Lawnmower recommendations please

[JimD]

It takes me about 1 to 1.5 hours to mow my grass depending on how tall it is. It doesn't matter if I use my self propelled walk behind or my little "lawn bug" rider. The walk behind does a better job and I figure I need the exercise so that is what I normally use. I have a Sears Craftsman with front wheel propulsion. The wheels need replaced and it needs a tuneup. The self propelled also doesn't really work, probably needs a belt. A friend of my son's needs a mower so I am thinking of giving him the old one (he and my son will fix it up, I am sure, they are both gear-heads) and buying a new one.

So I am looking for a new walk behind mower. I don't know if I want front or rear wheel drive. I don't know if I want a Honda motor or a Briggs. I catch the grass (weeds this year, didn't get the pre-emergent out) so I want a rear bagger.

Recommendations?

Jim

[charliex]

I have a rear drive rear bag cman. Maybe I got a bad design but I will never go with cman again. This thing has ruined wheels because grass gets in between the drive gears and the cogs in the wheels. Grass gets in the plastic baffle under the engine and catches fire when it dries. I must remove it and clean the grass out several times a year and more often when I mulch leaves in the fall. I could go on but why. It has a Tecumseh engine which has performed flawlessly.

I have used a front drive with a rear bag and on a small slope it became useless when the bag was half full. One advantage is they seem easier to turn.

I have a story about Honda. Many years ago (80s) I was station engineer for a college radio station. At that time I didn't know Honda made mowers. A student related how he was paying his tuition by mowing lawns in the summer. Quaint I thought. I ask about the mower he used and his reply was Honda. I ask why not Snapper or Toro. He said they tried them but they didn't last an entire season. That was a clue. I had to asked what do you mow? Short reply " One of our jobs takes 3 mowers and 2 trimmers almost 11 hours one day every 2 weeks. The property owner don't like the look of a rider cut. He had more examples and most of his clients were very upscale. No wonder his college tuition was paid in full at the begin of each year.

[dbhost]

My priorities were a bit different than yours apparently. I wanted to steer clear of that new fangled self propelled mower.

I had a Craftsman 21" mulcher / rear bag / side discharge with 6HP Briggs engine and high rear wheel configuration. I really liked that mower, but a rock hidden in tall grass and a bent crankshaft later meant time for a new mower last year. I ended up with a Yard Machines 21", similar specs to the Craftsman but a 6.75 Briggs engine, and no side discharge. I mulch my clippings in, and my lawn seems to REALLY like it... Beats the snot out of the trouble of bagging, and then adding chemical fertilizers and junk to my lawn to keep it green... The critters in the Bayou prefer it that way too!

Self propelled on a walk behind seems self defeating to me. If I were to get self propelled, I would just get a lawn tractor... But that's just me...

[pelligrini]

I've got a Toro Personal Pace 22" with a Briggs engine. I've had it for over 10 years now and it's still running pretty strong. Rear bag, right chute, or mulch (my normal way), rear wheel drive. Still starts right away most of the time. Very easy to maneuver. I really like the auto adjustable speed. It's never too fast or too slow. One can mow the lawn with a pilsner of Guiness in one hand if so inclined. If I needed another mower again I would get one.

[gsmittle]

One can mow the lawn with a pilsner of Guiness in one hand if so inclined.

The only thing better than that is enjoying your brew while your teenager mows the lawn.

Personally, I'd rather just pave the entire lawn, but LOML likes the green. Now if I can just keep her from mowing the sewer vent. I've replaced the cap four times in five years. Last fall I buried it under about an inch of sod; we'll see if she hits it this year…

g.

[crybdr]

++1 on the Toro with Personal Pace.

The spring loaded handle self adjusts the propulsion speed to match your pace. As simple as it sounds - it does a nice job. Way better than using a fixed speed.

[JimD]

I saw a couple Toros at the local Lowe's. They were Briggs motors and may be last years model - they were marked down. I've never had a problem with a Briggs motor, however, I might just give one a try. I wouldn't mind trying a Honda motor but I always like saving money.

[frumper64]

I'd vote for Honda

I had a LawnBoy self propelled and it was garbage. I finally got a Honda self propelled and really like it. I think it a something "216" - it's the one that is right at $500. The self propelled is variable speed, depending on how hard you push with your thumbs on this thing on the handle. It works a lot better than it sounds. I really like this mower a lot. I don't know if it will last as long as a non self propelled, but time will tell.

[Kristofor]

I have had a Toro Super Recycler (their non-HD/Lowes series with the aluminum deck, etc.) with their personal pace system for 9 years and I love it. I may just have been spoiled by the POS mowers I had to use growing up (the last of which was replaced as soon as the last kid moved out...), but the thing works great for me.

I don't bag or side discharge, I only mulch. However, even after returning from a trip in the spring where I'm knocking 3+ inches off at the tallest height it doesn't clump up unless it's really wet out. If I'm cutting less than 2" off I can mow in the rain without clumping.

I sharpen the blade once a year (maybe twice), and change the oil and air filter yearly. I also buy non-crap-gas (ethanol free) for the snowblower and lawnmower which may or may not help its lifespan.

