lawn mowers (1 Viewer)

[Todd Hochard]

I've been considering a cordless electric, but HD and Lowe's don't seem to carry the B&D cordless mulcher anymore.
So, I may end up with a Honda mower. At least, they seem to have the cleanest and quietest tuning of any small engine.
I'm not mowing a full 1/4 acre with a reel, that's for sure.

 

[Robert Marc]

if i was to buy a new push mower, i'd buy a honda no questions asked. as it is, my lawn requires something... ahem... a little larger.
btw, it's a riot to operate and it has a 20 hp honda motor

 

[Shane Martin]

I bought a Honda pushmower and have never looked back. Flawless operation.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I'm not mowing a full 1/4 acre with a reel, that's for sure.

I am.

 

[Jason GT]

Philip -

I am considering getting a reel (nonpowered) mower to replace my dad's old gasoline behemoth. Is there any difference in effort to mow the lawn?

Also, it rains a lot where I live. Will this be a problem?

Thanks.

 

[Henry Carmona]

Well, i wish i had good new like the rest of you.
I bought a Murray 4.5 (maybe its my fault ), about 4 months ago and the other day it just gave out.
I thought it might have run out of gas, but nope. I couldnt get it to start anymore.
I pulled the plug, cleaned it, even pulled the filter and sprayed some carb start and still nothing :frowning:
It has the Briggs motor and thats why i bought it :frowning:
Buying a new plug tomorrow, if that doesnt work, im never buying a Murray/Briggs again.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Also, it rains a lot where I live. Will this be a problem?

No mower works well on wet grass. Reels are worse than others because if the wheels slip the scissors action doesn't work. They don't have pneumatic knobby wheels for the most part, so the wheels slip fairly easily. I mowed my overgrown lawn on wet long grass last weekend and it was a hell of a workout.

You have to sharpen the blades once or twice a year also. (for a rotary mower you should do this, too, but most people don't).

Balance this against the maintenance requirements of a gaoline engine (oil changes, spark plug gapping/replacing, oil dripping in your garage, gasoline storage and purchase, etc.) Personally with our two cars and a motorcycle I have quite enough gasoline engine maintenance as it is.

I love my reel mower. It's more work in some ways than a gas/electric (when you're actually mowing) and less in others (maintenance and storage - the thing takes hardly any garage space).

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I recommend look at the engineering of the mower, I prefer at least 5 hp, ball-bearing wheels (way better than the bushel bearings it literally glides on the lawn), and big wheels in the back (thus any ruts or divots are easier to manuveur thru or around). Self-propelled make certain it's the front wheel that's the drive wheel if you pivot a lot. Most lawn mowers are very durable with once a year oil change, wheel lube, plug maintenance, and blade sharpening (I mow twice a week for about 6 months a year on my lawn). I recommend against the budget mowers because most lack ball bearing wheels and some won't let you upgrade to one. I would also recommend push the mower a little at the store and get either safety glasses or goggles for your protection as well.

For those that are envirnomental there are people who rebuild these things and between myself and some of my friends most of these work very well, just make certain they give you the option to start it to see if the shaft is bent or not.

 

[DaveF]

How about a reel mower for a 1/2 acre? I need to get a mower this summer. Leaning towards a used riding mower, realistically.

 

[Todd Hochard]

I ended up buying a Honda HRX mower. Pretty quiet, really powerful, and the best mulcher I've ever used in my life.

 

[Shane Martin]

I bought a Murray 4.5 (maybe its my fault

Yep in that case. I haven't heard any good stories about Murrays.

Conversely having heard so many great reviews on the Honda. I bought one like Todd and it's been a rock solid machine.

You do get what you pay for.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Time to revive this thread. I need to buy a mower. I clicked on the Honda link for the HRX's and good lord, the cheapest msrp on them was $639. Those of you that bought an HRX, did you pay that much? Are they discounted at all?
What about the other Honda's, and recommendations?
Robert, thanks for those pointers on what to look for.
This morning's paper has a Sears ad which shows a Craftsman 6.75hp front-propelled mower for $252 (that's with an extra 10% when using your Sears card). The ad says there is a Hi-Wheel model for $270. I presume this refers to bigger wheels on the rear?

 

[Mark Paquette]

I bought my HRX in April of 04. I was lucky enough to catch a pre-season sale so I paid less than msrp, but I don't recall how much less. I'll take a look at my receipt tonight, if I remember.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I bought my HRX in April of 04. I was lucky enough to catch a pre-season sale

I would appreciate your info. So is April the month when mowers go on sale or are they on sale right now?

Another question. A post of above recommended front wheel propulsion. I'm looking at some Toro's (did well with CR) and they are mostly rear-propelled. Is there really an advantage to front propulsion?

Recommendations on string trimmers are also appreciated.

 

[Shane Martin]

This morning's paper has a Sears ad which shows a Craftsman 6.75hp front-propelled mower for $252 (that's with an extra 10% when using your Sears card). The ad says there is a Hi-Wheel model for $270. I presume this refers to bigger wheels on the rear?

The MSRP on mine was $399. It is the self propelled model with the mulcher and bag.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Another question. A post of above recommended front wheel propulsion. I'm looking at some Toro's (did well with CR) and they are mostly rear-propelled. Is there really an advantage to front propulsion?

When you pivot (change directions), most people have a tendency to push down on the handle raising the front wheels and the pivot point being the rear wheels, in a tight area and not being on a stationary pivot point could make manuveuring a pain. Most self-propelled mowers allows you to disengage the drive for manuveuring and it becomes jerky and irritating with the constant disengage and engaging. I would rather not have a self-propelled mower that's rear wheel driven, but that's maybe a personal choice.

 

[mylan]

I have a rear drive Toro and I really like it. I find that when I change directions and lift up the front of the mower, the rear drive helps propel the weight around better, especially on hills. It has a "personal pace" drive that changes speed as you push down on the handle, so as you are nearing your turn, you automatically ease up on the handle, slowing the drive as you swing it around.

I actually picked the Toro over the Honda because of this feature, it had only two or three speeds and I, being long legged, prefered the infinite speeds on the Toro. I can sometimes move faster than the highest speed.

 

[Johnny Angell]

so as you are nearing your turn, you automatically ease up on the handle, slowing the drive as you swing it around.

So you don't use the handle to raise the front wheels?

 

[mylan]

No, I use the handle. The personal pace control is a plastic piece on a slider that also houses the bail lever you squeeze to keep the engine running. This is mounted to the steel handle. This is the beauty of this. You don't have to manually disengage the drive, as you slow and ease up on the personal pace control, the drive slows.

This is really hard to describe, you really ought to go to Home Depot to check this out.

 

[mylan]

Noticed above where you were asking about string trimmers, I like the multi attachment gas powered models. I had a Ryobi that I enjoyed until it died so I got a new, yep, a Toro. Like the Ryobi before it, you can change the attachments from a string trimmer, brush cutter, leaf blower, cultivator, edger, and chain saw!! I can/t vouch for the chainsaw, I don't think the edger works that well but everything else is slick. You just detach the tool and change it to the next one. You save money over buying individual tools, each with their own engine, not to mention maintinence costs.