Thanks for the welcomes!
We did also have some of those later Toros over the years. A 1975 21" a 1979 19" and a 1980 19". We always had better luck with the Tecumseh engines rather than the Briggs, though. And those 2 later Toros had that clunky steel grass deflector that was heavier and more awkward. Definitely not an improvement. We ended up cutting them back several inches, with a hacksaw while keeping the same angle. Also cut off the extra piece on the deck behind the right front wheel. They were really not meant for the volume of mowing that we did and without those modifications, they would easily get clogged with grass every few feet, bog down, and stall out. After the fix, they were fine. I think that over the years the mandatory safety requirements to help keep idiots from killing themselves made everything suffer.
I really don't care for the latest mowers in ANY brand. Mounting the engine on the deck backwards, the safety bar on the handles, etc. And a lot of newer mowers have one throttle setting: ROAR. The old 3 horsepower Tecumseh engine on these vintage Toro Whirlwinds can be throttled down as far as you want, which is great when the grass is not thick and heavy. Lets them go a very long time on one tank of gas. They're also easy on the ears of the operator and the neighbors.
I feel the same about first mower and first car. My family has had full size Fords for 50 years and it was a mighty sad day indeed when we found out that Ford was discontinuing the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis. We have a 2004 Crown Vic right now that just turned over to 18k miles and we plan to hold on to it for a very long time. A lot of people don't realize that they handle like a much smaller car and have plenty of get-up-and-go. The civillian version is only 15 horsepower less than the interceptor. I have owned both and the performance is quite similar. The funny thing is that our 04 is a basic version, with standard wheel covers rather than fancy wheels. People often pull off to the side and let me go by.
Maybe they have guilty consciences.
Some of my favorite cars are the 1972-1976 Ford Torino and 1968 Ford Custom/Galaxie, because of cars that were a big part of my growing up.
I guess the heavy interest in all of this old school stuff makes me a dinosaur.
Well, that's a label that I just don't mind at all.
arty
