Recommend A Good Push Mower

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Well, you'll hear lots of opinions, but TORO is about the best.

I got a TORO from 1990 that I inherited from my Dad and it runs fantastic. No issues! Others I know that have TORO's love 'em and have similar experiences. There you go!



I have to agree with Toro/Lawn Boy. Even if they aren't quite what they used to be, they are generally the best option in a given price range.

From experience dealing with a lot of mower manufacturers, I can say Toro is one of the few who gives a [censored] about their product. When they screw up, they figure out why and fix it. Toros are sturdy, well made mowers and you get your moneys worth from them. I have seen Recyclers that were 20 years old and still looked and worked good.

There are other good mowers, but you will pay for them. Nothing else in the $300-$500 range comes close to Toro/Lawn Boy.

BTW - if you don't like Personal Pace, Lawn Boys don't have it. Toro quality with a basic RWD setup. The heyday is over, but they are still good mowers.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Well, you'll hear lots of opinions, but TORO is about the best.

I got a TORO from 1990 that I inherited from my Dad and it runs fantastic. No issues! Others I know that have TORO's love 'em and have similar experiences. There you go!



I have to agree with Toro/Lawn Boy. Even if they aren't quite what they used to be, they are generally the best option in a given price range.

From experience dealing with a lot of mower manufacturers, I can say Toro is one of the few who gives a [censored] about their product. When they screw up, they figure out why and fix it. Toros are sturdy, well made mowers and you get your moneys worth from them. I have seen Recyclers that were 20 years old and still looked and worked good.

There are other good mowers, but you will pay for them. Nothing else in the $300-$500 range comes close to Toro/Lawn Boy.

BTW - if you don't like Personal Pace, Lawn Boys don't have it. Toro quality with a basic RWD setup. The heyday is over, but they are still good mowers.



Ditto on this. If you can find one of the old 2 cycle Lawn Boys, they are durable mowers. I have one from 1979 that still runs well, and has never had anything done to it except regular maintenance.

 

[Turk]

Yep, my Toro Recycler is 22 years old. Runs & works fantastic.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Yep, my Toro Recycler is 22 years old. Runs & works fantastic.



I just used my Mom's to cut her lawn yesterday. It's a 25-30yr/old Toro Recycler with an aluminum deck and 3spd gear drive. The one with the sideways engine. It's loose, rattly and the wheels are worn smooth, but it still runs and cuts perfectly. I have replaced some parts on it over the years; Gas tank and gearshift cable to name a few.

Joel

 

[morris]

dont for get the MMO.

 

[TLAR640]

Look at the Husqvarna 7021p, Honda GCV160, large back wheels, around $260. I have had mine for just over a year, still love it.

 

[VNTS]

go to a shop and buy an Ariens with the Kawasaki FJ180.

Good rear bagger or mulcher, has discomatic drive, very dependable.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
go to a shop and buy an Ariens with the Kawasaki FJ180.

Good rear bagger or mulcher, has discomatic drive, very dependable.





Those are killer, but $1000? Ouch. Ariens 91127100 Pro21. Yeah, some of us are nuts enough.

 

[Oregoonian]

Originally Posted By: JTK
There's a LOT of threads in this forum on this topic.

You can't go wrong with a Toro Super Recycler Not a regular "Toro Recycler". Gotta have the Super. Aluminum deck and superior mulching.


+1.....have had one for the last seven years. Easy to use and very dependable. Cuts and mulches well. Easy to start (1st pull most of the time). I change oil annually (use a drop or two of MMO in oil), and change filter and spark plug every other year.

 

[VNTS]

I bought the self propelled model with the FJ180 Kawi a year and half ago, was 623$, LM 21S

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Yep, my Toro Recycler is 22 years old. Runs & works fantastic.



I just used my Mom's to cut her lawn yesterday. It's a 25-30yr/old Toro Recycler with an aluminum deck and 3spd gear drive. The one with the sideways engine. It's loose, rattly and the wheels are worn smooth, but it still runs and cuts perfectly. I have replaced some parts on it over the years; Gas tank and gearshift cable to name a few.

Joel


Yep, I have the same 3 speed Toro Recycler.

