swoosh

iTrader: (5)

The following items are on the list for the new home. Do you guys have any recommendations on the products and where to buy. I am trying not to spend a fortune.

First off, lets debate between Electric and Gas. I have a general paranoia of having a can or 2 of gas sitting around. Thats why am naturally inclined towards Electric.

The items which am looking at are:

Lawn mower
Edger
Snow Blower/Thrower
Pressure Washer (mainly for the car(s) but I will definitely use it to wash the exterior of the house)
Garden hose (or I can just get a pressure washer hose and call it day)

As I mentioned I do not want to spend a fortune on these items and want to keep the price pretty low. I would like all the Edger to be kinda the same brand as either Ryobi or Black and Decker as I can interchange the batteries with my drill....

Also, I do not mind opening up a store card if that helps me save some $$$ and get some 0% financing

Should I be looking @ craigslist as well? I would like the items to be new

Thanks in advance for the help....

csmeance

as far as lawn equipment goes, I'm going to tell you some things I learned about lawn equipment:

1. Don't go cheap or off brand and READ THE REVIEWS! I went through 8 edgers/weed whackers before I got fed up, but a professional STHIL one and it's been running like a champion. Same with the lawn mower, I bought a craftsman and the cord got stuck on the 2nd mow. I now own a Hasqavarna and it's been rock solid since 2005!

2. Put fuel stabilizer in the gas -> I forgot to do this once and had to drain the gas out of my generator before a hurricane.

3. Battery power isn't as good as gas power, but corded stuff is the best (until you cut the cord).

4. Get a good pressure washer the first time.

5. Have a car big enough to get this stuff to your house.

6. Shop around to an extent; I heard amazon still does 3.99 overnight shipping on riding mowers.

Will Y.

Gas v. electric should be determined by the size of the total area you have to mow, unless you are OK with a corded mower-- you don't want depleted batteries in the middle of the job. I assume you're not dealing with a large enough area to require a riding mower, either.

We have a cheap Craftsman gas push mower (as opposed to powered/self-propelled mower) purchased at Sears many years ago, before most electric mowers hit the market.

I use a cordless Black & Decker "Grass Hog" string trimmer as an edger; the batteries are interchangeable with our B&D hedge trimmer as well as certain B&D drills. Gas & manual edgers may give cleaner/sharper edges than string trimmers.

No experience with snow blowers or pressure washers here.

Get heavy-duty garden hoses-- they will last longer than the medium & light duty ones. However, hoses will still need to be replaced every few years, particularly if stored in exposed areas.

We bought an almost-new manual push mower off Craigslist last year so the kids could mow the yards without having to run the gas mower. Otherwise, everything else was bought new, with factory fresh batteries, air filters, etc.

litesout

I can't comment on the pressure washer as I've never owned one. And I've never actually a snow blower in person, or snow that wasn't on a mountain for that matter. Lawn equipment on the other hand I've learned a few things over the years. First off, if you buy something new you shouldn't have to worry about ethanol. I had to rebuild the carb on the mower (Dad gave it to me, its pretty old but was free) and it still runs like crap, but at least it runs. Weed eater is still going strong and starts on the 6 - 8th pull every time. The directions say it should take 10. And on the subject of weed eaters, I recommend getting a four stroke one. Mine is one that takes attachments. I have the straight shaft string trimmer and the edger. It works great. The four stroke engine means you don't have to mix oil into the gas. Only one gas can in the garage and zero chance of getting the plain gas and pre mix mixed up. On the subject of gas, Sta-bil makes an ethanol treatment. I recommend that too. Its a fuel stabilizer that eliminates the ethanol as well.

Electric comes with a set of challenges and considerations down the road. If you go battery powered, how long will they last? How long until the batteries need to be replaced? How much does that cost? How long do they take to charge? How many will you need to finish the job? It really may be cheaper to get a good gas one to begin with. If you go plug in, how much cord will you need? In my experience, plug in edgers don't have enough power to do the job, at least with the thick st Augustine grass we have here. Electric lawn mowers don't work at all. Not enough power to cut it.

At any rate, congrats on the house and good luck!

Scrib

All I can say is I bought a 2-stage Toro snowblower 8 years ago and a HRX-series Honda mower 8 years ago and both start on the first pull each and every year.

Also recommend everything to be four stroke engines. Don't have to dick with mixing oil and gas.

svtmike

Wish I could find a good 4-stroke weed whacker.

doopstr

An extra $100 for a good string trimmer or leaf blower is worth the cost. It will last much longer, perform better, and give less headache. I bought one used piece of equipment and won't do that again. Mainly because I'm not too mechanically inclined. It's worth it to me to buy it new and have it run 15+ years.

