(As I was saying) ... lawn mower recommendations

[Statica]

So I posted this thread this morning, but accidentally deleted it myself (what are the odds of that). I did manage to catch SV's reply to it - thanks for that... and to anyone else who might've chimed in - unfortunately, I didn't catch any of your good information and/or wisecracks about using Hal's Ford Mustang instead ;)!

So basically, am looking for info before I buy a lawnmower. Any recommendations or gotchas especially w/brands. The area to be mowed isn't that huge. I would've liked to go green, but am wondering about the cost benefits - the entire TCO of buying an electric mower. And any experiences of corded vs cordless ones.

Thanks again for your replies / re-replies.

[doubledragon5]

Try a Murry. I had one for 8yrs and it never gave up on me.. changed the spark plug once, and changed the oil once and that was that.. I recently sold a Troy Built, because I no longer live in a home (apartment) had it four yrs and same thing no issues..

[HAL9000]

You only want to use a Mustang to burn down your lawn, not cut it.

[shadowpr]

(You know this is a tough forum when a mod deletes their own thread. LOL)

[Cricket]

McLane mowers (http://www.mclanemower.com/) seem to have a very good reputation here in the islands.

:) Cricket

[MaxRat]

A couple goats?

[Hi Ho]

I have always been a fan of Honda lawn mowers. They are a little pricier but they last forever, especially those with composite decks (instead of steel).

I have not had good luck with Craftsman mowers and it seems like every mower I've had with Briggs & Stratton engines were rather problematic.

[Jerry Falletta]

I have always been a fan of Honda lawn mowers. They are a little pricier but they last forever, especially those with composite decks (instead of steel).

I have not had good luck with Craftsman mowers and it seems like every mower I've had with Briggs & Stratton engines were rather problematic.

Bingo! The Honda Harmony series is one heck of a mower, although the throttle control, on the side of the handle always strikes bushes and gets moved down to idle. :eek: Very annoying!

I had a Craftsman mower prior t the Honda, and it was a joke. There was a time when Craftsman mowers were of excellent quality, but those days are gone forever (although some of them use Honda engines, as do many other mowers). The "body" and wheels are what went bad on my Craftsman within a few years of relatively easy use, and the safety shutoff also fail - this would have cost more to fix than to replace the mower, so off to buy a Honda I went.

No regrets whatsoever since that day (except for the throttle thing).

[HAL9000]

I'm not even sure what kind of motor was in it, but I the Lawn-boys that my dad owned lasted for ever... he bought one new and about 10 years later bought a new one only to get a self propelled, the old one was still fine.

[Panama Red]

I used to have cheapies til I moved from a condo to this house 9 years ago. Bought a Toro-me-propel and it has run flawlessly this whole time. I'm thinking of replacing it this year with a self propelled and I'm going to give the Honda a good comparison with the Toro. Honda's are a bit pricey (but so is the Toro) but they run real quiet compared to a B&S powered mower.

[juppy]

Up until last year, we always used John Deere mowers (riding and push styles both), and they lasted a long time, with relatively few parts to replace over the duration. They're kinda like Honda though, you're going to pay for the name as well as the quality. Last year we finally had to replace them and went with a Craftsman rider and pusher. The rider has a Kohler engine in it and has been good so far. The push mower has a Briggs engine, which runs fine and starts really easy (first or second pull, every time, even after sitting through the winter), but the wheels are what I don't like on it. Everything's gone to plastic which, to me, equals cheap and breakable, but it seems like all brands have plastic wheels anymore so I guess it's "take your pick". So far it's doing a fine job mowing, but I just wonder how long the wheels are going to last.

[EzyStvy]

I did a bunch of research and ended up letting my pocketbook be my guide. Got a rear bagger/mulcher mower at Home Depot. (briggs and stratt engine)

My yards are just big enough that a self propel would be nice but I got a "pusher" to keep the cost down.

My hedge trimmer/leaf blower and edger are all corded and work fine. Best freind went cordless on his stuff. Even with two batteries, he is less then happy...

[mbossman2]

I've had a sears with a briggs and stratton engine running now going on 9 years. hit the primer bulb 5 times, pull the cord and it starts on the 1st pull every time. MY only complaints are: repair parts - gotta go to sears directly. i've needed a replacement blade and associated hardware (the "universal" blade from Home Depot didn't have tight fitment and caused some issues after a half a season) and the size of the clippings bag.

electric mowers? my grandparents had one (albeit a long time ago) and the issue that they had was being careful and not running over the cord, grandpa did that 3 or 4 times but that might have been because he was in his late 70s and not really attentive.

