Need a good lawn mower...

[Svnla]

I read the June issue of Consumer Report and they say Honda is top then Toro, then Craftman, then Snapper.

I need a basic gas powered push lawn mower. Let me know which one served you well in the last few years. TIA.

 

[Toastedlightly]

I have a Honda from the early 90s that is stil tickin, a Craftsman from 95 that is still tickin, and a snapper from early 90s that still ticks. Good care wil make them last a lifetime.

 

[BurnItDwn]

When I was little my dad bought a Toro 4hp mower, in like 1982 or so ... He still uses it to this day.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Toro and Honda make some of the best. Just whatever you do, don't fall for the ones with a blade clutch. Those just slip.

I worked for a state park and we had some $600+ John Deere pushmowers that had everything possible go wrong. One even lost the blade without hitting anything. Another was mowing through taller grass and the blade stopped but the engine didn't. Burnt right through the clutch. The things were junk.

ZV

 

[RossMAN]

Honda and Toro

 

My dad's 30-year-old Lawn Boy just died last year. He went right out and replaced it with another Lawn Boy.

 

[aniepras]

My Honda sucks ass just got it 3 years ago paid ~$600 and would rather use my $120 craftsmen that i've put through hell and back.

 

[compudog]

I have a cheap-ass Murray that I bought in 1990 for around $100.00. 15 years, it's still going. Replaced one blade in it. That is all. I may have changed oil in it once in those 15 years.

Honda, Toro are VERY good. I worked in a lawn and garden department for a few years and sold many Lawn Boys and had no problems with them either. The MTD's, Yard-Man, Murray kept coming back.

 

[vegetation]

I had a John Deere self propelled and the engine (Briggs Intek) blew. This was only a few years ago. Fixed throttle so I was not overrevving or anything silly like that either.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Toro and Honda make some of the best. Just whatever you do, don't fall for the ones with a blade clutch. Those just slip.

I worked for a state park and we had some $600+ John Deere pushmowers that had everything possible go wrong. One even lost the blade without hitting anything. Another was mowing through taller grass and the blade stopped but the engine didn't. Burnt right through the clutch. The things were junk.

ZV

My folks have a 13 or so year old craftsman that still works great. Just a basic push mower. Just this week they bought a self propelled Toro, as their new house has a heavily slopped lot. The Toro is shapping up to be quite nice, as I would expect for a $570 mower. It has all the bells and whistles on it, including the blade disengage (which I consider a very useful feature), the personal pace system, and a cast aluminum deck.

I do summer groundskeeping at a high school, and over there we run a commercial grade Toro from probably 20 years ago that still runs fine. But my main mower there is a commercial grade Honda which has the composite deck and the blade disengage. That mower is at least a good 10 years old and still runs like clockwork. Mind you, I have been working there for 4 summers now and run that mower at least 5 hours/week (sometimes double that). Don't discount all blade clutches.

Anyways, as per the OP, I'd say either get a Honda or a Toro. I've found the Toro to have better ergonomics, but the Honda has a smoother running engine (Honda motors>Briggs motors). For average push mowing, the ergonomics are most likely going to be your main concern. Also, don't forget to check out other things that you may find useful, depending upon your lot, such as large rear wheels and side discharge/mulching/bagging.

 

[NTB]

Pushmowers I'm not sure, but if you were looking for a rider I'd say Snapper - I know a couple people with mowers older than I am. The engines die of old age eventually, but the mower itself will last forever.

Nate

 

[mwmorph]

I had a lawn boy/mtd(same brand i believe) that lasted for 5 years until i hit a tree stump.
then a muarry self propelled briggs and stratton powered that lasted for a few months until i hit the same damn tree stump(bent crankshaft no both mowers)
now we moved have a craftsman push briggs and stratton powered no problems. also now own a craftsman riding mower taht i messed up by forgetting to replace engine oil cap. mowed for around 15 minutes before realized something was wrong, added some oil and replaced oil cover. still runs perfect. riding mower also powered by a ohv briggs and stratton.

 

[myusername]

Originally posted by: NTB
The engines die of old age eventually, but the mower itself will last forever.

Actually ... I *did* break the deck on a Toro. Had a bad habit of banging into trees and after years of this, the metal finally snapped.

 

[Ornery]

• K.I.S.S.

 

[keeleysam]

Craftsman, I've hit this gas pipe cover a few times, which will destroy any blade, and just pop up at Sears where they always have the part i need.

 

[aircooled]

love my variable speed Toro

 

[Svnla]

Thanks for all the replies so far, keep them coming

 

[GeekDrew]

We have a lawnboy pushmower (I think we got it in the early 80s) that we had to send in to the shop one time, but it has otherwise been great. We've also had a ton of off-brand push mowers around the farms over the years... none of them work any more (OK - I might be able to coax the one back to life - It's a Rally, I think) for various reasons.

<sigh> As for riding mowers, our 1986 (IIRC) John Deere has been awesome. In that time, we've also killed a Rally, a Cub Cadet, a John Deere (from the late 60s), and a Craftsman. We do a lot of lawn mowing, across three farms, and one residential lot. At the moment the John Deere is being hauled to all of our locations, because the Cub Cadet that we were using for two of them just decided to malfunction (I don't know what's wrong with it, but I know that my Dad and Brother messed around with it for a few hours, and then told me to bring the John Deere up to that farm as well).

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew
We have a lawnboy pushmower (I think we got it in the early 80s) that we had to send in to the shop one time, but it has otherwise been great. We've also had a ton of off-brand push mowers around the farms over the years... none of them work any more (OK - I might be able to coax the one back to life - It's a Rally, I think) for various reasons.

<sigh> As for riding mowers, our 1986 (IIRC) John Deere has been awesome. In that time, we've also killed a Rally, a Cub Cadet, a John Deere (from the late 60s), and a Craftsman. We do a lot of lawn mowing, across three farms, and one residential lot. At the moment the John Deere is being hauled to all of our locations, because the Cub Cadet that we were using for two of them just decided to malfunction (I don't know what's wrong with it, but I know that my Dad and Brother messed around with it for a few hours, and then told me to bring the John Deere up to that farm as well).

what model is the Cub? My dad spent god only knows how much time trying to get our old 1650 to run - it would start, and run as long as you held the key in the start position, but that was it. Turned out to be a single bad wire.

Nate

 

[Pliablemoose]

Honda>*

 

[Banana]

Do you need self-propelled or not? If not, I'd go with whatever is the best $ deal. If you need one with fancy pants features, I'd go with Honda or Toro.

 

[cavemanmoron]

I have a large rear wheel MTD mower,bought at Ace Hardware store in 1999,still works great.
I also have a 14.5 hp riding mower from Montgomery Wards,
bought in 1989.

 

[iversonyin]

Go with Mexicans 2000

They work the wonder

 

[iamwiz82]

I just got a Toro RWD Personal Pace and it been workign great so far.

 

[WdnUlik2no]

Originally posted by: Svnla
I read the June issue of Consumer Report and they say Honda is top then Toro, then Craftman, then Snapper.

I need a basic gas powered push lawn mower. Let me know which one served you well in the last few years. TIA.

Just don't get Murray, they SUCK!!

I just got a Torro from my mom 6.5 HP RWD Personal Pace. Seems very durable, but I haven't used it yet though.