I don't mind the 2-stroke for my trimmer and blower. I keep a separate 1 gallon can for them and I don't have to worry about changing the oil on those devices. I can also flip my 2-stroke trimmer over to use it as an edger and not worry about poor oil circulation.

Buy a bigger pressure washer than you think you will need.

doopstr

Incidentally I've found that I can get away with the cheaper indoor power tools as opposed to the "good stuff" as I don't use them very frequently. The one exception would be that a good battery powered screwdriver is a must. I try to stick with plug-in power tools verses battery powered since I don't use them much and don't want to worry about keeping batteries topped off. I've yet to have a plug-in tool fail on me so keep in mind that whatever you buy you will probably own forever.

Gfaze

I've got a Stihl weed eater I bought at a moving sale. The owner said he only used it a handful of times and the condition it was in backed up what he said. Starts on 3 pulls every time. Works great as an edger too if you have a steady hand.

I have a basic lawnmower I bought at Lowe's when I first bought my house a little over 3 years ago. It does the job but this year I'm going to get myself the Honda mower I've been wanting since 2 years ago. I've looked at the electric mowers and battery powered mowers and I dislike the thought of dragging an extension cord or having to worry if I charged the mower.

No experience with pressure washers or snowblowers. All I can suggest is do your research and read the reviews on amazon, lowes, home depot, etc. The best buy isn't always the most expensive one.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

Common reply FTW

Thanks a lot AJ...all the stuff you said makes sense....
....including cutting the cord....I have been known to do stupid stuff like that haha...


Will, the lot is about 15,000 sq ft....house, driveway, walking path, landscaping takes some off, but if my guess is right, I will still be moving around 10,000 sq ft...
I dont wanna deal with dead batteries and hence either electrical or Gas powered and looks like the common vote is swaying me towards a Gas powered lawn mover



Thanks litesout for the tip and the warm wishes on the house.
I think I will be looking for a 4 stroke lawn mover but a battery operated edger....will finish it off with a gas 4 stroke snow blower and a electric powered pressure washer


Scrib, I have heard great things about Toro and Honda....another +1 for gas and 4 stroke I see



doopstr, thanks for the advice on the pressure washer....any reason why you think i should do bigger on those?


Gfaze, Thanks bro....I will keep the point while buying....

subinf

Gas mower. Electric for pretty much everything else (weed whacker, chain saw, leaf blower).

Will Y.

In that case, a gas powered mower is the way to go.
One will need multiple batteries for a cordless weed whacker/string trimmer for cleaning up/edging that much square footage; IDK about electric blowers or chain saws. However, the noise level is much less with the cordless than the gas powered trimmers.

doopstr

I bought a 2200PSI gasoline powered one. It's okay but a bigger unit would allow me to finish my jobs faster. I mainly use it once or twice a year to clean my concrete patios and walkways with the medium pressure tip. I thought I would be able to use it to clean the top level of the exterior of my house but it's not very good at that. Mine's good enough that I'm not going to replace it unless it dies but I think I would go for a 2700-3000 next time.

I see that you are planning to use it to wash your car, be sure you research the proper way to do that and don't use a tip that can remove the wax or paint from the car. My 2200PSI can carve lines in my concrete patio with the high pressure tip. I only tried it once to see if it could do it

If you are a serious shopper pay more attention to who makes the pump rather than who makes the engine.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

I dont think i need a chain saw/leaf blower as of now LOL....but thanks for the tip....or wait maybe I will need a leaf blower once am done trimming the edges

Li-Ion FTW....i borrowed a friends Ryobi drill and damn that Li-Ion battery lasts....

hahah yeah, I had some paint over-spray @ the apartment sidewalk and took if off with a friends Honda gas powered pressure washer....used a 0 deg tip on full power and damn did that not only take off the paint but also some concrete "flesh"....

for the car, am thinking of running it with a 45deg tip which wont mess my baby up....

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

am looking at this pressure washer

http://www.pressurewashersdirect.com...her/p7441.html

think this will be ok for washing cars without stripping previous layers of wax?

McCollins23

Buy this mower and cancel your gym membership. And then take me out to dinner for saving you money.



And I wouldn't use a pressure washer on you car. Get a Gilmour foammaster? foam gun for the garden hose and a firemans nozzle. I would go with a Stihl weed eater and leaf blower. Those things will last and last. My buddy has a side lawn business and that's all he buys is the professional stuff.

