At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

Interesting about the Cub Cadets. I know they make some cheaper models that don't last long. I would have hoped the $4000 models would be better. We visited an ExMark dealer. They had a mower I really liked. Not inexpensive at $4600 but it had a solid fabricated mowing deck without the "ring" around the grass output hole. However, I suspect replacing the drive belt on my Kubota will fix my problem which means I won't be buying a new riding mower.

 

[Obed]

My wife returned the MTD Yard Machines push mower to the big box store today. We weren't willing to live with the inaccessible placement of the oil cap under the engine cover.

After some research, it appears that all the mowers have no manual throttle control. Some people on the internet claim the reason is emissions but I wonder if the main motivation is to cut costs. There's no way to know for sure. I was unable to find any "official" statement explaining why the manual throttle controls were removed. I could easily imagine one manufacturer removing the control to save a couple dollars and then the others following suit.

I looked at the Craftsman push mowers at Sears today. Their lowest priced push mower, $185, had a B&S engine identical to the one on the mower I returned today, oil cap and all. The Salesman indicated that they had just had someone (not me) return that model because of the oil cap placement. The next model up costs $230. I might have to pay an additional $45 to get a functional dipstick and oil cap.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Box stores sell the cheaper stamped deck. go to a mower dealer and thay will have heavy duty welded decks without the ring around the discharge.

 

[Obed]

Box stores sell the cheaper stamped deck. go to a mower dealer and thay will have heavy duty welded decks without the ring around the discharge.

I found a mixed bag. Yes, the box stores only seem to carry mowers with the cheaper stamped decks like you say. I went to 3 mower dealers, Kubota, ExMark, and Cub Cadet. All of them had the cheap stamped decks on the lower end models and the nice fabricated welded decks on the higher end models. It appears you need to spend around $4000 and up to get the nice fabricated decks without the ring. The $3600 Kubota that I looked at had the cheap stamped deck with the discharge ring.

Obed

 

[Diamondpilot]

My 1996 Craftsman push mower didn't come with a throttle. Honestly I never missed it.

As for mowers I have had 2 riding mowers that didn't last, 2 finish mowers that didn't quite cut it, and my current $8000 Ferris 61" ZTR. I know it's a lot of money but I can't believe I didn't get one, a true commercial mower, 13 years ago when I bought my house. I wasted hundreds of hours mowing slow and fixing broken stuff and probably $5000 losses after selling the previous 4 units for $1650 combined.

I'm on my 3rd season with the Ferris and have not done a thing other than yearly lube, oil, filters, and blade sharpening.

Chris

 

[Larro Darro]

I looked at the Craftsman push mowers at Sears today. Their lowest priced push mower, $185, had a B&S engine identical to the one on the mower I returned today, oil cap and all. The Salesman indicated that they had just had someone (not me) return that model because of the oil cap placement. The next model up costs $230. I might have to pay an additional $45 to get a functional dipstick and oil cap.

You can get a funnel with a hose for quite a bit less than $45. But I bet there are other perks with the higher costing model besides oil cap placement.

 

[clemsonfor]

Today I went to Home Depot and bought a $180 + tax MTD Yard Machines 21" push mower. I didn't want a self-propelled mower; I have found that I can push a lightweight push mower much faster than any of the self-propelled models I have tried.

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I opened up the manual to familiarize myself with the mower.

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I was astounded to find out that being able to adjusting the throttle was an "option" that this machine does not have.

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I definitely would have not bought this mower if I had known there was no throttle control. I was tempted to return the mower; however, that would mean more inconvenience so I decided to make do without a throttle control.

Next, I decided to add oil to the engine. With the help of the manual, I found the oil cap/dipstick. Unfortunately, I could not unscrew the oil cap dipstick by hand; it was too tight and to small in diameter and required a screwdriver to loosen it. The yellow cap in the picture shows the oil cap/dipstick. It occurred to me that if the dipstick is too difficult to access, I may be less likely to check the oil level as much as I should. The oil cap is yellow in the pictures.

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To make things worse, the yellow oil cap is in a terrible, almost inaccessible spot. It is underneath the overhanging engine cover. To add oil would require a funnel with a hose. To drain the oil in order to change it, when the machine is upside down, the oil will drain into the overhanging engine cover and make a mess.

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Without saying anything to my wife, I had her read the manual and look at the oil cap location and she drew the same conclusions I did.

That was enough for me. I boxed the mower back up and will return it.

I never occurred to me when shopping to check to see if the engine would have a throttle control. It never occurred to me to make sure the oil cap and dipstick were easily accessible. These are features I would think would be standard, even on the lease expensive mowers. But I was wrong.

The no throttle thing is to pass EPA regs and is a new thing.

There should still be a plug i would think under the deck to undo to drain the oil?

 

[clemsonfor]

I borrowed my FIL's extra push mower and mowed the yard and property entrance yesterday evening. It took an hour and 30 minutes to mow approximately 3/4 acre. Having the loaned mower gives me a little time to figure out what to do.

Thanks for all the kind words.
Obed

Chim, you must really enjoy mowing. 2 1/4 acres was not enough yard for you so now you have 3 1/2 acres to mow. My place takes about 1 1/2 hours to mow with my Kubota when I mow the yard, the garden area, and the property entrance. You appear to be able to mow twice as much acreage than I mow in less time.

Obed

So it takes you an Hour and a half with the riding Kubota which is probably around 42" cut at least and then you mowed the same area in the same amount of time with a 22-24" PUSH MOWER!! man you must of been running wide open and running with that mower and must go really slow on the rider?:confused3:

 

[4570Man]

I have several commercial mowers. They are well worth their money. If I got another mower it would be diesel powered. I have some diesel mowers already, and they are way better than gas. I have always wanted a front deck grasshopper, but I have never used one.

 

[clemsonfor]

My wife returned the MTD Yard Machines push mower to the big box store today. We weren't willing to live with the inaccessible placement of the oil cap under the engine cover.

After some research, it appears that all the mowers have no manual throttle control. Some people on the internet claim the reason is emissions but I wonder if the main motivation is to cut costs. There's no way to know for sure. I was unable to find any "official" statement explaining why the manual throttle controls were removed. I could easily imagine one manufacturer removing the control to save a couple dollars and then the others following suit.

I looked at the Craftsman push mowers at Sears today. Their lowest priced push mower, $185, had a B&S engine identical to the one on the mower I returned today, oil cap and all. The Salesman indicated that they had just had someone (not me) return that model because of the oil cap placement. The next model up costs $230. I might have to pay an additional $45 to get a functional dipstick and oil cap.

Its emissions. They dont want it running wide open when there is no load on it or if your cutting very short grass and it doesnt need to run wide open it doesnt, so they govern it. There must be some test with amout of CO2 and other gasses per hour and there is a test sample they do, that may consist of like equivelent of 15 mins of idle 15 mins of really hard mowing under high load and then maybe 30 mins under medium load or something.
I am just speculating this but it makes sense as the new EPA mileages have a combined number on cars. BUt this would more simulate real world use and the governer is a way to reduce emissions when the power is not needed.

It is true chain saws have some sort of device to keep a consumer from tuneing them as do weedeaters and blowers. You need a special tool and there are like 6 of them. some easy to find and some pretty darn hard like the Husqvarna tool. Which i sell if you or anyone needs one . I like stihl they still use a flathead screw but you have to pull the limiter tabs off them as they only allow small adjustment in place. You need to really tune your saw based upon time of year and fuel you use. I just pull the limiters off my stihls so i can adjust them. I do like the husky splined screw better as it works better as the saw is bounceing all around. the flatheads do not work well in this application. I do not like that the husky tool is hard to find.