Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - small engine manufactures

I read several small engine periodicals ,and on-line sites.
I also read more ,and more frequently that many big name manufacturers are selling off their small engine divisions and eliminating small engine repair training. Thoughts on how those of us are going to get parts and service would be appreciated.:confused: :confused:

I would not worry. Names such as Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh, Kohler small engines are their mainstream business. I have heard that Tecumseh is about ready to be taken over by another company (not Briggs or Kohler) but the small engines will still be made.

Tecumseh has already been sold to a holding company.
The small engine market is starting to exhibit Chinese clones
which i would interpret that some of the good old stand-by American products may be all foreign soon.

The new owner at Tec makes no secret of pushing towards moving the whole production including assembly to China. This will not be as big a change as it sounds though, since the engines have been assembled in the US and Canada from mostly Chinese made parts since the last decade or so, it's the only way to remain competitive. Otherwise Tec engines would sell at Honda prices. Hondas are expensive because the company uses only Japanese made (Honda proper) parts.

The Chinese build to spec so as long as Tec demands quality from them it will get it, there's a lot of cheap stuff coming out of China but there's a lot of good quality products as well, you get what you pay for be it in Shanghai or Seattle. It's sad though, because it means more jobs moving out of here.