North vs. South....

Farmwithjunk · Mar 30, 2006

....left vs. right...up vs. down, big vs. small.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Yep! What lawn mower to buy? (But not a lawn mower question.)

Normally, I try to buy the best stuff I can afford. Trucks, tractors, trailers, furniture, guns, food, whatever. Quality counts.

But I just flat ain't gonna spend $600 on a dang push mower.

In the past, I cut everything that the Deere rider would run over, then finish with a weed whacker. Now things are different. A couple flower beds in the back yard won't let me get in there with the rider and it's too much to chop down with the weedeater. So- I had to buy a push mower. Easy choice. I LOVE Honda stuff. Let's look at that price tag.

Anyone know CPR? This man's not breathing!

Time for cheap-O. The Home Depot "YardMan" 22" low-buck 4.5HP B&S stamped steel and plastic model it is.(Even comes with a 20 oz. bottle of premium grade "ARNOLD" oil! ($129+tax)

What's everyones thoughts on cheap vs. UNGODLY expensive lawnmowers?

For the sake of clarification, there's about 2 to 3 minutes worth of mowing each time I cut the yard in store for this beast. I just couldn't pry my wallet open any further.

goaliedad · Mar 30, 2006

I've got a "no name" push mower from TSC- it's about 12 years old and still runs fine. I need a new blade, and the throttle control broke, but what can I expect! We had a lake lot that was overgrown bad- no brush just tall grass and weeds. After about 7 years of mowing it, we gave up the idea of building, and now it mows a finished yard on a regular basis. I think we paid about $130.00 for it way back when. No regrets.
I agree with your quality counts thought, but sometimes it just doesn't make sense to spend big bucks on an item. Generally when I buy tools, I go for the good stuff, but if I know it will have limited use, cost is a big factor.

RonR · Mar 30, 2006

I tried to implement a "four foot rule" with my bride--basically "don't plant nothing within four feet of anything else, so I can easily mow it!" Well, that didn't happen. Seems the Mrs. loves to plant things about 18" apart, and I have a 21" mower........ GRRRRRRRRRR.

As for mowers, I bought a new snapper in the early 80s. Still works fine. No bells, no whistles. Meanwhile, I've run through a slug of toros, MTD, and whatevers.

Latest mower I bought was a return to Lowe's; 6.5 HP Troy bilt. Looked ok, and supposed to be checked out. Ran fine. And it was $200 (about 2/3 of sticker). I think I know why they came back--the handle is about 6" too LOW and I don't see any way to raise it. Cuts great, but it's a pain to run. Sooooooooooon, it's going to find its handle inside my tube bender to mod it a little.

Have fun,
ron

PBinWA · Mar 30, 2006

I've got the 4 HP MTD Special from HD. I think I paid $99 for it. I beat the puss out of it and use it like it is a weed wacker.

It's running great after 3 years of abuse. Not sure I need anything better. Like you I only have to use it a few times a year for a few minutes at a time.

If you are looking for a good quality cut you might want to treat it nicer than I treat mine.

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PB

EddieWalker · Mar 30, 2006

In 1994 I ought an electric mower from Home Depot. It was a cheapy that I planned to use for a little bit and replace with a better one. 12 years later and it's still working great!!!

I've been finding out that the cheap disposable stuff last just as long, and sometimes longer than the name brand stuff. My new theory on buying just about anything is go cheap and expect to replace it when it dies. My old theory of buying the best I could has led to allot of disapointment.

Eddie

Highbeam · Mar 30, 2006

MTD makes the yardman and mine even has a Honda engine. It's been cutting fine for the last 6 years. I even used mine hard before I bought my tractor and brushhog. I like the big back wheels.

I would never consider an expensive pushmower. The cheap ones are just too good.

Check out the photo, that's not smoke but pollen. Man was I sneezing that day. I don't think the front end ever sat down on grade all day.

I bought my yardman at costco.

Tom_H · Mar 30, 2006

I'd do what Eddie did, small electric model.

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 30, 2006

Murray 21" circa 1984 with B&S 3.5. 69.95 plus tax. I use it about 3 times a year and change the plug and oil every third year. A shot of ether and one pull gets it revived every time. She's getting down close to $3.00 per year now, guess i can't complain.

Ken_CT · Mar 30, 2006

I'm in the same situation you're in. The wife looks for places that I have a clean shot at mowing and puts a flowerbed in the middle. I bought a cheapo mower at Walmarts a few years back for trimming and I have no complaints about it. It doesn't have any bells or whistles, never takes more than 2 pulls to start and works fine. It's also mowed its share of rocks. Just keep up maintenance, sharpen the blade, and they run for a long time. If you buy a $150 mower you can take the savings and pay a neighborhood kid to do the trimwork for a couple of years /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

SPIKER · Mar 31, 2006

way back when 10 yrs now) my womans mower died, her friend and mom bought her the 99 buck wally world mower, no throttle brakes small plastic wheels ect, has 3.5 hp techumpsa on it. still runs, I started it today 1st time in 9 months. filled fuel pulled a few times no start, still has same plug, so pulled it had gass but was pretty fouled, shot of brake cleaner into plug, then some sandpaper clean up and a shot of ether into plug to remove any goo/dand residue. good shot into the plug hole & cranker her a few times to blow out the crud. stuck in the same ole plug & pushed the fuel bulb a few time and she sputered up after a fe more cranks. this mowed a very poor lot 1/4 acre of hillside holes bumps ect. mostly by my hands later the kids & her som etoo. wheels are nearling end of life. but a replacement of 5 bucks a pop? and she'll run some more. it is regulated to the farm now as I couldn't stand pushing that 18" ? thing up & down the hill side anymore. I bought a 22" 6/5hp craftsman, self propelled moddle. 3 yrs ago. 300+ bucks. already had to replace 2 wheels and a blade! (ya blade was MY fault) seems I found the property line stake /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ) it did shear it off though. the craftsman doesn't ahve near the power it needs and boggs down constantly if the grass is over 2" high /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif it DOES start very nice though with the briggs on it.

if I had my druthers I'd get a briggs hands down, I have an ole 3hp torro 18" tiller with a techumse on it, bear to start & runs for crap engine wise, though this was mysisters tiller and has been in family since I was in high school bought from western auto back in ~84? new for something like 259. has been a headach (actually back ach for ME ever since) it is a rear tine back prior to perfecting em, and the thing will yank you off youre feet in a heartbeat if not carefull.

it has the oil slinger type governer and is either full over speed running or barely ideling. rebuilt carbs and all nothing helps that bad design...

mark M /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif