Push mower w/big wheels & Honda engine- does it exist?

[UncleS2]

I have nothing to use between the old 42" lawn tractor & the Stihl weedcutter, & have about decided that it's time to get a push mower for trimming the hard places. I was interested in the 5.5 hp Honda engine model at WM, but it seems they only have it the small wheel model, while the large wheel models are Briggs or Tecumseh powered.

I don't want a self-propelled mower, that's gonna be too hard to control(think "obstacle course", & then make that worse!) plus more expensive.

Does anyone make a big wheel push mower, about 20" to 22" blade, with the Honda engine(5 hp or more) on it at a reasonable price, say ~$200? I need something to work *with*, not *on*, hence my interest in a new mower.

Thanks for any help/info you can offer.

 

[punisher]

Lowes Item #: 97712 Model: 11A-542Q711

$239, but if you can snag a 10% Lowes coupon it will make it a bit more palitable. I had one coupon left but it expired.

 

[UncleS2]

Thanks, Punisher!
I found that exact model about 40 minutes after posting the question, went & saw it at Lowe's, will almost certainly buy one tomorrow or Wed. No one else seems to have that combination- the store shelf tag claims it's a Lowe's exclusive.

10% Coupon, huh? Don't have any Lowe's "coopuns"- sounds like another internet search!

 

[punisher]

You can get the coupons from Lowes by filling out some info, or grab them from Ebay. Lowes takes about 2 weeks to get the coupon to you, Ebay is ~$6.99 for two coupons.

I got the FWD version of that mower about a month ago. I have a sneaking suspician the engine will outlast the deck on it.

 

[UncleS2]

I've already filled out the form at the Lowe's Moving Center web page. I can afford to wait a week or two. *cheep cheep*

I saw that same engine on a small-wheel mower at WalMart- near the oil fill/dipstick, it actually said to use 10w30 oil! Now I'll have *another* paradigm shift to deal with- been using straight 30 weight for many years now in lawn mowers/tractors.

 

[kkreit01]

Costco has a Poulan Big wheel. It has a 6.5 HP Honda Motor. It's $229. I was wanting to buy it, but my old one will not die: I'm currently mulching 22" on 3.75 HP

 

[pbm]

Don't assume B&S and Tecumsah are junk. I have a
6.5 B&S Intek pushmower that is 8 years old, a 12 hp Tecumsah riding mower that is 18 years old and a 7hp Tecumseh engine in my Simplicity snowblower that is 19 years old. All work flawlessly with minimal maintanence.

 

[Dark Jedi]

I have a B&S troy built 2 years old. engine runs fine. my dads old B&S motor ran over 20 years before a tree stump broke the crank in half. dad tore apart the engine to see how much damage. he never changed the oil in it. the engine was completely clean inside. so I know B&S motors are good.

I know honda makes good engines but you really need to spend that much money on a mower that you may use a few hours a week. for like 3 to 4 months. a B&S will do just fine. I would get a honda mower if I did commercial mowing.

 

[Indy500]

I don't know if it is still going on, but last week at Lowe's they had a gift card promotion for mowers of all price ranges and for the mower in question they gave a $25 gift card.

 

[UncleS2]

Thanks for the input, folks.
I'm hardly anti-Briggs & Stratton, been using one or another most of my life. The Briggs 14 HP OHV I/C on the old Lowe's lawn "tractor" is still going strong, & may outlive us all- it will certainly outlast most of the rest of that machine. An excellent engine, and a real testament to B&S durability.

One of the things I noticed very quick with that 14 hp OHV engine: its governor overcame attempted "bogdown" one heckuva lot quicker & better than the flathead it replaced. The local mower guy said that's true of OHV & OHC designs in general. And since these modern pushmowers seem to have no throttle control, that's gonna be especially important for my use.

I haven't seen any Briggs OHV engines in the mower type I want: 20-22" cut, *Not* self-propelled, big rear wheel, 3-way "cut"(bag, mulch, & side discharge- even though 99% of the time I'll use the side discharge), and at least 5 HP. All the "other" engines I saw on similar models(and there were only a *very* few) were either Briggs or Tecumseh flatheads- & I don't want another flathead.

I'm certainly not averse to saving $$, but I've owned & used plenty of B&S fh's. I'd like to try something different- and a Honda would make my first Japanese engine in *anything*!

No CostCo stores near me- too bad, that sounds like a good deal. Unless I find something better I'll probably just wait for the 10% off coupon to arrive and blow $215 + tax on the Honda-powered Troy-Bilt.

 

[burnout]

Not sure if this matters now, but I saw an MTD push mower with a honda engine on it at sam's club yesterday. Big wheel too.

(99% sure its push and not propelled)

 

[CMT]

Seems like you've found what you need, but my dad just bought one of these at the local small engine shop for $250. It's so darn hard to find a good, powerful, non-self propelled push mower. Unless you want to buy the bargain basement model at the big box stores. I hate self propelled push mowers with a passion- dumbest thing ever.

 

[UncleS2]

Thanks, guys. I'm still waiting for the Lowe's 10% off coupon to arrive, haven't bought anything yet.

No membership at Sam's, so that MTD is probably a no-go for me. The Husky looks exactly like the Honda-powered Troy-Bilt at Lowe's, except for the color & wheels. I suspect that MTD makes them under lots of different names. The same deck was on some MTD-made Yard-Man mowers at WM with B&S flathead engines.

I'll be using this mower where it's so steep & rough that a self propelled mower would be a real liability, even dangerous. And like CMT I never really understood the idea- if you need that, why not get a small rider instead?

