The following is an article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It's not that great technically, but I was surprised to see it in the Atlanta Newspaper. The link may not work (you have to join up to see on line articles, so I posted the whole thing here.
Horsepower loses its grip on mowers
In terms of engines, talk turns to torque
By Rick Barrett
McClatchy Tribune
Published on: 02/23/08
When you buy lawn and garden equipment this spring, a familiar old term - horsepower Â- will be missing from many engines.
Blame it on lawyers, or engine makers who might have fudged the numbers, but horsepower is no longer the gold standard for small gasoline engines.
Sears, for example, advertises some lawn mowers rated by horsepower, others by torque, and still others by cubic centimeters. And some mowers have no such designation at all.
"Unfortunately, we are not giving consumers the answers they want," said Bill Rotter, an owner of National Ace Hardware stores in the Milwaukee area.
There's no longer a horsepower rating for many Briggs & Stratton engines. Last year, Briggs chose torque as its rating system for push mowers, snow throwers, pressure washers and generators.
In basic terms, torque is a measure of the force needed to turn something like a wrench or a lawn mower blade.
"We think it's a better measurement of a mower's ability to cut grass," said Rick Zeckmeister, North American consumer marketing director at Briggs & Stratton, the world's largest manufacturer of small gasoline engines.
Horsepower, on the other hand, evolved from a measure of the rate at which a horse could pull coal up a mine shaft into a more technical measurement related to watts. Although most people don't know its technical meaning, many have found it useful in comparing the power of engines.
So now, consumers may face confusion over how torque equates to horsepower. There isn't a practical conversion chart because torque and horsepower are two different things.
"Torque doesn't mean much to the consumer," Rotter said. "And it's more complicated for us because it's almost impossible to try and explain what gross torque means" to someone buying a lawn mower.
Rotter said he wouldn't be surprised if, down the road, engine manufacturers return to horsepower ratings.
Lawsuit spurs change
The shift away from horsepower ratings came after a lawsuit in Illinois claimed that engine manufacturers were overstating the horsepower of lawn mower engines.
In some cases, the lawsuit alleged, identical engines were labeled with different horsepower ratings, misleading consumers into believing they were getting more power by purchasing more expensive models.
Briggs advertised one engine as having 6.75 horsepower and yet told the Environmental Protection Agency the same engine had 3.6 horsepower, an 88 percent overstatement, according to the lawsuit.
Since at least 1997, engine manufacturers Briggs, Tecumseh, Kohler, Toro and Kawasaki have reported horsepower ratings to the EPA that were significantly lower than the ratings advertised to the public, the lawsuit said.
For Briggs, it wasn't an attempt to mislead anyone, according to Tom Savage, a senior vice president at the company.
There are different testing protocols for the EPA than for the general public, Savage said. The EPA ratings are based on a "composite" of test results at different engine loads, while results for the general public are based on an engine's full power capabilities.
An Illinois judge dismissed the suit last March, but it may resurface.
"It's still not totally resolved because the judge did not tell us what portions of the suit he dismissed with prejudice or not. So in effect, it allows the lawyers to come back," said James Brenn, Briggs' chief financial officer.
The suit included plaintiffs from across the nation, including Susan Barnard, a librarian from Green Bay, Wis.
Barnard bought a Yard Machines mower for $263.70 that was supposed to have a 5-horsepower Briggs engine. Although she was happy with the mower, she was miffed when lawyers involved in the lawsuit contacted her and told her the engine was less powerful than billed.
"I said, 'Those dirty buggers. You get them to stop doing that. Put me on the lawsuit,'" she said in an interview.
'Horsepower sells'
Over the years, manufacturers in the intensely competitive small-engine business have used horsepower ratings as a marketing tool.
"Horsepower sells," said Jeff Hebbard, a vice president at Ariens Co., a Brillion, Wis.-based manufacturer of lawn tractors and other outdoor power equipment. "It doesn't always sell for the right reasons, but it does sell."
The horsepower race sounds like what has occurred with electric motors, where power claims have been embellished, said Kevin Brady, a Minneapolis attorney and engineer not affiliated with the horsepower lawsuit.
"You can exaggerate a bit and not get in trouble," Brady said. "It's called puffing."
In reporting to the EPA, engine manufacturers have some leeway to fudge horsepower ratings by about 15 percent.
Sometimes, the same engine is advertised as having different horsepower ratings depending on how it's sold.
"There are slight adjustments that get them there, but it's the same engine," Hebbard said.
Ariens buys engines from Briggs, Kohler, Honda and other manufacturers.
It has been challenging for the engine makers to find a rating system that works, said Dan Ariens, company president.
"Americans are very familiar with horsepower. It's a number they kind of understand," Ariens said.
It's uncertain which power standard the small-engine manufacturers will settle on, if they agree at all.
"Some guys like to have cubic centimeters as their standard, some like torque, and some like horsepower," said Savage of Briggs & Stratton. "I don't know if there will be a one-size-fits-all solution."
SHOPPER'S GUIDE
What to look for, according to Peter Sawchuk, a Consumer Reports power equipment expert.
Ignore: horsepower, torque or engine displacement
Pay attention to: The mower's cutting width and overall performance, rather than engine statistics.
Look for: An engine with an overhead valve system. It might be more expensive, but it will last longer.
GLOSSARY OF ENGINE TERMS
Torque: Briggs & Stratton says torque is the best way to rate an engine that powers a push lawn mower, snow thrower, pressure washer or other equipment where the engine is turning something. Torque, in basic terms, is a twisting force that causes rotation.
Horsepower: Engine manufacturers typically measure horsepower by operating a "bare" engine, not equipped with accessories or installed in power equipment, at a given engine speed. In technical terms, a unit of horsepower is equal to 745.7 watts, another measurement of power.
Since torque and horsepower are two different things, Briggs says it can't do a direct comparison.
Cubic centimeters: The volume of the engine's cylinder chamber. An engine with more cubic centimeters should produce more power. But that could be affected by other features of the engine, including its fuel injector or carburetor.
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