ALL that ever has been replaced is the gas tank, spark plug, oil, air filters and blades. NOTHING else.

What a champion lawn mower!

 

[NHHEMI]

I have always bought those cheap( new ) $99 mowers w/ B&S engines like you see at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc... Ran them hard and abused them for a bunch of years then replaced w/ another. They always started easy and despite neglecting maintenance and such they ran like a Swiss watch. The bodies would fail( not the engine )which is what lead to scraping them and getting a new one.

I decided a few years back however to buy a good mower that would last and to take care of it. Bought an expensive Troy Built w/ Honda motor at the local Lowe's. What a TURD it has been and I absolutely HATE it. If I hadn't spent as much as I did I would have run over it with my truck a few times and thrown it out.

From day one( literally )it had a huge oil leak due to a damaged cover on the engine. Repair shop tried to blame me and told me I overfilled the oil which was [censored]. It was packed dry from the factory with a bottle of the correct amount to add. Maybe an ounce or something over but it was spewing oil like the Exxon Valdez. They claimed to have run it on the bench for an hour after draining and refilling the oil with no leak. So I had to pay $100 as warranty wouldn't cover "operator error".

Got home and went to mow and 2 minutes into mowing I see the oil still pooling on the top of the oil deck as it had been. Back to the shop where they take it in and look at it and find the damaged cover where it is leaking( which clearly shows they DID NOT run it for an hour on the bench ). Fixed it and submitted warranty claim.

Troy Built doesn't do the engine warranty but they are the ones who register the engine warranty with Honda when the customer registers with them. Troy Built screws up and registers it as commercial use and not personal so the warranty for some reason does not cover the repair despite it being there from the start. NO help from Lowe's, Troy Built, nor Honda.

The shop sends me a bill for the $120. I end up in a big fight with them and point out they billed me for work NOT done and I was prepared to go to court and fight. They finally dropped it. The oil leak was finally fixed so at least the nightmare was over( or so I thought ).

This mower flat out stinks. BIG TIME! Have had it in to the shop( different one )because things break all the time( on their own )just mowing my simple little yard. Have to use starting fluid to start it and it runs like [censored].

I am just waiting for it to explode and then I will go buy another cheap( probably $150'ish now ) mower with a B&S engine. Never again will I buy a Troy Built, Honda, or any yard equipment from Lowe's.

Sorry for the rant. Apparently the therapy sessions about this failed to resolve my latent feelings of anger and frustration over the situation.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
I have always bought those cheap( new ) $99 mowers w/ B&S engines like you see at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc... Ran them hard and abused them for a bunch of years then replaced w/ another. They always started easy and despite neglecting maintenance and such they ran like a Swiss watch. The bodies would fail( not the engine )which is what lead to scraping them and getting a new one.

I decided a few years back however to buy a good mower that would last and to take care of it. Bought an expensive Troy Built w/ Honda motor at the local Lowe's. What a TURD it has been and I absolutely HATE it. If I hadn't spent as much as I did I would have run over it with my truck a few times and thrown it out.

From day one( literally )it had a huge oil leak due to a damaged cover on the engine. Repair shop tried to blame me and told me I overfilled the oil which was [censored]. It was packed dry from the factory with a bottle of the correct amount to add. Maybe an ounce or something over but it was spewing oil like the Exxon Valdez. They claimed to have run it on the bench for an hour after draining and refilling the oil with no leak. So I had to pay $100 as warranty wouldn't cover "operator error".

Got home and went to mow and 2 minutes into mowing I see the oil still pooling on the top of the oil deck as it had been. Back to the shop where they take it in and look at it and find the damaged cover where it is leaking( which clearly shows they DID NOT run it for an hour on the bench ). Fixed it and submitted warranty claim.

Troy Built doesn't do the engine warranty but they are the ones who register the engine warranty with Honda when the customer registers with them. Troy Built screws up and registers it as commercial use and not personal so the warranty for some reason does not cover the repair despite it being there from the start. NO help from Lowe's, Troy Built, nor Honda.

