After reading a recent thread on here about psuh mowers, which was very timely I might add as my old mower was on its last leg, I went out and bought a new Toro 6.75 lb/ft (notice they don't go by HP anymore) Briggs engine 22" self-propelled. My yard is about an acre, half an acra mowable, with a lot of hills. The old mower was not a self propel and cutting the lawn was a real work out.

I definately can recommend the new Toro. One pull start, no prime or choke either. The engine is not too loud and the self propel, while a little fast for me - my wife says it's just right for her, works great. It comes with a bagger for the back, or you can side discharge which is what we do, or close off the side discharge and it mulches.

My wife insists on cutting the lawn.




By the way, I'd rather she wear a big ol' t-shirt when cutting the lawn, but she says she's comfortable.


At least she isn't wearing her bikini top like when she does the gardening.

The two mowers I was looking at was this one and a similar Honda. They both had the same features and the only thing the Honda had over the Toro was that Honda engine. But the Honda was more expensive and my previous experiences with Briggs engines have been positive as far as reliability and longevity. My only concern was how loud the new engine would be and I'm not dissapointed. Anywho I chose the Toro and so far so good.

 

Please start a gardening thread asap

 

Yup, I'm still really happy with mine too. Nice mower.

 

this thread is full of win.

 

What - I just noticed my pictures are out of sequence. And where is the one with the nip slip? Damn you Photobucket!!! Also, wife hit something with the new mower. Now there is a pretty noticable vibration. Will need to get the blade re-balanced.

 

I don't like lawn or mowers, but something, somehow lead me to this thread......

 

Anyone interested in a step by step how to of sharpening and balancing a lawn mower blade?

 

nice rack

 

Will there be demonstrations?

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Subscribed

 

My Toro pushmower ***One Year Update***
So it's been a year now since I bought the Toro and figured I'd give anyone interested an update on how it's holding up.

First off the days of 1 or 2 pull starts are long gone. It's more like 15-20 to get it fire up. My wife still likes to cut the grass and she will typically come and get me to start the mower because she can't get it to run. It has a 2-year full warranty and a 3-year engine warranty on it (if it doesn't start in 2 pulls they will fix it for free). I'll be bringing it back to the Home Depot where I bought it to see how the warranty process works.

The self-propel stopped working after a couple of months but it was a simple fix (at least for me as I'd consider myself mechanically inclined). I figured out how the mechanism works and it turned out to be the cable that goes from the handle that controls the self-propel feature to the drive wheels worked itself loose. Whether it did this from the vibrations of the mower or from original assembly I don't know but it hasn't done it again since I fixed it.

At the back of the mower there is a plastic flap that hangs down and drags along the grass to keep grass clippings from coming out of the back of the mower. It's designed pourly though where when you pull back on the mower it goes under the mower deck and hits the blade. After 1 month the flap already had a hole all the way through it. The guy at the Home Depot said he has the same mower and it did the same thing and that this is what it's supposed to do. "It's designed to destroy itself?", I asked. "Err...well no I don't think so...", is all he could come up with for a reply. By the way, after a year it was so chewed up it finally fell off the mower.

The mower allows for either rear bagging, side discharge, or mulching. I used the bagger at first but I gave up on it quickly as my yard is too large and the bag fills up too quickly. It took a dozen or more stops to unload the bagger and to be honest the lawn looks as good without bagging the clippings.

We prefer to use the side discharge and the mower has a spring loaded flap on the side that when you pull the flap up you insert a plastic discharge peice and it allows the grass to exit the mower deck. Remove the discharge peice and the spirng loaded flap closes itself and it becomes a mulch mower (or install the bag on the back and it's a bagger).

Recently the plastic discharge peice stopped staying in place. Turns out there are 2 small tabs on the spring loaded flap that have worn off. I'm told this may not be convered under the 2-year full warranty as it is considered a "wear" item. The blade is a wear item, this is not. Again, I'll be bringing it in for a warranty claim so we'll see how it goes.