[Statica]

Thanks for all your comments. I dont see myself getting an electric anymore. A Honda sounds interesting, but am a bit reluctant to walk into a car dealership for it (I haven't seen any Honda's in h/w stores) - am a bit worried that I'm going to be sold a rust protection package :).

(You know this is a tough forum when a mod deletes their own thread. LOL)

I've warned myself adequately, and am on my last strike .. one more and I may even be banning myself. ;)

[HAL9000]

We're discussing it in admin right now.

[Kov-Ice]

My uncle did small engine repair for a long time. He passed away a few years ago, so I'm not as up to date as I could be, but he always praised anything with a Briggs & Stratton engine. He put together an old Central Park push mower for me when I got my first house. I used that thing for 12 years or so, and the only reason I can't any longer is that the handle and front wheels both became bent beyond repair. The B&S engine still runs fine (prolly 17+ yrs old or so), if only I had a new body to put it on!

[HAL9000]

I have a cousin that is a farmer, his stance on Briggs and Stratton engines were if they were mounted upright, they were OK, if they were mounted horizonally, they had issues.

[juppy]

A Honda sounds interesting, but am a bit reluctant to walk into a car dealership for it (I haven't seen any Honda's in h/w stores)That's about the only places around here that sells actual Honda mowers. We have a farm & ranch store called Atwoods that carries them and there are two tractor dealerships that do too. If it's just the Honda engine that you're really wanting, Sears sells some Craftsman mowers that have Honda engines on them instead of the usual Briggs.

[Hi Ho]

I didn't know they even sold mowers in their car dealers. I find them at power equipment stores.

[sdkfz]

Just got my May 2008 Consumer Reports in the mail today and lawnmowers are in there...

Gas- Self Propelled Push Mowers
Honda HRX217HXA was tops with a score of 88 - $800 MSP
Toro Recycler 20066 was Best Buy wit a score of 74 - $350 MSP

Repair History Best Honda, then Toro then Craftsmen all tied at 9%... BTW Runs like a Deere- had the worst repair history

[Statica]

Anyone here recommend Honda'd Lawn-Boy mowers? Went to the local HomeDepot and found a Lawn-Boy that had a Honda engine on it. (was one of these: http://www.lawn-boy.com/productinfo/mowers/Insight_Gold/index.html)? Pretty much every other mower (Toro's etc etc) had Briggs & S. engines.

Interestingly, enough, when I asked about the Honda engines on them, the assoc. said that the most reliable ones were the Toro's with B&S engines. The Honda-powered Lawn-Boy was called "ridiculously overpriced" and showed me an equivalently priced Toro that had an electronic ignition.
That got me sold on looking for a Honda-powered engine .. got me thinking that going by Honda's car manufacturing philosophy - they dont give you much bells & whistles but they do make cars that just keep ticking.

& thanks again for the great info!

[jessho]

After years of dealing with lawn mowers, the best, regardless of price, have a good dependable engine. Honda, to me, is the best engine. It's almost bullet proof and can take a lot of abuse without problems.

No matter what you purchase, follow the manufacturer recommendations on the initial oil change. There might be a light break-in oil, which won't last but a few hours of running before it breaks down and your engine is damaged.

[sdkfz]

mY previous post is slightly off in that the two listed are self propelled....

Self Propelled list - Lawn boy 10785 #4
Push List - Lawn Boy 10683 #1

[glc]

I bought a Troy-Bilt 21" push mower with a Honda engine last year. It's a piece of junk, a waste of my $239. Even with a freshly sharpened blade, it leaves a strip of grass uncut down the middle (doesn't matter whether you use chute, mulch, or bag mode), and the engine doesn't have an oil drain plug. To change the oil you have to tip the mower over and dump it out the fill tube. Not only that, when the bag is not hooked up (using it in chute or mulch mode) the rear skirt folds under and blocks the wheels when you try to pull it backwards. I'm seriously thinking of going back to Lowe's real soon and telling them how dissatisfied I am with it, and seeing what kind of deal I can swing on something decent.

This is the POS:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=97712-270-11A-542Q711&lpage=none

[juppy]

....and the engine doesn't have an oil drain plug. To change the oil you have to tip the mower over and dump it out the fill tube. Not only that, when the bag is not hooked up (using it in chute or mulch mode) the rear skirt folds under and blocks the wheels when you try to pull it backwards.The Craftsman with the Briggs engine that we got last year is the same way, G. No oil plug. Gotta tilt it up on it's side and drain it out the fill tube. Kinda stupid way to do it, but it's even in the manual as being the correct way to empty it. They must've figured out they could save a few million dollars a year by not putting drain plugs on them. :D

And as for that rear skirt folding under, ours does that too, but it's not wide enough that it blocks the wheels. I'm beginning to think they're doing that so people WON'T pull the mower backwards and instead just push forwards like they wish we'd do. That's not real practical though when you come up to a corner (like the corner of your fence in your yard) and have no choice but to back up. I've even read that some mowers are incorporating a locking mechanism on the rear wheels so they won't roll backwards.

