to them is likely a good thing for Ferris. I’d buy another one just like it in a heartbeat if I had to buy a new one. However, this old one has rebuildable drives. I’m told the new ones do not...they’re just replaced. They’re expensive mowers, but they hold up well. Yeah...I’d buy another one.
I find that hard to believe. I see more Honda and Chinese Honda clone engines than anything else, followed by Kohler, Kawasaki, etc. About the only B&S engines I see these days are on 'antiques'.
Remember, “largest” depends on what metric they’re using. It may not be units shipped.
For all we know, they may be claiming that based on “number of square feet in our factory.” :P
Good point.
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