The shop sends me a bill for the $120. I end up in a big fight with them and point out they billed me for work NOT done and I was prepared to go to court and fight. They finally dropped it. The oil leak was finally fixed so at least the nightmare was over( or so I thought ).

This mower flat out stinks. BIG TIME! Have had it in to the shop( different one )because things break all the time( on their own )just mowing my simple little yard. Have to use starting fluid to start it and it runs like [censored].

I am just waiting for it to explode and then I will go buy another cheap( probably $150'ish now ) mower with a B&S engine. Never again will I buy a Troy Built, Honda, or any yard equipment from Lowe's.

Sorry for the rant. Apparently the therapy sessions about this failed to resolve my latent feelings of anger and frustration over the situation.

Should have taken it back to Lowes and demanded a refund from the get go. They have a very liberal return policy. I stood next to a guy and watched him return a lawn tractor with THREE wheels on it for a full refund and just was in a Lowes and saw (2) 2 stroke garden cultivators for sale for $20. because someone ran them w/o an oil mix and seized the motors.
They probably would have at least swapped it out without having to get too gnarly with them.

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Should have taken it back to Lowes and demanded a refund from the get go. They have a very liberal return policy. I stood next to a guy and watched him return a lawn tractor with THREE wheels on it for a full refund and just was in a Lowes and saw (2) 2 stroke garden cultivators for sale for $20. because someone ran them w/o an oil mix and seized the motors.
They probably would have at least swapped it out without having to get too gnarly with them.


Yup, seen this happening to local big box store where recently, I saw a low-powered B&S mower returned to refund dept, with black oil spewed out of the muffler, all over the deck...and there were wet grass caked on the underside and wheels...apparently, the new owner must have done something dreadful to the mower and decided to abuse it to get some work done before returning it for a full refund...

In other words: on the hands of the ignorant/arrogant/incompetent users, any mowers will fail to satisfy.

Q.

 

[JTK]

That's the thing with 21" mowers. "Good" ones are ~$400-500 and up. Everything else is a cheapy. Cheapy is not necessarily a bad thing though.

Like I say, one hit against an un-mowable object and your $600 mower will come to it's final stop just like a $99 one will.

Joel

 

[Spazdog]

I don't like most of the lawn equipment at Lowes, My Troy-Bilt mower is the exception and you can't even get that model anymore. (now it looks like the wheels are attached to the deck with a piece of plastic. It could be steel underneath a plastic cover but it sure looks like they are attached with plastic)

But I cannot complain about Lowes return policy. When I returned the Husqvarna leaf blower all they asked me was if the gasoline was drained.(they probably have to do that for safety reasons) They were quick and polite. No problems at all.

 

[punisher]

I also bought a Troy-bilt from Lowes. I had an expiring coupon, a gift card,a Lowes mower clearance, and a newly dead mower that needed replacement. Sure I would have liked to buy a Toro Super Recycler, but about $210 out the door for a Honda powered unit, self propelled, was compelling, and an easy sell to the wife back then.

It is coming up on it's fifth birthday next month. It gets used 40 minutes/week, generally 45 weeks/yr depending on the rain and weather here on the coast.

Gotta say that engine and cheapo mower have never let me down yet. Every week it starts first pull except for the first start of the season when it might take 3 pulls. It has never had the plug out, gets seasonal changes with my surplus GC, and gets the blade sharpened once/yr. It has never burned or leaked oil. I have never added oil, ever, between changes.

GCVs leak oil when the cam cover gets damaged, which is easy to do. Lawnboy even put a protective bar in front of the engine just to protect it when they used GCVs. HINT: GSV covers bolt up fine on GCVs.

Cheap has a quality all its own. Sometimes cheap is bad, sometimes it is a bargain. I really have no regrets with this purchase, but I assure you,when it dies, it will be replaced with a Toro, or Honda. I will never touch another Briggs unless it says "Vanguard" on it.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


Troy Built doesn't do the engine warranty but they are the ones who register the engine warranty with Honda when the customer registers with them. Troy Built screws up and registers it as commercial use and not personal so the warranty for some reason does not cover the repair despite it being there from the start. NO help from Lowe's, Troy Built, nor Honda.


