power within type public traded as nyse bgg founded 1908 headquarters wauwatosa wisconsin 1 united states key people todd j. teske ceo dave rodgers cfo thomas r. savage sr. vp of admin william h. reitman sr. vp of sales & customer support revenue us 1.85 b fy 2014 2 operating income us 46m fy 2014 3 net income us 28m fy 2014 3 total assets us 1.450 b fy 2014 3 total equity us 651m fy 2010 number of employees 6 847 website briggsandstratton.com briggs & stratton is an american industrial company primarily involved in engineering developing and manufacturing internal combustion reciprocating gas engines . it is the world s largest manufacturer of air cooled gasoline engines primarily for outdoor power equipment . production averages 10 million engines per year as of april 2015 . 4 5 contents 1 history 2 acquisitions agreements and joint ventures 3 innovations 4 logo history 5 models 5.1 cast iron models 5.2 aluminum models 5.3 industrial commercial models 5.4 outboard motors 5.5 karting engines 5.6 2 cycle engines 6 see also 7 headquarters manufacturing plants and testing facilities 8 references 9 further reading 10 external links history edit launched in 1908 in milwaukee wisconsin the company is based today in wauwatosa wisconsin . 1 briggs & stratton engines are commonly used on lawnmowers as well as pressure washers electrical generators and a wide variety of other applications . their original cast iron engines were known for their durability but the company s success was established following the development of lightweight aluminum engines in 1953 . the aluminum engine was the perfect solution for the recently invented rotary lawnmower due to its lighter weight and lower cost . the company started in 1908 as an informal partnership between stephen foster briggs and harold m. stratton . s.f. briggs was born in watertown south dakota and graduated from south dakota state college now south dakota state university in brookings in 1907 . the idea for his first product came from an upper level engineering class project at sdsc . this first product was a six cylinder two cycle engine which stephen foster briggs developed during his engineering courses at south dakota state . after his graduation he was eager to produce his engine and enter the rapidly expanding automobile industry . bill juneau a coach at south dakota state knew of briggs ambition and the entrepreneurial interests of harold m. stratton a successful grain merchant who had a farm next to juneau s farm so he introduced the two . in 1922 their fledgling company set a record in the automotive industry selling the briggs & stratton flyer the red bud at record low prices of us 125 150 . eventually briggs and stratton settled on manufacturing automotive components and small gasoline engines . briggs purchased an engine patent from a.o. smith company and began powering early washing machines and reel mowers as well as many other types of equipment . the company went public on the new york stock exchange in 1928 . during world war ii briggs & stratton produced generators for the war effort . some pre war engines were made with aluminum which helped the company develop its expertise in using this material . this development along with the post war growth of 1950s suburbs and lawns helped secure briggs & stratton s successful growth throughout the 1950s and 1960s . stephen briggs went on to purchase evinrude and johnson outboards and start the outboard marine corporation . frederick p. stratton sr. the son of harold stratton served as chairman of briggs & stratton until his death in 1962 . frederick p. stratton jr. served as chairman until his retirement in 2001 . in 1995 briggs & stratton sold the automotive component business . the resulting company is strattec security corporation . in 2000 6 the company acquired its consumer generator business from the beacon group and formed briggs & stratton power products . the beacon group had previously purchased the consumer products division of generac corporation now generac power systems in 1998 . in 2005 the company added simplicity manufacturing inc and snapper inc to the briggs & stratton power products line . murray inc one of its largest customers collapsed owing the company 40 million and to minimize the loss briggs & stratton purchased the name marketing rights and product designs of that company . in 2008 briggs & stratton announced it would be acquiring the victa lawn care business from gud holdings limited australia for a 23 million . acquisitions agreements and joint ventures edit farymann diesel gmbh 1979 1984 based in lampertheim near mannheim in germany this was the first foreign acquisition briggs & stratton had ever made and was a poor fit with the company s acknowledged expertise in high volume low cost production . they officially completed the acquisition on may 29 1979 . 7 despite investing in new production methods briggs & stratton never understood the very low volume highly customized nature of the air cooled diesel engine market . after considering adding italy s lombardini to increase its presence in the diesel market as well as a failed attempt to develop its own designs briggs & stratton accepted defeat and sold the company to a private investor for a minimal amount to avoid further liabilities . since the energy crisis had not affected the us market s preference for gasoline engines enthusiasm waned rapidly at management level for diesel engines . 8 daihatsu briggs & stratton dbs in an effort to stave off japanese competition during the 1980s briggs & stratton entered a 50 50 joint venture with the daihatsu motor company in japan . located in shiga prefecture 50 miles 80 km from osaka japan construction on the then 57 000 square foot 5 300 m2 plant began in december 1986 and was completed in april 1987 . this joint venture was notable for the manufacture of vertical and horizontal crankshaft engines from 12.5 to 22 hp 16 kw under the vanguard brand . today the plant employs roughly 100 people on two shifts and manufactures vanguard v twin engines ranging from 14 to 36 hp 27 kw . 