The $125.00 2015 lawn mower that won't quit!

[GT48DXLS]

With all the talk of battery lawn mowers, I offer a look at the little Bolens $125 2015 lawn mower that is used by me and my adult Son that lives in a house next door to me. The awd Husqvarna works fine, has better fit asd finish, was bought in 2017, is quieter, and weighs a ton.

The little Bolens, has a small modification that allowed me to put on cart wheels from Northern Tool with ball bearings and extended the handle to the rear giving leverage on the weight. It will roll when pushed for several feet and is lighter than anything else out there. It won't drive itself, but it just runs. There is no battery powered lawn mower yet that can last as long for the money... not close. My kids won't use the Husqvarna awd, they prefer the light weight little mower that can. Who would have thought.

I originally bought the Bolens thinking if it last 2 years thats $75 per year and I'll just get a new one. It won't quit and we decided to give it a custom paint job and see how long it will last. The battery powered will have to really step it up, in order to compete with this MTD branded cheap mower. Thought I'd share.

GT

 

[tshep]

I've got a Murray/Briggs Frankenstein (repairs, no mods) from Walmart, maybe 2003 for $100. Got a $5 diaphragm fuel pump system I change every couple of years.
5 pumps after winter, 3 any other time, starts first pull. I had to rebuild 2 wheel mounts sheet metal - looks horrible - but the best mower I ever owned. Wish I could find a aluminum shell I could transfer running gear to someday.

 

[xrjohndeere]

I had a $40 green weed eater from wal mart that would not die. I used it for 10 years. I never took it out of the back of the truck. Was even under water a few times. Shake it off and would fire right up. I didn’t mix the gas sometimes. It finally met the end when neighbor boy yanked the rope out. I started taking it apart to fix it then just decided to drink a beer, say a few words, bury it and let it rest in piece.

 

[CalG]

I've only had two lawn mowers over the past 35 years here.

A Commercial Duty Lawn Boy (2 cycle) that still runs and mows just fine, even if the bag is a royal PIA. and the self propelling drive belt split and is laying on the work bench. The Magnesium chassis is it's weakness. It's full of holes. If I Recall correctly, I paid $100 used.

And a Snapper that a bought about 6 years ago. Brigs engine.. Works great. Showing rust at the chute .

Starts easily each spring. though it does puff oil smoke on start up after a winter's layup.

30 + years, two lawn mowers, Still going strong. Nothing to see here.

 

[Citydude]

My wife's friend gave her a 1975 sears craftsman push mower she had at a rental house. No oil on the dipstick but it did turn over. Probably hadn't ran in 20 years.

I put a new carb on it, filled it with fresh gas, added oil and I'll be darned if it did take off on 4 pulls. Doesn't smoke and purrs like a kitten.

 

[MossRoad]

My wife's friend gave her a 1975 sears craftsman push mower she had at a rental house. No oil on the dipstick but it did turn over. Probably hadn't ran in 20 years.

I put a new carb on it, filled it with fresh gas, added oil and I'll be darned if it did take off on 4 pulls. Doesn't smoke and purrs like a kitten.

My in-laws bought us a little Craftsman mower when we got married in 1985. I did not like it. So I abused it. Never changed the oil, just topped it off in spring. Never changed the air filter, just tapped it out in spring. Never changed the spark plug. Never even removed it to look at it. Left E10 87 octane gas sit in it all winter long.

That stupid thing would start first pull (with 15-20 pushes of the primer bulb) every spring for the next 29 years!!! I'd call the wife and kids out to watch the spring ritual. Amazing.

The deck finally broke on it. I removed the engine, put it in a place of honor in the back of my garage, and tossed the deck.

 

[stevem5215]

I bought a new fancy Magnesium deck Toro 2 cycle mower with a Suzuki engine in 1990. It had three speeds. I actually made payments on it for two years ! It was a special offer by Toro in the fall to unload some mowers at the time. I bought it in December and took it home from the shop in snow flurries. But, that thing is over 30 years old now and it still runs great. The deck has required some repairs such as tiger hair and some aluminum tape but even the self propelled system has never had a hiccup. I did buy another one with a 4 stroke engine as spare parts and used a few on mine such as new tires and a couple of plastic broken parts. But, it's amazing how well built that mower was and still is. The amazing part is it starts almost on the first pull every year. Dump the 2 stroke gas and make up new (use Stihl brand synthetic oil these days instead of the Lawn Boy 2 cycle oil as it was easy available for years and years). But fresh gas, a quick pull and maybe a sharpened blade (use a new fangled Gator blade on it now) and it's back running like new. Amazing.

