we are looking at buying a new lawn mower and like the honda motor, blade clutch, multi speed, rear baging and self propelled (? ) ya know kinda does the hill with little or no effort..
sooooo what does everyone like?
we're looking at a craftsman but they are $$$ :-staun for a non riding mower
i saw a Yard bird at Costco for a few hundred less and was wondering if that's any good?
the yard bird had a Kawisaki ( spelling ) motor.
any help?

 

I'm on my second Honda mower, the first was one of the flat heads and it was the best mower I ever owned - one pull and it would start, first time, every time. I finally replaced it with a newer one with OHV, runs great. I now have a yard service cut my lawn so all I ever do with the mower is multch leaves once a year.
Dono

 

I let the guy that does my lawn decide which one to buy.

 

I've had excellent longevity with my Snapper and they are rear baggers and multispeed; self propelled or push can be had. I'm also not really to concerned with safety devices that kill the engine or blade clutches and I like to disable them; I just keep my hands out of it when it's running is all. I've heard good things about the John Deere's and Aires. I've also seen not such good luck with Toro's (newer ones) and Craftsman.

 

I only use a push mower for trimming because I use a tractor on the big part. Usually I'll buy the least expensive one I can find at the end of the season, and use it til it falls apart or I hit something and bend the crank. I do this every five or six years or so. I also keep a second push mower around...in case I destroy the first one. It's a 1971 Sears with a Tecomseh motor. That thing still starts on the first pull! A friend of mine that sells lawn equipment recomends the Cub Cadet line. He says they're built like tanks.

 

I used to have a LawnBoy. Those 2 cycles last forever. However due to the new environmental laws they are getting away from 2 cycles. Some of the engines they are now using are Honda's. Saw this last night at the Toro shop I use.

 

I have a toro personal pace mower. I absolutely love it. It takes the hills easily, mulches, bags, discharges, and it goes as fast or slow as you want it to, no messing with levers for speed.

 

I get all mine off the curbs on garbage day, usually all they need is a new pull start rope on something simple like that. These rich & not-so-bright yuppies around here just throw them out & buy a new one whenever anything goes wrong.
Wouldn't take a honda though. Still something about the jap stuff that gets under my skin.

 

Our entire family has owned Lawn Boy. They last a long time and the fact that you never have to change the oil is invaluable, ( 2 cycle). As far as cost, I'd say their competitive with any of the premium mowers. I mulch all the time so I don't need a bag, and self propelled is the only option I favor.

 

My dad has the exact same lawnmower but he bought it new in 1985. He still uses it. It still starts on one pull. EXCELLENT lawnmower. I am actually looking at getting a lawnmower when I move and am going to see if I can "borrow" his. That would be the only lawnmower I would buy. An excellent mower for the price.

-Matt


P.S. My dad wanted to trade it in and the guy was going to offer him $350 for it on a trade-in. That tells you something there!

 

I bought the cheapest $119 dollar push mower with a briggs engine. Runs like a champ. If you are talking 5 or 6 hundred look for a used lawn tractor. IMHO. However anything with a honda motor will run forever. But fot 119 if it runs for 5 years I can chuck it and get another one.

 

Seeing as how I sell Honda Power Equipment I'm going to reccommend you go with Honda. They're the worlds largest small engine manufacturer and they're by far the best at it. 4 stroke, lower compression, easier to start, and dead reliable. Sure Home Depot may be able to sell you a Toro/Lawnboy/etc for less than half of an equivalent Honda, but go to their equipment rental department and all you'll see being rented out is Honda.

 

I have owned 2 John Deere 21SE the electric start self propelled. The motor is fine but the blade clutch is a real PITA. The clutch appears to wear out after 3-4 years of use and it costs about $200 in parts alone and is a real beach to get that clutch off the shaft to boot. Last year the clutch wore out catastrophically by coming appart and flinging the blade across the yard. Just think what that blade would have done to some one's ankles.

For awhile there the shoulder bolts that hold the wheels on broke frequently. I had to keep a lot of them on hand since we never knew when they would break. Can't figure why this happened unless they had a bad run for a couple years.

The plastic drive gear in the wheel wears out in about a year and the steel main drive gear goes in about 2 but requires frequent cleaning, de-rusting and greasing if you don't want it to freeze up. The self start goes after about 2 years and the replacement rubber starter wheel is something like $60.

I had one transmission go out costing something like $110 in parts alone.

Replacement parts for JD mowers are very expensive and the drive train is pretty cheesy. And like I said the clutch really stinks. Who wants to do a $200 clutch replacements on an $800 mower every 3 years or so? Ridiculous. Even the dealer said they had a lot of problems with that drive train. The dealer also mentioned that clutch system was used in a lot of other brands and also caused trouble there.

The way I would describe the clutch is that it is a pulley system directly press fitted to the motor shaft. It has a large stamped steel triangular shaped set of plates holding the metallic(?) clutch pack and big "pressure plate" coil spring together inside a round hub shaped assembly. The wheel drive is from a belt to a pulley closest to the motor above the clutch. The clutch system is connected by a large spring to the under side of the motor I assume as a shock mount. The clutch is engaged by a handle that pulls the triangular assembly against the spring. In my opinion it sucks since it can't be maintained(I tried to spary it with rust preventer after each use but made no differnce so I stopped) or repaired. Is a beach to get off(I have never succeded, I think the dealer cuts them off), and they can fail catastrophically with no real warning with potentially major injuries. they are also very loud after a couple months.

One last beach, the mower deck is aluminum and once a walnut sized rock got flung hard enough to punch thru the aluminum. I suppose this is not a fault of the mower but I have never heard of a deck getting punched thru.

I have owned 2 JDs because the first I bought and the second we inherited. I would probably not buy another JD mower unless it had a different clutch. It has also killed my impression that JD tractors and such are durable, maybe falsely since the mower is mostly Japanese parts and I assume the tractors are American made?

Of Course my criticism may be unfair since I have not owned that many mowers, but the JD has cost more up front and cost me more in maintenance than any other yard tool I own except my tractor which is an excellent tool. Also I should mention that the yard my wife mows(Real men drive tractors) has been about 1/2 to maybe 3/4 acre over the 13 years we have owned the two mowers

I had a Monkey Wards electric mower way back that was excellent for about 4 years on a small lawn, and then the bearings went out. A Sears push mower was excellent, just required oil changes over 5 years and then was traded in for the JD because the new big lawn was too much work.

My Sears Garden tractor is excellent. Owned it since 1991, mowed 4 acres every weekend for 6 years and now gets occasional use mowing my smaller property and hauling gravel, fertilizing, insecticide spraying, driveway sweeping and even bull dozer duty. Only mechanical failures I had with that were one wheel bearing($15), One mower Pulley ($50), 1 drive belt($7), Welding a muffler mount(do it my self), 1 PTO clutch ($125). Total cost of maintenance for my tractor was less than either mower. If I had a big yard I would highly recommend a garden tractor, not lawn tractor, they are too light duty.

Just my opinions,

Jim Henderson

 

Seems I`m not able to e-mail you directly, hav`nt been a member long enough. Anyway I just wanted to say I use to live in Port Orchard and bought my `55F250 in Malaga(not sure of the spelling). Just thought I`d say howdy.

 

honda power equipment is great. the harmony is a good mower for residential use. we have 6 of the commercial grade push mowers at work(little and grand america hotels). hydrostatic trans, 216cc, clutch blade stop, etc... top of the line.
expensive though, especially the ohc motors.
i've always been partial to the honda, but i really like tecumsah motors.