Re: Briggs & Stratton 5 HP OB Questions/Etc..

[WAYNE]

I don’t know much about the Briggs motors. They quit making them a while ago. I’d guess they left the market 8 years ago. The 5hp Briggs was quite cheap. They sold for $795 CDN when I first became aware of them somewhere around 2002. They made some mechanical changes over the years, but my understanding is that they were about as good as you expect from a lawnmower motor mounted on an outboard midsection. I believe the early ones had some issues that might have been related to overheating. I once looked at one in the store and it looked cheap and disposable. Of course, they were priced well under comparable outboards so the poor quality seemed reasonable. Like any motor, they have their fans and detractors.

I think the real shame is that Briggs’ 3 hp electric outboard never took off. I hoped that one would be successful. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It needed a bank of four (if I remember correctly) group 31 deep cycle batteries to operate, which made it suitable only for sailboats and other limited use applications.

Wayne
Upper Canada Chapter

uccaomci.com