I made a long reply here about my wants in a new self propelled walk behind mower, mainly faster speed than my current one, but I guess it was stuck on the end of a dead thread, so didn't get any replies.
In that thread, Thump553 said (to someone else):
Go front wheel drive-it's far easy to turn/revese in tight spots by pushing down on the handlebar rather than picking up the back wheels.
and:
Now I'm using a Toro (bought at Home Depot) for the last several years and am happy with it. Tescumseh engine, I think.
But I replied that I think all the Toro's I've ever seen are RWD, including the ones I recently looked at at Home Depot. But didn't get a reply.
I followed that with:
I bought a self propelled Toro in 2002, which was RWD, and I couldn't get the hang of it, so I returned it. I don't remember what kind of throttle or start/stop motion handle it had, but whatever it was, it was either too much trouble to do that every time you needed to stop to keep from running over a bush or to turn, and/or maybe the drive would never stop completely. And the front-back wheelbase was extremely long, and the whole thing was just too big and heavy to handle.
I ended up buying a Troy Built Tuff Cut 220, which is front wheel drive, so is much easier to handle. But since you don't have all the weight on the drive wheels, you lose a lot of motion going up hill or on damp grass because of wheel spin. Also, the quality control on it just sucked. A couple of the hub caps would never stay on, so had to be glued (which blocks access to the grease fittings); the deck paint started flaking off in big chunks soon after buying; the drive speed adjustment screw is very hard to turn, and doesn't seem to affect anything; the deck/wheel height adjustments are extremely hard to get to and move and their rubber caps fell off soon after buying; the decals were put on crooked and started peeling off soon after buying. Also the push handle just wore out and broke a couple years ago (the replacement I had to buy had been redesigned).
But the main reason I want to get another mower now is the self propelled speed was never fast enough and I end up having to push it myself just to go faster, when I'm in a hurry. It seems like back when I bought it, mfg's were publishing the speed, but now they don't seem to, do they? I would risk getting another RWD Toro, and certainly wouldn't mind paying the money for a Honda, if I knew they would be faster than my Troy Built. Anyone know?
Also, I think mine is 6 or 6.5 HP, but still bogs down and dies in slighly tall grass that I think better mowers/blades could probably handle.
BTW, if I used a Garmin 750 GPS set to pedestrian mode, how accurate would it show my mowing speed?
In that thread, Thump553 said (to someone else):
Go front wheel drive-it's far easy to turn/revese in tight spots by pushing down on the handlebar rather than picking up the back wheels.
and:
Now I'm using a Toro (bought at Home Depot) for the last several years and am happy with it. Tescumseh engine, I think.
But I replied that I think all the Toro's I've ever seen are RWD, including the ones I recently looked at at Home Depot. But didn't get a reply.
I followed that with:
I bought a self propelled Toro in 2002, which was RWD, and I couldn't get the hang of it, so I returned it. I don't remember what kind of throttle or start/stop motion handle it had, but whatever it was, it was either too much trouble to do that every time you needed to stop to keep from running over a bush or to turn, and/or maybe the drive would never stop completely. And the front-back wheelbase was extremely long, and the whole thing was just too big and heavy to handle.
I ended up buying a Troy Built Tuff Cut 220, which is front wheel drive, so is much easier to handle. But since you don't have all the weight on the drive wheels, you lose a lot of motion going up hill or on damp grass because of wheel spin. Also, the quality control on it just sucked. A couple of the hub caps would never stay on, so had to be glued (which blocks access to the grease fittings); the deck paint started flaking off in big chunks soon after buying; the drive speed adjustment screw is very hard to turn, and doesn't seem to affect anything; the deck/wheel height adjustments are extremely hard to get to and move and their rubber caps fell off soon after buying; the decals were put on crooked and started peeling off soon after buying. Also the push handle just wore out and broke a couple years ago (the replacement I had to buy had been redesigned).
But the main reason I want to get another mower now is the self propelled speed was never fast enough and I end up having to push it myself just to go faster, when I'm in a hurry. It seems like back when I bought it, mfg's were publishing the speed, but now they don't seem to, do they? I would risk getting another RWD Toro, and certainly wouldn't mind paying the money for a Honda, if I knew they would be faster than my Troy Built. Anyone know?
Also, I think mine is 6 or 6.5 HP, but still bogs down and dies in slighly tall grass that I think better mowers/blades could probably handle.
BTW, if I used a Garmin 750 GPS set to pedestrian mode, how accurate would it show my mowing speed?
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