My small engine guy told me that Troy-Bilt is terrible at registering warranties. Amongst the consumer grade Toro is the absolute best at registering warranties.

He had to go by the production date to warranty repair my Troy-Bilt string trimmer and I am absolutely positive that I registered that warranty. (trimmer head locked up the gear drive ...the brand new one was nearly as bad. It screeched and whined straight out of the box. I cleaned out all the old grease and repacked it myself. Still working 2 years later.)

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
I don't like most of the lawn equipment at Lowes, My Troy-Bilt mower is the exception and you can't even get that model anymore. (now it looks like the wheels are attached to the deck with a piece of plastic. It could be steel underneath a plastic cover but it sure looks like they are attached with plastic)

But I cannot complain about Lowes return policy. When I returned the Husqvarna leaf blower all they asked me was if the gasoline was drained.(they probably have to do that for safety reasons) They were quick and polite. No problems at all.



They definitely do not have an award winning lineup in regards to lawn equipment, IMO. On the trip where I saw the (2) Bolens Cultivators, there were at least a dozen lawnmowers and a couple of larger Troy Bilt tillers that either had been repaired or were totally dead that were being sold off for parts. It was just amazing to see.

My experience with Troy Bilt was with a pressure washer. Worked alright the first time, ran it out of gas, put pump saver in the pump, and put it away. Got it out the next year and it would not start. Ended up having the carb rebuilt. Fortunately no other issues since then.

The thing that Lowes has going for it is their liberal exchange policy. Guess it is cheaper to take the machines they sell back than it is to spec a decent quality machine in the first place. After the pressure washer experience, I purchase my OPE elsewhere.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
I have always bought those cheap( new ) $99 mowers w/ B&S engines like you see at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc... Ran them hard and abused them for a bunch of years then replaced w/ another. They always started easy and despite neglecting maintenance and such they ran like a Swiss watch. The bodies would fail( not the engine )which is what lead to scraping them and getting a new one.

I decided a few years back however to buy a good mower that would last and to take care of it. Bought an expensive Troy Built w/ Honda motor at the local Lowe's. What a TURD it has been and I absolutely HATE it. If I hadn't spent as much as I did I would have run over it with my truck a few times and thrown it out.

From day one( literally )it had a huge oil leak due to a damaged cover on the engine. Repair shop tried to blame me and told me I overfilled the oil which was [censored]. It was packed dry from the factory with a bottle of the correct amount to add. Maybe an ounce or something over but it was spewing oil like the Exxon Valdez. They claimed to have run it on the bench for an hour after draining and refilling the oil with no leak. So I had to pay $100 as warranty wouldn't cover "operator error".

Got home and went to mow and 2 minutes into mowing I see the oil still pooling on the top of the oil deck as it had been. Back to the shop where they take it in and look at it and find the damaged cover where it is leaking( which clearly shows they DID NOT run it for an hour on the bench ). Fixed it and submitted warranty claim.

Troy Built doesn't do the engine warranty but they are the ones who register the engine warranty with Honda when the customer registers with them. Troy Built screws up and registers it as commercial use and not personal so the warranty for some reason does not cover the repair despite it being there from the start. NO help from Lowe's, Troy Built, nor Honda.

The shop sends me a bill for the $120. I end up in a big fight with them and point out they billed me for work NOT done and I was prepared to go to court and fight. They finally dropped it. The oil leak was finally fixed so at least the nightmare was over( or so I thought ).

This mower flat out stinks. BIG TIME! Have had it in to the shop( different one )because things break all the time( on their own )just mowing my simple little yard. Have to use starting fluid to start it and it runs like [censored].

I am just waiting for it to explode and then I will go buy another cheap( probably $150'ish now ) mower with a B&S engine. Never again will I buy a Troy Built, Honda, or any yard equipment from Lowe's.

Sorry for the rant. Apparently the therapy sessions about this failed to resolve my latent feelings of anger and frustration over the situation.

MTD is good at making a product look like its a quality product with all the right features. But its only "looks" deep. Underneath is a [censored] mower.

I worked at Lowes in OPE and the people who wanted a quality mower from Lowes (even a walk behind) bought a JD.