Some of the rentals around me, the students living in them like to buy the cheapest mower you can buy which is usually a 125cc OHV Briggs, and they like to slack on cutting, I can hear the governor pull back real hard everytime they hit tall grass, I can't see 79cc doing well unless you mow religiously and have a blade that's sharper than sharp, which are not things that people that buy the cheapest mower usually do, they're selling a garbage product that's setting up the target demographic for failure.
New Yard Machines mowers with a measly 79CC Chonda
- Thread starter blufeb95
- Start date
Thick grass becomes an even bigger problem for certain deck designs, especially mulching. I watched someone try to mulch grass that was about a foot high once. They weren't happy when the mower kept stalling.
You've got that right. The first house my sister rented in college they went out and bought a push REEL mower... you know, the kind with no engine. Boy were they in for a surprise when they tried to mow the overgrown lawn with it for the first time.
Imagine your 2 stroke Lawnboy (basically an unstoppable force) was stolen and insurance sent you one of these to replace it. 
I know about them well, my late grandfather used to work at American Lawnmower's factory here in Muncie.
It always baffles me how people constantly stall push mowers in tall grass and then get all upset like the mower is junk. Just push it slower and back off when the rpms drop. Makes me wonder how we made it this far as a species.
I mulch with mulch with mine though I also cut every 3-4 days. I use a gator blade and sharpen it every 5 cuts or so. It's bermuda grass with rye for the winter. It'll struggle some in the thick parts, but usually just slowing down a little helps to push through it without much load drop. The lawn is ~15k sqft.
I have a 42" Cub Cadet riding mower, but can't keep a drive belt on the darn thing. I can't get through half the yard without it kicking the belt. I haven't cared enough to dig into the cause of the problem so I've just been using the push mower.
So is a toro or Honda a better buy?
I think there was confusion and I am to blame.
I was referring to the “Honda” (gas) portion of the quote.
This newer 79cc OHV engine likely has about the same power output as the 7.75 cu/in B&S and 7.5 cu/in Tecumseh L-Head engines that were used for many years on the cheapest entry-level mowers (about 2.5 HP). Having said that, I think that a 20" deck is a bit much for this size engine, 18" would be a more appropriate size IMO.
Lifan manufactures MTD's Powermore engines in China. This is the same company that manufactures the Predator engines for HFT.
Lifan manufactures MTD's Powermore engines in China. This is the same company that manufactures the Predator engines for HFT.
I'd go Toro Super Recycler but with the Honda GCV160 engine option. The Honda mowers are nice, but I've replaced too many of their $250+ transmissions on relatively new mowers to consider that as a long term option.
Drive belt as in mower deck drive belt or transmission drive belt?
That and many of the mowers I work on are barely running above idle right out of the box. I understand the blade tip speed safety concerns, but a lot of it seems to be poor quality control. I usually set them at 3000-3100 RPM.
Yard Machines Push Lawn Mower 79cc Powermore Engine, 20in. Deck, Model# 11A-02MY700 | Northern Tool
This Yard Machines Push Lawn Mower is perfect for smaller residential yards. It uses a 79cc Powermore OHV engine that weighs less and gets better f...
www.northerntool.com
Walmart has a Remington that's I'm pretty sure is the same deck with the much better 125cc Briggs on it for $168, and several other mowers under $220 with much better engine options.
I just came across this, I'm interested to figure out exactly how you power a mower like this with what appears to be a horizontal shaft engine.
Transmission drive belt
Mine was this way too. It was only running 2400 rpm out of the box. I set it to 3300 rpm, and it cut a lot better.