Best cheap lawn mower

[stranger706]

So the transmission on my 2008 Troy Bilt walk behind mower is going out AGAIN. Not having it replaced for $200 every other year. What a cheap POS. Lots of other little things are failing on it as well. Has a great Honda engine but the mower around it is falling apart.

I've been looking at all these really cheap lawn mowers. The real basic ones, just a deck with an engine and handle.

Walmart has a few between $135-$180 or so. Murrays with B&S engines.

Amazon has a bunch too for around the same price. Just different brands.

Are they all the same mower just rebranded or are there ones to avoid?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[simple_gifts]

Well, once in a while I make the pitch of "If you can use an electric mower if your yard is small, use one"

I have a narrow but deep yard, the back part is woods. I'm never more than 45' from my house. Bought a B+D corded mower (about $200 at the time, refurb) in 1997 and have spent < 50 cents in maintenance costs and "0" time between seasons. I don't even store it for the winter. Using is a brief learning curve; I mowed 2 yards growing up with electric mowers (larger yards) and the cord really wasn't an issue (yards had only a few trees)

This is probably heresy on an oil site, but practicality got the better of me.

 

[JTK]

I'd go with the least expensive mulch/side discharge possible. They're all the same in the under $300 price range. Even some in the $300 range are junk.

I paid ~$600 for a commercial series Snapper Ninja Mulcher self propelled. Nice mower, but it's HEAVY. I'd never pay that much for a 21" push mower again.

They all grenade just the same if you whack something solid.

 

[Trav]

I bought a cheap Elecrolux B&S 4.5 HP for $99 at Wally's 5 or 6 years ago when the POS self propelled $500 magnesium deck Deere i have broke down (and is still breaking down).
Much simpler machine, less to go wrong.

 

[Bandito440]

I have a Sears Craftsman push mower with the B&S 675 series motor. It's plenty powerful, and came with mulching, side discharge, and bagging options. It has done very well and is on its 4th year of use now without a hiccup. It starts on the first pull. I use regular gas in it with a shot of the marine Sta-Bil.

If you can handle pushing it yourself, that's one less thing to break.

Craftsman push mowers

 

[Warstud]

Are you sure it's the tranny and not just a stipped gear on the wheel. Those plastic wheel gears dont last long. Sometimes you have to put better parts on the cheaper models.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
I have a Sears Craftsman push mower with the B&S 675 series motor. It's plenty powerful, and came with mulching, side discharge, and bagging options. It has done very well and is on its 4th year of use now without a hiccup. It starts on the first pull. I use regular gas in it with a shot of the marine Sta-Bil.

If you can handle pushing it yourself, that's one less thing to break.

Craftsman push mowers
nd th

I second that, my son has one and has held up for 6 years with just one oil change (I did it).

 

[eljefino]

I got a cheapie MTD OHV ("chonda") mower off amazon last summer for ~$150 shipped. It sips gas and runs quiet. Deck and hardware are typical cheezy MTD. Best maintenance one can do is to scrape grass off the underneath to keep rust at bay. The motor's elegance shocks me; when you start it it slowly ramps up to speed as compared to B&S which overshoots then settles down.

Nice thing about the cheapest mowers is they weigh less and don't sink in or dig up mud when it's really wet out.

 

[stranger706]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Well, once in a while I make the pitch of "If you can use an electric mower if your yard is small, use one"

I did consider electric. The rechargeable ones are too expensive. A corded one would not work in my yard...bushes, trees, swing set, etc.

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Are you sure it's the tranny and not just a stipped gear on the wheel. Those plastic wheel gears dont last long. Sometimes you have to put better parts on the cheaper models.

Yes its the trans. I oil and inspect the wheel gears periodically. These are known to have cheap trans. When I had the first one replaced, the repair guy was like, "well I'll probably see you again in a year or two."

I like the B&S Murray at WM for $169. It has the OHV engine and large wheels.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Murray-22-Gas-Powered-High-Wheel-Lawn-Mower/22178407

Also like the Poulan, it looks like the exact same mower in yellow for $179.
http://www.amazon.com/Poulan-PR500N21SH-...+pro+lawn+mower

Are these B&S 500 series good to go?

 

[NHGUY]

Got a B/D electric mower myself.Great lightweight rig for small lawns. Otherwise I would get an OLD mower with Briggs engine.No frills,no power propelled....The old ones can be fixed,the newer stuff is throwaway.

 

[Bandito440]

I think you'd be a lot happer with a 675 B&S. $179 at Sears.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
I think you'd be a lot happer with a 675 B&S. $179 at Sears.