I'll check the local shop, he carries Husky equipment. But if past experience is any indication, he'll be better off if I buy a mower somewhere else! Bought the Husqvarna chain saw, a couple of years later that hardware store closed. Bought the Stihl trimmer, then *that* dealer closed. If I buy his push mower- hey, it could happen!

 

[thooks]

quote:

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Originally posted by punisher:


I got the FWD version of that mower about a month ago. I have a sneaking suspician the engine will outlast the deck on it.

---

Is yours the "E-Z- Walk" ???

If so, then you are right. The frame will start disintergrating in less than 2 years. I know. I have one.

Be careful with it and it may last 5 years. The first thing to go was the front lip that is spot welded on. One weld broke and I tried to fix it by driving a self-tapping screw in and it finally came loose after two mowings. I had to beat the other weld loose with a cold chisel and ball peen hammer.

The next thing is the chute that is held on by spring action will fall, get clogged and the blade may eat some of the ears off.

My drive cable broke (came loose) about the end of last year. I have been pushing it this year. Whew.


Oh yeah. On my second mowing, the pull rope broke.


Can you say lemon?


But that Honda engine is worth it. It has been abused and abused. Original plug is in it. It's three years old, just replaced the original air filter and blade on Monday. Changed the oil last weekend and am running M1 in it.

With the new filter, blade and oil, it sounds and runs like new.

Few more things- Run it completely out of fuel before tipping it over to change the oil and/or blade. And never tip the oil fill side up or you'll have oil running out of the air intake.

 

[punisher]

Can't be worse than my Craftsman. 6.5hp Tecumseh/FWD

Deck literally rusted through. I was mowing and noticed the engine vibrating a lot. I stopped it and the front of the deck was broken in a half circle all around the engine. MIG welder, thank you. I eventually had to weld/rebuild the entire deck. Sears wanted $149 for a new deck. Eventually the main cable/blade brake cable broke, took care of that elegantly with a piece of coat hanger (my dad the farmer would have been proud of me). That was nice because it kept running and I did not have to restart it if I needed to leave the mower for a sec to move/pick up something. The engine never started without starting fluid after the first two years I had it. The last straw was this year when the transmission took a dump, literally ground itself into metallic powder, and I had no drive on it. Not lazy, but three knee operations and a bum ankle play havoc with this old man.

RIP you 6 year old Craftsman. I think Craftsman lifetimes are measured in "dog years".

 

[TheTanSedan]

The chassis matters more than the motor, granted.

A Honda motor seems to be about $100 more than a comparable flathead.

I buy cheap mowers (H-D) and replace the wheels with sealed or greaseable ball bearing units from ACE HARDWARE.

Borrowed an edger from my brother-in-law last week, 3.0 B&S. A new one: 1987 motor on a 1989 POWER TRIM Model 200 chassis (Las Palmas, CA). The last one (K&S, 1962) died after 42-years. Awesome little thing.

http://www.powertrim.com/

Been going through this little motor -- de-carboning head, TLC, etc -- now down to some final carb adjustments. Couldn't even think about yanking the 78-lb heads on that B-Wedge Chrysler I had until about a year ago (one reason it left home)so this is some good fun.

And it doesn't hurt to "re-assemble" an inexpensive mower with some blue Loctite on the fasteners.

 

[GrtArtiste]

I received the Lowe's coupon via e-mail about 3 days after requesting it. Took it to the store today and bought the Troy-Bilt mower mentioned above. First impression: I LIKE it...Honda engine sounds SWEET!!!!. Have to call them on Monday though. Even though brand new in the box, I managed to pick the one that shipped without a side discharge chute (bummer).

GrtArtiste

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by GrtArtiste:
I managed to pick the one that shipped without a side discharge chute (bummer).

GrtArtiste

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Don't be surprised if its an option. I bought a LawnBoy and it didn't have one. It was a $25. Since I shop at the local Hardware store..they gave it to me for free

 

[UncleS2]

Nope, I bought the Honda-powered Troy-Bilt big wheel push mower at Lowe's, & mine had the side discarge chute- plus the complete rear bagger. I'd return to Lowe's & politely but firmly insist on getting that chute.

After all, one of the selling points of that mower is 3-way operation: mulch, bag, or side discharge. The chute is standard, not optional.

GrtArtiste, glad to see someone else use that coupon deal. Too bad we weren't in the market for a new John Deere lawn tractor.

And FWIW, this Troy-Bilt is the best lookin' lawn mower I've ever had- love the red plastic shroud on that Honda engine!

 

[UncleS2]

About those blades: this Troy-Bilt mower is actually built by MTD, & so far I've had very good luck with MTD blades.

Example: the old lawn tractor/riding mower I used years ago was a Murray, & things are so sandy here that it went through blades like crazy. Thin, soft steel, I finally figured out that I'd be money & time ahead to just replace them every 15-20 hours of use- that's mowing the yard about 5 to 6 times.

With the MTD-made 42" cut Lowe's rider, bought ~1993, the blades are thicker, heavier, & *much* harder steel. A set of blades will last a full season *easily*, maybe even two seasons.

The blade on the new MTD-made Troy-Bilt pusher seems OK. For my use I think it'll do fine. I won't be using it for hours on end, just trimming up in between the rider & the weedcutter. And I still like that red shroud!

GrtArtiste: let us know how that comes out. I think that mower is a Lowe's exclusive, though the red shroud may be the only truly exclusive thing about it. Husqvarna has a new model that seems to be identical, except with an orange deck & black shroud. The side-chute simply inserts under the raised black plastic "mulch cover", & is held in place by the mulch cover & spring pressure. Dunno how well it's gonna stay put once I start knocking it up against things.