Kids are taking my old mower for their first house

[carviewsonic]

Bought this mower from Canadian Tire in 1995 when we bought our first home. Big yard, so a cut took 40 mins or so, every 5 - 6 days through the season. Still runs good (Tecumseh engine) but the plunger takes 10 - 15 presses to start cold, instead of 5 when newer. Over 31 years I’ve replaced the blade, spark plug, recoil starter, drive belt for the FWD, throttle cable, and rear wheels (the centers wore out of the originals). I swapped the front wheels side to side because the one wheel wore completely smooth and just spun out in the grass.
The kids have a small lawn, so this old mower will hopefully last them many more years.
Almost forgot most important item , mower got same oil as the cars, Mobil 1 5W30, changed in the fall.

 

[Oillover]

A FWD push mower, that's a first for me!

Now that the old one's gone, what did you replace it with?

 

[Brian123]

A FWD push mower, that's a first for me!

Not for someone that was around back in the 1970's!

 

[BobsArmory]

My next door neighbor has a FWD Toro. He loves it.

 

[carviewsonic]

A FWD push mower, that's a first for me!

Now that the old one's gone, what did you replace it with?

This Toro RWD. The Personal Pace thing works really well, it matches your walking speed. B & S engine with auto choke starts easy. Supposed to never need an oil change, but I'll be certainly ignoring that marketing idea. Feels strange to use after using the other one for 31 years. Hopefully the B & S engine holds up ok, there is a lot of plastic on this one. We moved 3 years ago, and our current yard is much smaller than the previous one, 15 mins to mow the lawn now. So this mower should last as long as I need it to.

 

[billt460]

Luckily I haven't had to mow grass since 1991. (I sure don't miss it). What does a good, quality walk behind mower cost these days?

 

[fantastic]

View attachment 346734

This Toro RWD. The Personal Pace thing works really well, it matches your walking speed. B & S engine with auto choke starts easy. Supposed to never need an oil change, but I'll be certainly ignoring that marketing idea. Feels strange to use after using the other one for 31 years. Hopefully the B & S engine holds up ok, there is a lot of plastic on this one. We moved 3 years ago, and our current yard is much smaller than the previous one, 15 mins to mow the lawn now. So this mower should last as long as I need it to.

RWD certainly makes sense for a rear bag mower. Nice mower...both. I did the same thing with my son after buying his 1st house but my Brute mower was bought in 2014 not 1995.

 

[carviewsonic]

Luckily I haven't had to mow grass since 1991. (I sure don't miss it). What does a good, quality walk behind mower cost these days?

Here in Canada self propelled mowers are about $400 at the cheap end, and $800 at the higher end. Electric start adds approx. $150 to the higher end price. Commercial grade mowers (better engine and sturdier build) start at around $1300.