[Brad]

Too bad that the old Lawnboy mowers are no longer available. They are now owned by Toro, who makes a good mower in their own right, but wish the old 2 cycle engines were still available. Nothing better than a well tuned DuraForce purring along on a good 2 cycle mix. Speaking of that, I prefer dino oil vs. synthetic. Wish I could get my hands on some Blue Marble oil. That's supposed to be really fantastic.

Wonder how the modern day mowers from other manufacturers perform? Snapper, Toro, Husqvarna, Craftsman, John Deere, Cub Cadet, Kubota, Lexmark, MTD, Murray, Simplicity, Troy-Bilt, etc. Anyone have any reports?

How about Lawn Mower Comparisons? How did you decide on the mower you bought? Reviews? Features?

 

[Fireman993]

I have a opinion on a Craftsman mower. It isn't the new model but I hope it helps (Craftsman still sells the model I have) It is a 2007 Craftsman (21in Bagger/mulcher) push-mower.

Pros-
- Good cut, does just as well as my older Lawn-boys!
- With 6.5 HP it seems to have enough power to mulch or bag high grass, I have used it with 8in high grass with the cutting height set at 2in and it didn't bog to badly.
-It mulches great with no clumps left behind as long as the grass isn't too high or super wet.
- No Major maintenance and I have used the mower maybe 150 or so hours so far.
- Not too expensive retails around $200

Cons-
- not too many, just that they could have made it easier to remove and reattach the bag as sometimes it doesn't seal good against the mulch door.

Overall I am satisfied with this mower and I would buy another, If you are in the market for a budget push mower that can bag or mulch I would recommend looking at the craftsman.


I hope this helps and I can do a few more reviews of newer mowers If you guys want.

 

[Brad]

Sounds like your mower fits the bill for your needs. Glad to hear that. I, personally, am not much of a fan of mulching. Never thought any mower really does as good a job as I'd like. I am probably cutting too much off, tho. Hope we hear some more folks talking about their "daily driver" lawn mower.

 

[Rattosh51]

I noticed at the Depot the new Lawngirls are all 20". Is this the new strategy from Toro, have LB become the suburban/smaller-yard market focus? Still can't quite get used to the 4-square, fat-tire look.

 

[geogrubb]

I use 2 mowers, simply because I can't even think of getting rid of either of them. I mow with one, one week then the other the next. One is a Gold series Lawnboy 3 speed with the F series 2-cycle and the other is a JD 14SM with the Kawasaki 4.5 it is a 5 speed. However I really think the LB gives the nicer cut. Just MHO. Have a good one. Geo

 

[Mr. Paul]

I guess since the 2 strokes are gone they will be a cult following. And I belong to the cult. Nothing cuts better than a 2 stroke on steep slopes. I hate it when the oil comes out the carb on the 4 stroke. I guess when by "boys" die I will look for a pressurized 4 stroke.

 

[Smith09]

I use 2 lawnmowers, simply because I can not even think about getting rid of one of them. I beat one week then another the next. They are now owned by Toro, who makes a good lawn mower on their own, but with the 2 old cycle engines were still available

 

[Philipp2]

I went thru several Craftsman mowers in ten or twelve years, then bought a Honda in around 1985.
It was a rear bagger when new, but converted to a side chute as my wife could not deal with the bag too well. After five or so years, I converted it to a mulching mower with a rear plug and twin blades. It has had new tires on the back from rubbinng against the fence, i Guess. Just last week I cleaned the carb, new spark plug, changed the oil and air filter and sharpened the blades. It still starts on the first pull even after sitting all winter. If it doesn't, we go for the gas can.

 

[LawnBoy2ndToNone]

I have a Husqvarna HU700L bought new in Sept 2011. It worked great, a lot of power, self propell was nice. I ran it completely dry, oiled the cylinder and cleaned it all up before the winter storage. I pulled it out in the spring of 2012 and it would not run right. My local Husqvarna service center said that it was a carb issue and carbs weren't covered under warranty. My manual says otherwise. I cleaned the carb and while it worked marginally better, it still ended up dying on me. I'm looking into a new carb for the Honda motor on it. I was told they were around 25-35 bucks. So I guess that isn't to expensive and will be a lot easier than a rebuild. I still love my old Lawn Boys. I'm glad that the Husqvarna was just a back up to a bunch of 30+ year old mowers that worked great all year long..lol

 

[earthworm]

There is no best mower....
Todays are generally better than the ones I used a century ago...
Progress is ever so slow.....
What we need is a dedicated trim mower...without high power, 12" or so, lightweight, two stroke, trim only, and do that well , in one pass...something like a string trim, but greatly improved; designed by a normal average home owner like me. and some others (input)...
Similar to a Worx...here the batteries are the Achilles heel.

 

[Mad-Mike]

For the newer stuff, I have a friend who owns an 08' Craftsman 3-in-1 pusher that I use once in awhile. It has the modern-day version of the Briggs Sprint on it. I like it, it's very light, pushes very easily, and always starts on the first pull. The only thing I don't like is he does not have all the attachments for it and it does feel cheap and flimsy, especially compared to my newly acquired freebie 90's Craftsman and especially my 80's MTD (that thing is a TANK).

If I were to buy new, I'd fork over the big bucks for one of those new Snapper Hi-Vacs with the 6HP Briggs and the Cup Holders. They are the only thing I see besides Ariens and Toro that looks well made to me anymore.

 

[tarheelman]

These days, the only new mowers that are available with a no-rust deck and a robust transmission are the Toro Super Recycler and the Honda HRX. Everything else on the market has a steel deck and a transmission that isn't designed to last more than a few years.

I've got a 2009 Super Recycler that I bought new. Provided you take your time mowing, it does an excellent job mulching. There are no visible clippings, and the quality of the cut is excellent---it leaves the lawn looking like a green carpet. Moreover, the SR also bags and side discharges well, vacuuming up all of the clippings when bagging and spreading them evenly over the lawn when discharging. (The cut quality in either of these two modes is as good as when mulching.)

Compared to a 2-cycle Lawn-Boy, the Super Recycler mulches, bags, and side discharges just as well. It also provides a slightly more even cut in each mode. However, the Lawn-Boy was about 14 pounds lighter than the Toro, so it was a bit easier to maneuver.

Happy mowing! :mow:

 

[andy135]

Working on a Honda HRR2164TDA . The driving mechanism quite similar to the Toro Super Recycler. In this case I would prefer the Toro which have a more rigid aluminum body. Toro have Honda engine too. The aluminum body is much more easy to fix than the plastic composite of Honda.