MILWAUKEE, Jan. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Still using headphones with wires? Time to upgrade. No camera on your phone? Yep, better upgrade. Research shows that more and more homeowners are looking to upgrade their lawn mowers as well--and with good reason. Today's lawn mowers are engineered to answer the needs of today's homeowners.

In its newest PowerPulse(TM) study, a survey of 500 lawn mower buyers, Briggs & Stratton Corporation found that nearly 20 percent of people who recently purchased a gasoline-powered walk-behind mower weren't necessarily replacing a broken machine. Rather, they wanted to take advantage of recent technology designed to make new mowers easier to start, use, maintain and store. For riding mowers, more than one in four shoppers looked for a newer or better mower.

"A good lawn mower should last several years. So, anyone who hasn't recently shopped for or purchased a new lawn mower will be surprised at the advances in engine technology," said Rick Zeckmeister, vice president consumer marketing and planning at Briggs & Stratton. "At Briggs & Stratton we're constantly listening to what homeowners are telling us and evolving to meet their needs and provide the most advanced engine technology available."

Easy wins the day
 With homeowner's desire for ease in mind Briggs & Stratton has introduced a host of new innovative engines in the past several years.


    --  The PowerPulse survey revealed that "ease of starting" has been a
        top-two purchase factor for the past several years. To answer that,
        Briggs & Stratton introduced ReadyStart(®) - an engine that doesn't
        need to be primed or choked and is guaranteed to start within two pulls
        or Briggs & Stratton will fix it for free. (1) To continue to make
        starting easier for homeowners, Briggs & Stratton recently introduced
        InStart(®), an electric start engine that starts at the push of a
        button with a lithium-ion battery. With InStart, homeowners won't even
        need to pull the rope for a quick and reliable starting power.
    --  Reducing noise levels was the top desired improvement new walk mower
        buyers expressed. Briggs & Stratton's engines with Quiet Power
        Technology(®) are 60 percent quieter than comparable models.(2 )
    --  Ease of maintenance continues to be in the top ten purchase factors for
        walk mower buyers. It doesn't get easier than never having to change the
        oil with Briggs & Stratton's EXi engine featuring Just Check &
        Add((TM)). Eliminate the need for that seasonal oil change and instead
        just check and add when the oil gets low. (3)
    --  For those folks who don't have enough space in their garage, Briggs &
        Stratton developed Mow N' Stow(®), the only gas powered engine that can
        be stored upright without leaking gas or oil resulting in a 70% reduced
        footprint.
    --  As if these features weren't enough by themselves, several engines now
        feature multiple innovations in one engine. For instance, homeowners can
        find Just Check & Add on engines that also feature QPT or Mow N' Stow
        technology.

Today's lawnmowers engines are tackling some of the biggest storage, starting, usage and maintenance issues that homeowners tell us they have. And when they see the new line-up of mower options, homeowners will agree that an upgrade is indeed in order.

About Briggs & Stratton Corporation:
 Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG), headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is focused on providing power to get work done and make people's lives better. Briggs & Stratton is the world's largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment, and is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of power generation, pressure washers, lawn and garden, turf care and job site products through its Briggs & Stratton(®), Simplicity(®), Snapper(®), Ferris(®), Vanguard(TM), Allmand(TM), Billy Goat(®), Murray(®), Branco(®) and Victa(®) brands. Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents. For additional information, please visit www.basco.com and www.briggsandstratton.com.

(1) See www.BriggsandStratton.com for details.
(2) As tested against Honda model HRR2169VKA and Toro model 20371.
(3) To learn more, go to www.justcheckandadd.com or see complete details in the Operator's Manual. Briggs & Stratton standard warranty terms and conditions apply. Just Check & Add does not extend the warranty period.

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SOURCE Briggs & Stratton Corporation