The handle that needs to be depressed to work the self-propel is really stiff and tiring. It wasn't as noticeable when it was new but now that we've had it for a while it's annoying. Honda has a mower with a nice easy thumb switch for the self-propel that I like better. That mower was $100 more though and I'm still not convinced the stiffness of the handle is $100 annoying though.

It's a heavy mower but the self-propel feature masks that. The rest of the mower is holding up well. Also, I'm concerned the pull rope is wearing prematurely with having to pull so many times to start it.

I still like that it isn't really loud. I do wear hearing protection when I mow anyways though but it is quiter than other mowers.

Overall for close to 3 bills I'd expect it to be holding up a little better. It cuts the grass well and I like the mulch and side discharge feature (when it worked). I also like the self-propel to tackle all of the slopes - no hills - in my yard. I'd give it a solid 6 or 7 out of 10 but am still put off by the items that have broken so far.

 

I'm amazed that the rear flap can get chewed up by the blade. How the hell did that ever make it past the lab tests? Thanks for the update. Got a vid of the wife trying to start the mower?

 

That sounds more like a 4/10 or 5/10.

My 10-year old Craftsman still starts on the 1st or 2nd pull and the plastic flap and discharge door are intact.

 

How's the wife holding up? Any premature wear or anything? Does she still start up pretty easily?

 

We've had a toro with electric start for about two years now. Whether using the key or pulling the cord, it starts right up. First pull or almost instantly with a turn of the key. The self propel system works like when it was new, the bar does not feel any stiffer then the first time we used it. The side flap works fine, no wear, although we mostly mulch. The flap on the back which does go under the mower never touches the blade and looks like it did when we got it, aside from being dirty. The only thing we have to do is sharpen the blade. But I believe that would be true of any mower's blade. Its been a great mower.

 

The wife or the mower?

No pics one year later? We purchased a troy bilt 8 years ago and it's still doing pretty well. We only have .2 acres but it still takes about 35-40 minutes to do the whole thing.
It starts on the 1st or second pull after priming it. It does smoke a little bit but i always check the oil and add when necessary.

We paid $200 back in 2003 from lowes. It has the mulch/bag/side discharge too, but it does not have the self propelled feature. Our property is flat so it's not needed.

I use the bag in the spring and fall to keep the grass clippings from being drug in the house and to keep the property cleaner.

The bag doesn't have any holes in it and the rear plastic dragging thing is still very much intact.

I am going to wring this thing out until it croaks and then i'm getting myself a honda, esp if it might be quieter.

My only concern are the wheels. I bang them around alot and they take quite a bit of abuse. I hope i don't destroy them until the thing is ready to fall apart. If i can get 10-12 years or more out of this, i'll be real happy.

When your wife is out mowing the lawn, do you normally see more of your male neighbors out magically doing their lawn work too?

 

We got a RWD Troy Bilt a few months ago, so far so good. It's the optimus prime edition:

 

Side note, any opinions on which motor is better, Honda or Briggs & Stratton?

 

Looks great. I am sure they are somewhat equal. I think the b&s are pretty comparable. I don't know if the honda is a little more quiet or more fuel efficient. Everything i own has a b&s engine attached to it and i am sure the engine will outlast most of the other components.

The only briggs and stratton stuff i would stay away from is the wally world stuff, it really looks cheaper.

 

Not the lawn mower just a video of her starting the chainsaw

 

You're right I'm being way to kind! The mower cuts the grass well, but it's a frickin' lawn mower, that's what it's supposed to do. For $300 it should be holding up better for being 1 year old

 

Thanks for asking - she's still doing fantastic

 

Curious, what is the terrain like in your yard? I've wondered to myself if my yard is just to hard on the mower.

 

The wife or the mower?

My lawn is too big for just a push mower, especially with the hills, and too small for a rider. If I can get 10 years out of this mower I won't be just happy I'll be SHOCKED!

Haha drive by traffic does seem to pick up.

