Thats what I would have told you to check out.I have my snapper mower since I was 16 I am now 37 and it still is one of the best 21" mowers to be had.I also am a small engine mechanic and see a lot of junk ,the drive set up on the snapper mowers has been around for over 30 years almost unchanged.thay are a heavy built mower and with the kawasaki motor you cant go wrong the hi vac bagger will suck up anything in its path.I am a factory trained honda and briggs mechanic and would take the snapper with a kawasaki motor over the new hondas anyday

 

Ive got a Honda Harmony II. Its got a 5.5 hp OHC motor. That engine is great. Very quiet, lots of power and it sips fuel.
Mine is rear wheel drive.
If I had it to do all over again I would go buy one from Sears. For $430 you can get one that is 7 hp, 21" cut, rear wheel drive and will bag/mulch/side discharge.
Hondas are great but the price of repair parts is insane ($40 for an air filter) and the tranny is the weak link of the mower. My Honda probably wont have the same tranny problems because its a single-speed model. All it has is a belt that goes from the crank pulley to a belt tensioner on the rear axle. Not really a complicated system.
Id go with a Sears Craftsman though. Several of my relatives have various Craftsman lawn equipment and it all works very well. I used to have an old Craftsman lawn tractor that was over 20 years old and other than the fact that it sometimes was hard to get into 3rd gear it worked great.
Octane

 

Any lawn-boy with a 2-stroke. Those are really lightweight and run forever. The 2 stroke has what it takes to power thru tall grass. Believe me, I sold them for years and 4 cylcles are heavy beasts that NEED to be self propelled. Not a lawnboy.

 

I agree 110%. I bought a lawnmower off my dad for less than $100 last year. He has used it since he bought it new in 1985. After the first start up of the season it ALWAYS starts on one or two pulls. Great engine and an excellent mower.

-Matt

 

How about this:

http://www.hovermower.com/hovermower.htm

 

The Husqvarna has a 5.5 hp honda motor. Honda makes excellent motors, husky makes great chain saws and trimmers.
Check it out!

 

As a small engine machanic, and a Toro/Lawn-Boy dealer I would say look at the new Toro Recycler or Super Recycler. They are both very nice machines! The new Lawn-Boy walk behinds are nice as well. No more staggered wheel or 2-cycle engines (I love the 2 cycles.) There good deals. You could look at a Deere or Ariens.. but they're just oven engineered- made more complicated then they need to be. Murray, MTD, Yard Man, Honda and all of those exclusively "Home Depot"or Walmart mowers suck, poor quality of parts! You can't go wrong with a Toro Super Recycler! Just go down to you local Toro dealer and try one out! They're great machines, built from the ground up!


Thanks,
Dan

 

I give another vote for the Snapper mower. I bought my Snapper in 1974 and it was 1 year old then. It still runs as strong now as when I bought it.
Only had one professional tune up and a few plug and filter changes by me. I think this thing will still be running long after I can't walk behind it any longer.

 

I owned a lanscaping company for years and had both Honda & Snapper. After I shutdown the business, I kept one of each for myself and then ended up selling the Honda and keeping the Snapper and never regreted it.

Both a very good machines, and I would consider getting a commerial grade mower if your budget allows. They are just plain tougher.

 

I bought my Honda in 1986 a non-comercial model and it is still going strong today. I have done little amintenace and never do anything special when I put it away for the winter. First use of the year 1-3 pulls to get it started and after that first pull every time.

 

Say what you want about Sears mowers, but I still use a Sears push mower from 1971. The Techumsa (sp) engine still starts on the first pull, even after sitting all winter.

 

The search/decision is over.After considering all the great mowers you told me about I decided to buy the Snapper.The thing I think I liked best about it is the Kawasaki engine w/spin on oil filter,straight axles and everything looked plain and simple.It is a 3 in 1, but the bag install and emptying looks more troublesome than say the Honda,Sears,Toro and Yardman etc.However, I like to mulch or side discharge mostly, after a couple springtime mowings.I think all of the mowers mentioned in this post are good ones, mostly because you guys take care of them.Another reason I bought the Snapper was because there are four Snapper service/parts dealers locally.The Snapper retailed for $669 and I bought it for $555+tax.That included the cup holder.That might come in handy for ice water!I want to say thanks to everyone who contributed their expertise to this post.I really did appreciate your help.Thanks Again!

 

Here is the model I have. Mine is about 15 years old and came from my parents. Trimmed a lot of landscape hard every year. I now use it at my house, 1.73 acres and starts on the first pull every time and takes a beating, Hard. They have a new one and love it. Mine still pushes and runs as good as their new one. Just my 2¢

 

The best push mower I've ever used is the little 18" John Deere that my dad bought new in 1971. I still have it and it still runs great. Unfortunately it isn't self propelled and the little woman hates that. She made me buy a new mower this year. We got a Husky from Lowe's for $329 that bags, mulches or discharges. It's a very nice mower and it's easy on gas. I've mowed twice so far on the same amount of fuel that the little JD takes to get about 3/4 done once. The Husky doesn't cut as cleanly as the JD, but I haven't sharpened the blade myself yet. The last several blades I've bought were useless off the shelf and needed sharpened before they could be used. I'm guessing the one on the Husky is the same way.

 

Its a proven fact that a 4-stroke engine will outlast a 2-stroke by at least 50%. We had a Toro Recycler with a 2-cycle engine (basically the same as the Lawn-Boy) and it was a POS.
Also, a friend of mine was mowing her lawn with an old Lawn-Boy last winter. She stopped mowing her yard because the mower was so hard to start. It would take AT LEAST 10 pulls to start it and half the time it would kick back so hard that it would almost rip your arm off. She now has my old Honda HR214SX and she is much happier.
Avoid a Lawn-Boy, the landfill is full of them.
Octane