On a side note, our Craftsman riding mower doesn't seem to be too gung-ho about going in reverse either. It'll move along real good going forward, but reverse goes about as fast as a slug on a hot, salted sidewalk. There's even a "special" ignition key position for it. If you have the key in the "safety" position with the blades running and you try to back up, it kills the engine. With the key in the other position, you can back up, but it's at that slow-as-molasses speed.

[TwoRails]

I guess things change thru time. One of my earlier mowers was a hand-me-down Craftsman. It was running 5 years before I got it and I used it about 9 before I had to leave it behind in a move. Started great, worked fine, and had a drain plug.

Statica, maybe I missed it, but what type of mowing do you have to do? By that I mean is it a large area? small area? How much is straight? How many obstacles? Where I'm at now, there's not a straight line on the place, not to mention a ton of rock gardens, trees, and bushes dotted all over the place.

A regular mower was killing me with all the lifting of the front wheels to manover and the like. I got one with swiveling front wheels and my back has been thanking me ever since. Lowes had the Cubcadet and Home Depot had the Scotts at the time. I went with the Scotts as it was a rear bagger over the chute style: Living in Washington, I mow a lot with wet grass and chutes can clog a lot easier.

I couldn't find a pic of the one I have (been running strong for about 7 - 8 years now) but here's a link to Cubcadet's site:

http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_89413_33831_-1

Sears didn't have them when I was shopping, but here's their link as they have them now: (it looks like the larger Cubdadet to me):

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07188921000P?adCell=A3

[EzyStvy]

Statica - TIP for new mower/any mower. AVOID tree stumps:eek: (the 6" diameter type)

I killed my two year old mower yesterday by running over a stump and bending the crankshaft:o

Wasn't even my yard...Next door neighbor pasted away last summer and I mow the lawn from time to time to keep the place/and mine from looking too bad.

[EzyStvy]

Thanks to sdkfz for reminding me to look in my Consumer Reports magazine. I also do their on-line service.

The attached pic is their reviews of Gas Powered-PUSH

Scale:
Full Red Circle - Excellent
Half Red - Very Good
White - Good
Half Black - Fair
Black - Poor


Statica - CS lists the Cub Cadet as one of their "best buys." Home Depot has em for $230.00 USD....

Sears has the Craftman on sale for $189.00 USD.

I'm going to carry a copy of the Sears ad into Home Depot and see how close they can get with their Price Match ;)

[glc]

Maybe I should go to a mower shop and look for a good used antique that doesn't have all the new "features" on it.

[David M]

Maybe I should go to a mower shop and look for a good used antique that doesn't have all the new "features" on it.

Agreed...the more complex, the more likely it is to break. That applies to most everything.

[glc]

Not only that - the new "safety features" make it a lot more difficult to USE the damn thing. You probably grew up on the same kind of mower I did - a plain old push rotary, choke, throttle, non-captive pull cord start, no dead man's bar, no flappy rear skirt, a fixed side chute, a blade that would cut grass no matter how dull and dinged up it got, a carburetor with adjusting screws, an oil drain plug, height adjustments by unbolting the wheels and inserting in different holes etc. etc.

[juppy]

LOL....GLC, you sound like my uncle! He's the main reason we went ahead and got the push mower when we bought the new rider (got a better price deal that way), because his old mower had "gave up the ghost" at the end of last year. He watched the newspaper ads, looking for a good, old-style mower....never found one. He hates all the safety features on the new ones and complains about them all the time. Doesn't like the handle-mounted pull cord, doesn't like the carburetor that has no setting screws he can fiddle with, doesn't like the plastic wheels, the plastic discharge chute, how light the metal of the deck is, the primer bulb insted of a choke, the safety bar on the handle that kills it if you let it slip out of your grip or take your hands off of it.....the list goes on and on. If I had to guess, I'd say the only things he HASN'T complained about on that new mower would be the spark plug and the gas tank. :D

EDIT: Oh, in case you're wondering why my uncle likes the old stuff?.....he's 71 years old. And if you're wondering why a 71 year old guy is still out mowing lawns?.....he's not exactly a "normal" 71.....he gets around as good as I do, if not better most of the time. :D

[glc]

I'm not that old, but I still firmly believe in the "KISS" principle and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

[David M]

George isn't old.....he's just stubborn. :D

[glc]

Like you aren't stubborn too???????