As for the snow blower, I don't think you need a very big one. You want something with some maneuverability, so you can do your walkway/patio. Home depot had an electric "snow broom" that looked pretty neat.

Ill go shopping with you and help you spend your money. And as always shop around for the lowest prices.

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

Do you ever get big snow storms there? If not you would probably just need a single stage snow blower. My dad had a single-stage Toro which lasted a very long time. A few years ago he got a large Ariens two-stage and the thing is a work horse. I also have a slightly smaller Ariens and it too fires right up and can work through some really tough snow.

Rock2534

I wouldn't mess around with the electric machinery with that size of lot. Gas is the way to go for the mower/wacker/snow blower. I had a battery powered weed wacker for the first 2 yrs after building my house, it worked ok, but the battery always died early, didn't have enough juice to tear up the big fatty weeds that look like little trees, and then busted on my after 2 yrs.

I have a craftsman mower and two stage snow blower, and a troy bilt weedwacker with a leaf blower attachment for it. All run great and never act up after years of use. Don't go weak on the snow blower, the first time you get some good snow you will be happy you did. I watch my neighbors with their low end single stage or weak blowers have to go over the snow a few times to move it. My simple 6hp dual stage with 5 speeds just plowes through it and throws it far enough to hit the yard from the sidewalk and street.

Buy good stuff that will get the job done with ease, take care of it, and you will be happy you did.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Pressure Washer - I love my Generac. 2500 PSI or more.
Garden Hose - Buy a nice one. Buy a housing reel too.
Table Saw
Miter Box
Wire strippers
Bare floor steamer - We love our Shark vac + steamer unit
Dremel - With a lot of diff attachments

Just to name a few I've used many times in the last 6 months

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Gas for the mower, string cutter and snow blower. You can probably get by with electric for everything else.

I would get a decent push mower. No need to go with a $700 Honda, but get something reliable. Do some research. Talk to your neighbors. And search CL. Sometimes you find those $700 Hondas for a lot less. You need to consider the size, how often you will mow in the summer and the slope of your property.

Same can be said for your snow blower. Based on the size of your driveway from your pics you should be fine with a small duel stage blower.

Both my riding mower and snow blower are Craftsman and they are way too big for my property but they came with the house. Almost everything I've had from Craftsman have been good. My mower is 10 years old and still runs like a champ. And parts are easy to get.

I have a cheap Troy-Bilt string cutter and it's been fine for what I need it for. I've used it for edging and I've also used it for cutting down wild flowers. No problems with it. It does take a bit of getting use to.

The leaf blower and hedge trimmer I have are corded. I hate having to deal with the cord but it does a really good job.

I do not yet have a power washer. I'm looking at getting one this year.

I suggest staying away from those coil type garden hoses. They're crap. Get a pair of nice never-kink hose. One for the front and one for the back. They are a PITA to keep moving.

Don't buy wheel barrows or a fertilizer spreader yet. Wait until spring and go to the yard sales. They always have someone getting rid of those.

Lastly - you may want to price out lawn services. Some of them are not too bad for what you get. I do all mine with the exception of fertilizing. I pay someone to do that. It was about $20 per feeding more to have someone else do it. That was worth it.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I hate having to mix gas and oil for my string cutter. I messed up with that decision.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Depending on the size of your yard, which I don't think is excessive, I would actually highly recommend a lithium ion powered weed eater...

I get my entire yard whacked in one charge. No gas or oil involved!

Edit: Plus it's light, it's quiet, and best of all the wife can handle it! Lol

Devil Dog 21

Swoosh, my lot is close to the same size as yours and I use the Black & Decker Grass hog weed eater, and hedge trimmer. (Also have the drill) All the batteries are interchangeable so you should never encounter a time when you don't have power. Pay a good company to treat your grass and weeds and you'll only be using the weed eater for trimming. Ryan Lawn and Leaf, and Green Lawn are two of the best in our area. Go gas for the lawn mower, and if you get a snow blower let me know what kind you get. I've been shoveling our snow storms but it's getting old.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

Snow blower - Craftsman (gas)
Mower - Greenworks (gas)
Trimmer - Greenworks (battery)
Pressure washer - Honda 2700psi (gas)
Blower - Toro (electric)
Hedge trimmer - Toro (electric)

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Believe it or not, I was highly advised to not purchase a Honda powered pressure washer...

Something about new emission standards.