Anyone own Toro Personal Pace Recylcer mowers?

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Islandvic

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Last month I bought a Toro Personal Pace Recycler Mower w/ B&S 190cc engine and RWD.

Its list price was $369. I walked out the door with it for about $255. It was a return and judging by look of the inside deck, it was used no more than twice.

It came with all the manuals, registration card, bagging attachment and warranty.

This sucker is fast!

This is my FIRST "new" mower.

Does anyone have this mower or a similar TORO Personal Pace mower?

Any gripes, problems or concerns?

It has the 190 cc B&S "6.75 Torque" engine. How does the "Guaranteed to Start" function work without a primer?

Does fuel always sit in the carb waiting to be gummed up?

I have ran it for about an hour total already. When the weather clears up, I'm going perform its first oil change.

Can I go straight to syn for the first change?

I have some SLOB (I hate calling it that) from a Big Lots $1 sale. Can I use this combined with syn or conventional?

Looking at my stash, I have the following options:

MC 5-20
GTX 5-30
QS Torque 10-30
Penz Platinum 5-30
Val Syn 5-30
SLOB can be added to any of the oils

What would you choose? I live in South Texas where 60f is cold.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and experiences
 
That is the lawn mower I returned that I ran for an hour with out any oil in the crankcase!!! Not really .You can run syn any time you would like there is not a whole lot of difference in the lubricity of most syn oils as compared to the last few certifications.
 
I have an older Personal Pace mower I bought returned at Home Depot for a similar price. I think I bought it around 2000 so the engine set up is different. It has a primer. Only problem was a fuel hose rotted and needed to be replaced. Cleaned the bowl on the carb while I was at it. Runs/starts like new now. I am running B&S oil that came with a tune-up kit. Put Mobil 1 10w-30 but failed to change it for about 5 years. There was a little smoking at start-up. Put a little Auto-RX in it and the B&S 30 weight oil and smoking is now gone. I have not sharpened the blade yet. The deck never gets clogged. The variable transmission is great forward. Backing up it needs a little patience. This is my mom's mower. When it was down last summer I got a scathing review of a cheap Sears front wheel drive (one speed). My 76 year old mom could not keep up with the darn thing.

Consumer reports rates the Toro Personal Pace highly. One of the best mowers I have ever owned (besided another Toro I owned back in 1976 when I cut lawns for money).
 
I ran the mower for the mentioned 5 hours in the Briggs manual. When I drained the oil it was pretty gray.

Running Amsoil 10w-30 Small Engine Oil now.

My only gripe is the Personal Pace engages when you're starting the mower.
 
I have the Toro SR4 Super Recycler Model 20055. It was bought in Jul-2007. I have 40 hours on it. I have been pleased with the self-propel system thus far. It does a good job of dampening the vibrations. I like the aluminum deck. It provides a good cut.

The Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 would be a good choice.
 
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I've got one with about close to 100 hours on it. Mine has the older Tecumseh engine instead of the Briggs, but it still is the same thing. You can use any multi-weight oil you've got, but in the south Texas heat I'd consider an HD 30W or even a synthetic. I bought a jug of Rotella 30W for $9.00 and it's lasted over 3 years. Good mower. Fast. My yard is huge and it really helps to be able to vary the pace on a whim. I can almost run on long streaches and it keeps up fine.
 
I bought a non self-propelled (myself propelled?)Toro Recycler mower last spring with the same B&S 190cc engine. It's a good grass mulching mower, but I wish it had more suction. It's not good at picking up small twigs and mulching them. Starts on the first pull and is a lot quieter than the old bone shaker push mower that it replaced.
 
I'd use the QS Torque 10W-30 in it. Slightly less VI 'spread' vs the other oils, may handle the high heat nature of operation. In reality, all the 30-weights will work just fine, but if you have the choice.....
 
I agree with addyguy, not because of the brand, but because is the viscosity. I personally think 5W-30 is a little light for that application. Good mowers.

Oh, and don't put any SLOB in there. It's not needed.
 
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We bought a similar model around 2001 that has worked flawlessly so far.. We also get a slight smoke puff at start up, and it no longer started in 3 pulls, but otherwise it runs nicely..

I am running Mobil 1 10w30 in it currently.. it will get amsoil next year (using up what was left of the Mobil 1 this year)..
 
I figured the SLOB would thicken up the 5-30.

I cut the grass today and checked the dip stick afterward.

The oil only has a hint of turning grey. It actualy looks quite clean still.

Do these types of engines have break-in periods?

Thanks for all of the replies.
 
Originally Posted By: Islandvic
I figured the SLOB would thicken up the 5-30.

I cut the grass today and checked the dip stick afterward.

The oil only has a hint of turning grey. It actualy looks quite clean still.

Do these types of engines have break-in periods?

Thanks for all of the replies.


As I recall, 2 hours break-in, change oil, then every 25 hours there after.
 
I've got one with the OHV engine with the oil filter on it. Use is about 75 hours/season and I do an annual change of oil and filter using PP 10W-30. Mines 3 years old and its by far the best mower I've ever used. Gives my lawn the manicured look I've not had before as the mulching does keep it greener.
 
I have an older front drive Toro. The 2 or 3 year guaranteed to start on 1st or 2nd pull warranty is useless in my opinion. Mine wouldn't start after I stored it for the winter the 1st year. I took it to a warranty repair shop. After waiting for 2 months I picked it up and fixed it myself. I had put too much oil in the top of the cylinder when I prepared it for winter storage. This would not have been covered by the warranty.
 
they are so gooooood I have two-my daily driver, and a weekend toy.
Seriosuly- I do have 2 and believe these 2 will last the duration of my lawn mowing career in life.
PZL YB 30W-always
Steve
 
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