[shadowpr]

"I'm not stubborn, I just like doing it the right way." LOL

[Statica]

Hey all .. thanks a lot for taking the time for helping me w/mower recommendations. I really appreciate it. Got one today from Sears - a Craftsman push-mower w/a Honda engine. I've had great experiences w/Honda engines and am hoping for the same. Actually was going to get the Consumers Reports recommended Cub Cadet (thanx Steve) - it's 289CAD here.. stopped off at a Sears and found the mower for 399 on sale for 299 (the sale ended yesterday but they forgot to take off their goofy stickers).

Again, thanx a lot for your help.

[EzyStvy]

I too bought a Craftman...So far, I'm Not impressed with it compared to the Home Depot "Yard Man" mower that I killed.

1) The flip door where you attach the bag leaks mulched grass/dust n dirt up onto the mower.

2) The assembly that holds the wheels/attaches to the mower seem flimsy.

3) The freakin catch bag is WHITE. It ought to look real nice after a few uses. Guess I'm as stupid as they are since I bought the thing.

4) Its harder to push...

The auto primer/no have to press a pump to gas up the carb is nice. Darn thing started on the very first crank.

[David M]

I have never been impressed with anything Craftsman....other than their hand tool warranty. If it breaks, they will replace it no questions asked....even if you put a six foot long cheater bar on it and bend it.

[HAL9000]

I tend to agree there too... I've had other craftsman producs and they were so so at best. Their tools on the other hand, I broke the handle on my ratchet with a hammer trying to break a bolt loose... they replaced it no questions asked.

[juppy]

Your Sears stores must be more leniant than ours is then, when it comes to replacing tools. The people at our Sears store go over a broken returned tool and scrutinize every mark. My brother took a broken screwdriver back to them once and argued with the salesman about how the top had some scratches on it. The salesman tried to say it was marks from a hammer and that my brother had used it like a punch or something! My brother kept explaining that he's a machinist and with all the tools in his toolbox at work, things are always getting scratches on them.....just daily routine. He eventually honored the warranty, but not without a long discussion on it.

They're the same way with "cheater bars" too, as David M mentioned. Bro took a broken 1/2" drive ratchet in for replacement and the same guy argued that he had put a cheater bar on it (which he hadn't done). Again, they replaced it, but not without the whole nagging argument.

In keeping with the thread though, glad you found a mower, Statica! Sears seems to have a problem with those stickers and signs. When we bought our rider, they had two mowers beside each other and after we'd decided on one, the price that the guy put in was several hundred dollars higher than the one we picked. When asked, his response was "Oh, some kids just switched the signs around again.....sorry." :(

[HAL9000]

Maybe... all he cared about was being able to read craftsman on the tool.

[juppy]

You'd think that would be all they WOULD need for a warranty return. We've learned though that most of the people at our Sears will look for marks of "improper use", but we now avoid that guy I mentioned above, as he seems to be more of a stickler about it than the rest of them. The others still look the tool over though too and will sometimes question a large mark that doesn't look like it's from "normal" use. How they can define "normal" though is beyond me. :D

[TwoRails]

Normal use can vary from person to person. I remember one time when I was a mechanic I was having trouble with something on the undercarriage. I was using a small pipe wrench as nothing else would bite on it. A buddy of mine came over and gave it a try. The part didn't budge but he freakin' bent the wrench into a C shape!!! The real funny part is that he had arms about the size of drinking straws! :eek: :) -- it's one of those things I'd have a hard time believing if I didn't see it with my own eyes!

[glc]

Found out something yesterday - Harbor Freight also has a lifetime warranty on their cheap crappy hand tools. They just opened up a store here and I was over there getting some stuff. I also found out that the prices in the store are not necessarily the same as online, but they will match the online sale price if you bring in a printout. They also stick flyers in the weekly junk mail with coupons. I doubt I will ever have to buy any more tools from Sears, I don't need mechanic's or contractor's quality these days.

[TwoRails]

I spent a whole lot of years buying the majority of my tools thru SnapOn. Like you mention, I sure don't need that sort of tool, nor expense, anymore. I've used some Harbor Freight stuff and they can do the job for a lot of things. Hole punches, circle cutters, and the like have served their functions. The only one by me is about an hours drive, and they are they same as your: the same only different from the main outlet...