+1.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
So the transmission on my 2008 Troy Bilt walk behind mower is going out AGAIN. Not having it replaced for $200 every other year. What a cheap POS. Lots of other little things are failing on it as well. Has a great Honda engine but the mower around it is falling apart.

I've been looking at all these really cheap lawn mowers. The real basic ones, just a deck with an engine and handle.

Walmart has a few between $135-$180 or so. Murrays with B&S engines.

Amazon has a bunch too for around the same price. Just different brands.

Are they all the same mower just rebranded or are there ones to avoid?

Thank you for any advice.


Buy a used: JD, or Husky or Toro or Simplicity or Airens.

Anything made by MTD is not destined to last.

 

[DemoFly]

I'd go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a $150 MTD with a Briggs.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Donald


Anything made by MTD is not destined to last.


I don't know...my Troy-Bilt is over 8 years old. Couple pumps on the primer, pull the rope start about halfway and it's running. No smoke, no oil consumption, oil never gets dark, and it still cuts as well as the neighbor's Honda.

I had to rotate the wheels a couple of years back. They are bushed - no bearings. It was cambered out more than a teenager's Volkswagen. I'm going to see if I can put a more expensive brand's wheels on it. Change the oil and air filter and sharpen the blade once a year, spark plug every two. Use it about 40 weeks a year. I don't see it dying any time soon.

Looks okay for a mower pushing up on a decade now:

 

[skyactiv]

Briggs & Stratton owns Murry, Snapper and the Brute brands. The Wal-Mart Murry is fine. It's week point like any mower under $250 is the wheels. If the wheels wallow out, replace them with good steal wheels from the Tractor Supply Company.

 

[fdcg27]

Except for the engine, this thing looks exactly like the MTD I bought from Target on clearance in the fall of 1997, although your mower is much cleaner than mine.
Mine has a Teceumseh.
I paid all of $70.00 at clearance price for the mower, and while I gave it a year off before I replaced a broken blade in 2009, this is the fourteenth season I've used this cheap old thing on my 3/4 acre lawn.
Cheap and simple mowers are the answer.
The Tecumseh must be close to 400 hours now, and is using about 2 oz of oil per hour of run time.
Fuel consumption is an abstemious 20 oz per hour.
The plug will last for about a season now, with the high oil consumption, and the air filter gets changed when it gets too plugged.
You can tell, because the thing will barely run when the air filter is really loaded.
I have another Tecumseh powered MTD I use sometimes, and my all time favorite mower was my old Lawnboy.

 

[itguy08]

Another vote for Craftsman here. We have the one with electric start and Briggs 675. Bought at the end of 2008 and other than engine issues (carb and magneto; thank God I got the $75 extended warranty) it's been good.

Used it until April 2012 at our other place (less than 1/4 acre) and since May here at our new place which is .4 acre. Replaced the drive wheels last year, pressure wash it a couple times the season and change the plug, oil, and air filter at the beginning of the season. Starts right up and cuts well.

Told my wife when I kill this it's a riding mower like our neighbors. I think it may be another few years at least.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Well, once in a while I make the pitch of "If you can use an electric mower if your yard is small, use one"

I did consider electric. The rechargeable ones are too expensive. A corded one would not work in my yard...bushes, trees, swing set, etc.

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Are you sure it's the tranny and not just a stipped gear on the wheel. Those plastic wheel gears dont last long. Sometimes you have to put better parts on the cheaper models.

Yes its the trans. I oil and inspect the wheel gears periodically. These are known to have cheap trans. When I had the first one replaced, the repair guy was like, "well I'll probably see you again in a year or two."

I like the B&S Murray at WM for $169. It has the OHV engine and large wheels.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Murray-22-Gas-Powered-High-Wheel-Lawn-Mower/22178407

Also like the Poulan, it looks like the exact same mower in yellow for $179.
http://www.amazon.com/Poulan-PR500N21SH-...+pro+lawn+mower

Are these B&S 500 series good to go?


Buying any one of those mowers will just be adding more to your junk collection? I'm sure your Troy Bilt is a better mower if you would just upgrade the original parts you need.

 

[TFB1]

As others have mentioned wheels and decks won't last on the cheap stuff...

If you buy one, consider giving the under deck a couple coats of Rustolem before the first use... I'd think that'd go a long way in slowing the rust process, as those cheap decks rust out where the grass builds up and not in the areas that remains clear... Yeah I suppose one should wash them out after use, but I've never done so on my old Snappers and am yet to have one rust out in the almost 30 years I've been using them...