9 the mitsubishi agreement the vanguard line initially consisted of three single cylinder engines and several v twin engines . the v twins made by dbs had sold very well but the single cylinder engine models originally produced at briggs & stratton s menomonee falls wisconsin plant didn t fare so well . briggs & stratton needed to solve this problem so following discussions with several japanese engine manufacturers it entered into an agreement with mitsubishi heavy industries ltd. of tokyo japan . briggs & stratton produced only certain parts for the engines while mitsubishi was responsible for overall production and shipping . the completed single cylinder vanguard engines were shipped directly to customers worldwide . briggs & stratton had exclusive marketing rights only in north america europe and australia new zealand . mhi had exclusive marketing rights under their own brand name in malaysia taiwan south korea and japan . in other countries both companies competed with the same product under their own brand names which led to considerable friction and together with escalating production costs in japan caused this otherwise successful relationship to fail . briggs & stratton commenced marketing alternative u.s. made single cylinder engines under the vanguard brand in early 2007 . 10 the komatsu zenoah venture in may 1987 briggs & stratton entered into an agreement with yet another japanese company executing a 10 year contract with the komatsu zenoah company of tachikawa japan . under the terms of the contract komatsu would manufacture a 2 cycle 4 hp 3 kw engine in which briggs & stratton would purchase and distribute in the united states europe australia and new zealand . said fred stratton this venture was not successful because the rising price of the yen made the engine too expensive in the u.s. 11 the toro agreement in 1999 briggs & stratton made a license agreement with the toro company of bloomington minnesota usa . to produce the toro r tek piston ported version of their e series 2 stroke engine aka lawn boy duraforce for use in toro snow throwers . the r tek engine was a 141cc 2 cycle that produced from 4 hp to 6.5 hp with only the need to adjust the rpms ranging from 3700 rpms to 4000 rpms and ran using a gas & oil mix of 50 1 . a high out put 7 hp model was made engine model 84330 for the use in heavier duty snow throwers such as the single stage snow commander 2001 2008 & 2 stage power max 726te 6000 2004 2008 the extra .5 horse power was obtained using transfer ports in the piston & cylinder wall and ran at the same operating speed as the 6.5 hp engines 4000rpms . production stopped in 2011 . innovations edit the aluminum engine this was introduced in 1953 as a means of having a lighter weight engine for applications such as rotary lawn mowers . it was improved five years later in 1958 with the introduction of the kool bore all aluminum and sleeve bore aluminum with a cast iron cylinder liner . easy spin starting this compression release implemented as an extra hump on the intake lobe of the camshaft was introduced in 1961 to reduce the effort required to start an engine . 12 in 1982 a new u.s. federal safety regulation required lawnmower blades to stop spinning within three seconds of the operator letting go of the handle . the least costly most common way of complying with the new regulation was to put a flywheel brake on the mower engine to stop the engine and therefore the blade immediately when the handle was released . briggs & stratton engineers found engines with the easy spin camshaft were unacceptably difficult to restart after being braked to a quick stop . the easy spin lobe hump was moved to the exhaust valve but this reduced engine performance . the intake side easy spin remained in use on briggs & stratton s engines larger than those used on mowers subject to the brake requirement but was discontinued in 1997 due to tightening emission regulations . 13 the synchro balanced engine this 1966 innovation was designed to attenuate vibration caused by the reciprocating mass of a single cylinder engine . the design was a series of counterweights opposing the crankpin . 14 the twin cylinder engine this engine was introduced in 1977 as a means of competing with briggs & stratton s rivals particularly japanese firms like honda who were cutting into traditional briggs & stratton markets by producing lawn mower engines and later complete lawn mowers . these first models were rated 16 hp 11.9 kw and displaced 40 cubic inches 656 cc but were joined in 1979 by 42 cubic inch 694 cc models rated at 18 hp 13.4 kw . the original price for the 16 hp 12 kw version was 70 lower at us 228 than their single cylinder cast iron version bearing the same power rating . 15 industrial commercial i c this series of engines initially ranging from 3 to 18 hp 13 kw was introduced in 1979 as briggs & stratton s answer to high quality commercial duty engines produced by competitors . these engines include heavy duty features such as stellite exhaust valves upgraded bearings cast iron sleeved cylinder bores and high capacity air cleaners . 16 briggs & stratton hybrid in 1980 at the tail end of the energy crisis briggs & stratton developed the first gasoline electric hybrid automobile . the hybrid was designed by brooks stevens and powered by a twin cylinder 16 hp 11.9 kw briggs & stratton engine and a large electric battery . magnetron ignition this solid state ignition system introduced by briggs