 

optimus prime edition

BTW Mine is front drive - I've wondered if rear drive is any better for my terrain or the same. Now if only a 4 wheel drive mower was avaialble....

 

I've had great luck in the past with B&S engines. I've always expected Honda engines to be quieter and though I haven't used any Honda lawnmowers to compare I can say the Honda engine on my pressure washer is REALLY loud which was very disappointing when I used it the first time. If I had a video of how loud it is I'd share it but all I have are these pictures of my wife using it to clean the mower deck

 

I have a large hill in the back end of my yard, and any time I get a little stuck going up it, I pull back and do a mini-wheelie so all the weight is on the rear wheels and it usually gets me unstuck. For most lawns, RWD/FWD I'm guessing won't make much difference. Cept maybe a little oversteer/understeer depending on which you get .

 

Yeah I've had B&S go carts and lawn mowers and have never had any major issues. I've also had several 4 stroke honda motorcycles which were dead reliable though so was just curious what the concensus was. My XL 250r was pretty quiet..but I'm guessing that was a function of the huge exhaust pipe .

 

Wally World stuff?

 

I'm not surprised. My parents had a Toro when I was a kid, and it was garbage. It was always needing something fixed/repaired. After the Toro, my parents got a Honda. While expensive, it lasted for over ten years with no issues. They just replaced it earlier this year with another Honda. I haven't heard the new one, but the old one was pretty quiet. I've had a Yardman for ten years with only a couple of minor fixes, one of which I attribute to my doing . It's not quiet, but it starts on the first pull (after priming) every time.

 

Wally World = Wal-Mart


And I don't think the B&S engines on the Wally World mowers are an issue, I think the cheap materials used for the deck, handle, etc. are.

 

They sell mowers with b&s motors. I am going to assume these are some of briggs and strattons' lower end stuff.

 

i wouldn't complain about either one.

 

Nip slip?? How the fuck did I miss this thread...

 

to her for wearing shoes while cutting the lawn. I have a couple of neighbors that have front powered walk behinds and they cut their grass in FLIP FLOPS! Not very bright.

Yes, lets hear it! I just clamp mine in a vice and use a metal file two hone it to my liking. Then I place the blade on a nail I have extending from my work bench to see if it goes off kilter to much. Quick and simple and I have been doing it like that for years with no issues.

They should!

lol, that's what I used to think. My mother's house has 1/3 of an acre and it was hellish to cut when the rider broke down. Look around for a used rider at the local lawn shops, you may get lucky, and it will be good for your heart.

I as well. The 12HP B&S on the Areins rear engine mower is 20 years old and runs strong. I rebuilt the carb and escaped with no engine damage when it sucked in a throttle plate screw last year.

https://acurazine.com/forums/home-garden-37/rebuilt-large-one-piece-flojet-carb-817165/

 

My Craftsman is nearly that old with the B&S engine...it runs like a clock....one pull and she starts right up!

 

wow OP is kinda weak for requiring a self propelled mower for a measly acre :P .....we had 3 acres and we did the one acre around the house with a craftsman 22" push mower......once a week from april to october...... We did have a toro but that thing was an un reliable POS.....hard to start, easily snapped crank once, etc. Still have the craftsman lol.......30+ years later.... only nice thing about the Toro was that the exhaust was vented down to the deck and it made the machine quiet to operate....

Edit: Sears told me that you are better off buying a new blade vs sharpening since a long of cranks are thinner now and they can snap due to vibrations caused by unbalanced blades when resharpened...

 

When I was a kid we used to walk 5 miles up hill both way to school in 10 feet of snow

blah blah blah

 

My 58yr old father bought a craftsman self propel with a Honda engine a couple years ago. It's been incredibly reliable and even after sitting through each winter it starts on the first try.

However, he caught me off guard when he retired the still perfect mower for a true push mower. I'm talking self powered no engine push mower. The grass has never looked better but you wouldn't catch me mowing an acre with that thing.