By almost all accounts the Honda mowers are great, and on that basis I'd at least consider one if I was looking for a new mower. But I've also been quite satisfied with the one I'm using, so I wouldn't hesitate to consider another when it dies.

[jking]

I think Toro has changed the engine on their steel deck mowers. I have a Toro Recycler with personal pace with a Tecumseh engine. I bought it four years ago to replace a craftsman that grew legs. The only thing I like about the Toro is the personal pace. Every spring i have problems with it starting. It doesn't mulch well, it doesn't bag as well as my craftsman did. Toro has switched back to a Briggs engine, which hopefully is set up better than the tecumseh was. I would have a hard time recommending the Toro. The super recycler may be better.

I think the personal pace system is supposed to have a pretty high speed. Basically, it will go as fast as you can walk. If you want to cut you mowing time, you might think about a rider with hydrostatic drive. It really cuts the mowing time.

[LCHIEN]

when i was still mowing the lawn, my choice was a front wheel drive self propelled rear bagging model.

A front wheel drive reduces the need to keep kicking the clutch in and out while maneuvering - you just push down on the handles and it removes enough weight so the front wheels reduce traction and you can control it w/o fighting it. When you push forward on the handles when cutting thicker or wet grass, the front wheeel increase traction as the weight transfers forward.

Having a rear bagger makes it easier to maneuver giving options as to which side you want to pass obstacles. Also the weight in the rear of grass helps with the aforementioned control of traction on the front wheel drive. Most rear baggers will allow you to put a cover over the discharge to make them mulch - I did that a few times when i was in a hurry and didn't want to have to pause to empty bags.

My last mower was a Craftsman with big rear wheels and electric start as well. The wheels maybe helped a little but the elctric start was handy if nothin else my wife wouldn't mind mowing once in a long while because she could not pull start a mower. It was real convenient, That Craftsman would always start easily even when the battery was dead.

[cwsmith]

I'm going to be the "odd man, out" on this one. Surely my lawns have always been smaller than what you describe and it takes me about an hour to mow.

Personally, I don't care at all for self-propelled mowers. I used my FIL's Craftsman once and that was enough. What a cumbersome, heavy and awkward machine... even though it was the best Craftsman unit they had (early 80's). Biggest problem for me, was that it was just too slow, I walk much faster than that. Also, because of the extra weight it was difficult to u-turn, and/or maneuver around the hedges, plants, etc.

My preference is a simply Briggs & Stratton, with large wheels in the rear. The large wheels makes it much easier to push and manuever if the ground isn't perfect. My home I have a large bank (about 35 degrees) and lots of trees, with occasional roots to navigate.

In my 66 years, I've mowed one heck of a lot (been doing it since I was twelve), and I've always done the mowing and always used a simple non-propelled power mower. (Well, when I started out, my Dad had a non-power "reel" mower... now that was fun! ). I'm faithful to the Briggs & Stratton engine. I've owned a total of four lawn mowers. The original I bought with my first house back in 1969 for $30. I had to replace a shear pin once, and the rear wheels once; but, I used it right up until the early 90's. It always started on the "first pull" and became sort of the spring tradition.

Finally the pan rusted and I bought a new one. That was so poorly built, it only lasted about six years, because the pan cracked around the engine mounting bolts. In 1999 or so, I bought a "YTD" at Walmart and it still works great. In 2003, I bought a second one for the house in Binghamton. None of these start nearly as nice as that first lawn mower, but they aren't bad either. The only thing I don't like about these last two mowers is that they no longer have a throttle.

Of course my lawn is no doubt smaller, but I found not having a drive unit is a plus for me. I don't need the extra weight and I don't mind the walk and push, especially with the larger wheels.

CWS

[LCHIEN]

Some grasses are thin, wispy grasses and easy to cut even with manual rotary push movers. In Houston, and probably across the lower coast and southeast US we have thick, tough, St. Augustine that grows rapidly and missing a weekly cutting by a couple of days can make cutting a major task that really punishes a lawnmower in both cutting and simply rolling the mower thru the thick grass. And in the summertime was have high humidity and frequent thunderstorms, wet grass is a frequent condition and requires a lot of power to cut and propel.

Here's a thread from last year on grass cutting issues and electric mowers.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ight=lawnmower

[cabinetman]

I have two mowers and both are John Deere walk behind. They were free from a friend. I got the first one about 12 years ago when the transmission went and my buddy didn't want to spend the money to get it fixed. It was 10 years old at the time. He replaced the mower with the same type. So he gave it to me, and I took out the transmission and made a push mower out of it, with a mulching blade.

Fast forward about 10 years, my buddy gave me that replacement mower, as the same thing happened with the transmission. So now I have two great running mowers and plenty of parts. I'm not saying that those mowers are dependable, considering the tranny problems, but as push mowers, they start on the first pull and run like champs.

.

[sailor55330]

Had Tecumseh engines-prematurely died
Briggs, ok
Honda, best I've ever had--quiet, smooth, easy start.

Get the Honda mower. Great cut, build, ease of use. You won't look back