lawn mowers (1 Viewer)

[mylan]

My Toro does not have any problem going backwards when the engine is running. When I move it out of the basement before cranking, the rear wheels and gears do exert more of a force to move but not much so.

 

[Johnny Angell]

My Honda mower and Echo trimmer continue to work well. I'm thinking next time I fertilze the yard, I'll go with Scotts. I don't think the Vigoro Weed'nFeed has done much to discourage weeds.

The Honda works fine, when I mowed today the grass was taller than its ever been and the 5 1/2 HP is still plenty. One thing I don't like about it, the levers that I press to engage the self-propulsion, they're kinda stiff and my thumbs can develop a cramp.

 

[DaveF]

"I'm thinking next time I fertilze the yard, I'll go with Scotts. I don't think the Vigoro Weed'nFeed has done much to discourage weeds."

I'm Scotts all the way now. Scotts brand fertilizers work much better in my Scotts push spreader. The Weed 'n Feed did not feed well through the spreader and was doubly uneven due to its separated composition.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

Sorry to dig up this thread again, but my 28 year old Toro mower finally bit the dust. I can't fix it any more.

I am torn between another Toro or a Lawn Boy. I really like the features/egonomics of the Lawn Boy, but don't know too much about them. Then tonite I saw a Toro Person Pace lawn mower at Home Deot that was a re-con (?) and was only $240.00 I think originally it is like $360 or so.

I don't know what to do. I like the Lawn Boy better for the afore mention reasons, but I don't know much about them.

My lawn is small, takes me about 25 minutes to mow and that's including stopping to eat a bag of beef jerky.

Help, I need to make a decision tomorrow morning!

Thanks

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

ACtually, you will be fine with either brand. Toro, Lawn Boy and Honda are all excellent and reliable mowers. Lawn Boy even sells many 4 stroke models now so you don't have to use the gas/oil mix. I just bought a Honda 5.5 horse 3-speed self propelled and it is working great. I have an above average size yard that I can only get to once a week, but the Honda mulches very nicely. Very few clumps, even if the grass is wet. Just go to a store that sells high quality mowers and check them out. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Scott Strang]

We bought a new house back in Feb of this year and we're still having to seed the yard. We didn't need a tractor or riding mower (I wanted one but couldn't justify it for the amound of yard we have to cut) and I wanted cheap. And we found it. The Honda's were very expensive but I found an alternative at Lowes. It's a Troybuilt (Toybuilt) with a Honda engine. This thing literally starts on the first pull. < $350.

One annoying feature of mowers today is lack of throttle. I hate that. One speed only. REminds me too much of Lawnboy's.

 

[Philip Hamm]

It's a Troybuilt (Toybuilt) with a Honda engine. This thing literally starts on the first pull. < $350.

My electric starts on the first pull also. Actually, it hums along with every pull of the on lever. But I have to dance around the cord. Mowing my lawn is like vaccuming now.

 

[Shane Martin]

One annoying feature of mowers today is lack of throttle. I hate that. One speed only. REminds me too much of Lawnboy's.

Honda makes a 3 speed but it's even more than you were looking at. My honda goes also on the first pull and I don't need to bother with a cord.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Honda makes a 3 speed but it's even more than you were looking at. My honda goes also on the first pull and I don't need to bother with a cord.

But I don't have to bother with oil changes, spark plugs, trips to the gas station (and the resulting stinky car), a gasoline can in the garage (huge fire hazard), and the other wonderful things involved with an internal combustion engine.

 

[Shane Martin]

That's why one size doesn't fit all. If we all used the same thing and valued our time the same, we'd be living in a boring place.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

I ended up getting a lawn boy from the H Depot. It was on sale from $369 to $305.

When I got it home and started mowing with it, I did realize that it does only have one engine speed. It does have variable drive speed though. After I thought about it, I realized that on my old Toro, I harldy ever ran the engine on anything but high anyways.

It was cool being the first person to put gas and oil in it. It started the first time, the first pull.

My 28 year old Toro did have cool features that I too have found lacking on the newer models, I liked that you could just leave the mower running with out holding the damn safety handle, you could shift a lever and it would do that speed when you engaged the drive bar. Things like that.

I don't know, so far though, it seems to be a good mower.

 

[David Hobbes]

i have a Yard Machine that i beat pretty good...not self-propelled...

i cut about 1/2 an acre that includes some very rough patches, small branches, stumps, etc...so the mower takes a beating!!

i have had the mower for about 6 years and have had it in for repairs only once...so if someone is cutting a small yard with no or very little rough areas this mower would probably last a lifetime.....

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

My 28 year old Toro did have cool features that I too have found lacking on the newer models, I liked that you could just leave the mower running with out holding the damn safety handle

The Toro mowers with the Blade Override System do this, but not at the price point that you got the LawnBoy at.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I liked that you could just leave the mower running with out holding the damn safety handle

I have never liked this either but you can't get away from it. I use a small piece of rope to tie the bar in place. I remember a Consumer Reports a few years ago that stated that they had to disqualify one of the best mowers they reviewed because it didn't have a "dead man switch". I wanted to go buy that one so bad, but already had a mower.

 

[ClintS]

If you want to keep the mower running while walking away from it the only safe approved method is for the mower to have a BBC. (Blade Brake Clutch) The BBC almost instantly stops the blades when the clutch handle is released. Handy if you are bagging or need to stop for a moment to clear branches, toys, etc from the yard. I dont think its very safe to leave a running mower with spinning blades too many bad things could happen.
The only problem with BBC is that you will not find it on your cheaper mowers because it takes extra parts/cost to implement. My Honda mower has it and its very useful. Also nice to have the starter pull rope right on top of the engine.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I guess it's what you are comfortable with. I've never had a problem keeping the blade spinning when not mowing. Now, if I am going to walk away from the mower, I'll turn it off. There are too many kids around to leave it unattended, but to empty the bag, or move stuff, I have no problem leaving the blade spinning. As always, YMMV.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I just bought a Honda HRX217 and I love it. The feature I really wanted was that you can make the blade stop but leave the engine running. This is important to me because there are many times I have to stop to remove sticks, pinecones, etc from my yard while cutting. It was definitely expensive, so it better last at least 10 years.

 

[Brian Perry]

Thoguth I'd resurrect this for the new cutting season...

I'm looking to buy a new mower and it's between the Honda HRX and the John Deere JX75. Most people seem to love the Hondas but the JD seems to have better build quality. They are both around $800. They both have the blade brake clutch (to keep the engine running while changing bags) and are self-propelled. My dealer said the Honda is better at mulching, but I'm primarily a bagger.

Many people here have the HRX...anyone have a JX75?

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I have the HRX, just got it last season. It's the best mower I've ever used. I bought it primarily because of the feature you mentioned, being able to leave the mower running while not holding the handle. We have lots of pine trees in the back yard and its very useful to be able to simply walk and pick up pine cones I'm about to run over without stopping and starting the lawn mower over and over again. It also has the variable mulching/bagging so you can half mulch and half bag or any variation in between. It gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[Greg_R]

The JX75 has had cable issues and a few reports of broken decks. Given the same cost, I would not mess around and would get the Honda.