 

[supratreo]

my brother in law has the same Bolens. previous owner left it when they moved out. looked like they were trying to fix it but couldnt so i took it home and gave it a tune up and it fired up on the first pull. like you said, extremely light unit and being self propelled make mowing very easy. my only complaint is that the bagging chute is too small and clogs easily.

 

[Thomas]

That's when they built things to last.

 

[GT48DXLS]

I've got a Murray/Briggs Frankenstein (repairs, no mods) from Walmart, maybe 2003 for $100. Got a $5 diaphragm fuel pump system I change every couple of years.
5 pumps after winter, 3 any other time, starts first pull. I had to rebuild 2 wheel mounts sheet metal - looks horrible - but the best mower I ever owned. Wish I could find a aluminum shell I could transfer running gear to someday.

I had a $40 green weed eater from wal mart that would not die. I used it for 10 years. I never took it out of the back of the truck. Was even under water a few times. Shake it off and would fire right up. I didn’t mix the gas sometimes. It finally met the end when neighbor boy yanked the rope out. I started taking it apart to fix it then just decided to drink a beer, say a few words, bury it and let it rest in piece.

I've only had two lawn mowers over the past 35 years here.

A Commercial Duty Lawn Boy (2 cycle) that still runs and mows just fine, even if the bag is a royal PIA. and the self propelling drive belt split and is laying on the work bench. The Magnesium chassis is it's weakness. It's full of holes. If I Recall correctly, I paid $100 used.

And a Snapper that a bought about 6 years ago. Brigs engine.. Works great. Showing rust at the chute .

Starts easily each spring. though it does puff oil smoke on start up after a winter's layup.

30 + years, two lawn mowers, Still going strong. Nothing to see here.

My wife's friend gave her a 1975 sears craftsman push mower she had at a rental house. No oil on the dipstick but it did turn over. Probably hadn't ran in 20 years.

I put a new carb on it, filled it with fresh gas, added oil and I'll be darned if it did take off on 4 pulls. Doesn't smoke and purrs like a kitten.

My in-laws bought us a little Craftsman mower when we got married in 1985. I did not like it. So I abused it. Never changed the oil, just topped it off in spring. Never changed the air filter, just tapped it out in spring. Never changed the spark plug. Never even removed it to look at it. Left E10 87 octane gas sit in it all winter long.

That stupid thing would start first pull (with 15-20 pushes of the primer bulb) every spring for the next 29 years!!! I'd call the wife and kids out to watch the spring ritual. Amazing.

The deck finally broke on it. I removed the engine, put it in a place of honor in the back of my garage, and tossed the deck.

I bought a new fancy Magnesium deck Toro 2 cycle mower with a Suzuki engine in 1990. It had three speeds. I actually made payments on it for two years ! It was a special offer by Toro in the fall to unload some mowers at the time. I bought it in December and took it home from the shop in snow flurries. But, that thing is over 30 years old now and it still runs great. The deck has required some repairs such as tiger hair and some aluminum tape but even the self propelled system has never had a hiccup. I did buy another one with a 4 stroke engine as spare parts and used a few on mine such as new tires and a couple of plastic broken parts. But, it's amazing how well built that mower was and still is. The amazing part is it starts almost on the first pull every year. Dump the 2 stroke gas and make up new (use Stihl brand synthetic oil these days instead of the Lawn Boy 2 cycle oil as it was easy available for years and years). But fresh gas, a quick pull and maybe a sharpened blade (use a new fangled Gator blade on it now) and it's back running like new. Amazing.

my brother in law has the same Bolens. previous owner left it when they moved out. looked like they were trying to fix it but couldnt so i took it home and gave it a tune up and it fired up on the first pull. like you said, extremely light unit and being self propelled make mowing very easy. my only complaint is that the bagging chute is too small and clogs easily.

That's when they built things to last.

I couldn't stop laughing at all these stories, it gave me a little pride in the cheap lawn mower, if people only knew, it dosen't need to weight as much as a lawn tractor to work!

Now what about this lawn mower, would I need car insurance to drive this beast?

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