Your Lawn Mower

I know everyone hereabouts is pretty clued up about all things flashlights/torches, but what do you use/swear by for mowing your lawn? My poor old Honda has done a mighty job over the last 20-22 years or so, but its about ready to be retired. Do I go for another equivalent Honda, or are there better products out there, these days??

:shrug:

My old one is just a push type with a 19" cut, and I'm happy to go for similar, but I'd be interested to hear peoples thoughts on brands currently available. In Aus, I think we can access most mainstream brands that can be bought elsewhere.

Cheers,
Mike.

We use a 36V Li-ion powered Ryobi (what else would you expect a flasholic use) mower, less noise and no worries about having to store oil and petrol

Speak for yourself. I have an odd yard.
It's too small and complicated for a riding mower, but entirely too large for an electric mower.

I have this beast self propelled MTD with a 195cc Briggs to flesh it out and tackle the heavy growth, and a light 2 stroke lawnboy to negotiate the tight spots and drag up the ditches.

My trimmer is electric however. It's crap battery died long ago. Got it rigged to a car battery that I pull around on a cart I built using an empty wooden ammo crate, a broom handle, and some old wagon wheels.

One of these days I'm going to pick up some headway lifepo4 cells and I'll run it off that.

PS, if you got 22 years out of a Honda, I think I'd probably buy another.

I got 20 years out of a Briggs, it was a generically badged model depending on seller. When it blew up I decided old age probably meant a lighter electric version, so got a Bosch ergotek 43. I think the Bosch blade spins at 8000rpm compared to the Briggs 2500, so the cut is finer. But the blade gets more damage, so I've bought a second blade and change them over and sharpen them as things go. Got some long grass to cut back for Winter soon, so interesting to see if it copes as well as the old one.

Have you seen the 56 Volt mowers yet? Its made by Ego. I have their blower and hedgers. When my current mower & weed eater dies, I am going with theirs. The blower is insane for battery power. Now if I could figure out a way to rig it to some leds! BTW, the mower does have LED lights.

Sounds like another Honda to me truly excellent service out of your old one.

depends on where honda's are made at now a days. The greatest majority of briggs are now made in china. I had a 24 year old briggs that i gave to a family member. It would start and run, after about 5 pulls on a cold motor.

current mowers now are all us made briggs. one is 9 years old, one is 14 years old, and the other is 7 years old. all three still fire on the first or second pull cold, and the first pull hot.

In your case, i'd see where the honda's are made at now. I WAS loyal to briggs, but when they move production to china, i don't seem the lasting as long. just like i WAS loyal to Stihl, but when they move production away from germany, i'm no longer a fan.

Can't speak about electric ones. I use mowers to make money on the side, so they won't do me any good with all the jobs i've got!

+

I'll sell you my basically new Honda, really don't like it in so many ways


_________________
What I'd give for a brand new 2-stroke aluminum chassis Lawnboy
very fast blade speed make all the difference!

edit: I mulch/compost everything with the mower, including alot of leaves

My 14+ yr old Craftsman riding mower is not fancy, but it has a drink holder, hydrostatic drive, a 25hp Kohler engine, and 3-blades in a 48 inch wide mowing deck.

Kind of over kill for my 1 acre yard, but I can finish mowing just about the same time I finish my first cold beer! :thumbsup:

As Frijid has pointed out, just because you buy a Honda, doesn't necessarily mean its made in Japan. A bit like B & S being built in China. I have looked at the new Honda's, and don't mind them, apart from one 'safety' feature. In Aus, they have whats called an engine brake. When you let the handle go, the engine stops almost immediately!! Cant help but wonder what that might do to critical components over time ?! I think Aussie ' Safetycrats ' worry that the mowing population might go sticking their hands into a running mower without this ' Feature '.
I don't mind the idea of Li-ion power, but my lawn is more ' manicured weeds and small tree trunks ' as opposed to lush Kentucky Blue ( have seen a photo of your yard, Norm. I think it was to do with your big trip. You guys have the Desal plant and more rain on the south side of the divide, than us northerners !! ).
Some Honda's here, come with a polypro..................................................lene deck ( as others do, also ) I cant help but think it might melt on a hot day.
Ahh well, I guess its a good thing that we're spoilt with so many choices. Come to think of it, a bit like the choices that the everyday torch/flashaholic has to contend with.

BarryH said:

My 14+ yr old Craftsman riding mower is not fancy, but it has a drink holder, hydrostatic drive, a 25hp Kohler engine, and 3-blades in a 48 inch wide mowing deck.

Kind of over kill for my 1 acre yard, but I can finish mowing just about the same time I finish my first cold beer! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Isnt that kind of mower only good if it has a drain hole for the melted ice ( water ?! ) to escape from the drink holder ??

A spring clamp works very nicely to nullify that brake, we have them in the U.S. also. Everything has to be idiot proof or someones going to do something stupid get hurt and SUE, yes we are sue happy here.

The safety brake has been on lawnmowers in the US since 1982.

I have an early 90's Toro with the cast aluminum "Recycler" style deck. You can identify them by the discharge chute for the grass bag being mounted on the top left corner of the deck if you are standing in front of the mower. They do a good job of cutting the grass finely enough that you get the clean, even appearance regardless if you are "mulching" or using the grass bag.

Mine has a Tecumseh engine that I converted to burn propane (Autogas). Did it as an experiment years ago using a valve from a propane torch and some tubing leading into the carburetor. It was expensive at first to constantly buy those 16 oz Coleman bottles but I later got a 5 pound "baby" propane cylinder from someone who worked for a company called Manchester Tanks.

BarryH said:

My 14+ yr old Craftsman riding mower is not fancy, but it has a drink holder, hydrostatic drive, a 25hp Kohler engine, and 3-blades in a 48 inch wide mowing deck.

Kind of over kill for my 1 acre yard, but I can finish mowing just about the same time I finish my first cold beer! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Better check your local laws, someone might get you for a MUI (Mowing under the influence!) :hahaha: :drunk::laughing:

I have a Toro recycler I bought in 2009 that still starts on the first pull. I've gotten 5 years out of it and it only had a 3-year warranty - sadly, that's really something in this era of planned obsolescence.

I bought a Ryobi 40V Li-Ion trimmer last year that has no trouble trimming and edging my entire yard on a half charge. I'm contemplating a complimentary Ryobi battery-electric lawnmower - especially since this year they introduced a 20" brushless motor version, which I gather performs better than the 16" version they had previously. That, and I'd like to experiment with those batteries for some staggeringly-bright homebuilt flashlights...

Here we go again if it is not made where the company started it maybe suspect to qc.The BMW Mini is made in the UK and not Germany but does not stop the investment from BMW.

Toro Personal Pace Recycler here too. Had it 13yrs. Starts on first pull. Only thing I've done to it is replace the rear (drive) tires. That's it. It's so easy to use. As fast as you walk, is as fast as it goes. It's amazing just how perfectly that works too. I'll be getting another one when something finely gives out on it. I think I've got a long wait still yet.

harro said:

My poor old Honda has done a mighty job over the last 20-22 years or so, but its about ready to be retired.

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When my 20-year Craftsman mower/engine died, I had found a nice $750 Honda mower to replace it. Looking online (Northern Tool), I found I could purchase the same motor used in the Honda (GSV-160) for under $300 delivered. So, I purchased the Honda motor and mounted it to the Craftsman mower deck and have been using it for 5 years. The Honda motor has considerably more power than the Briggs and Stratton motor it replaced. It may look a little funky, but it does a great job cutting grass.

There's not much to mowers, so repairs can be an option.

I had been using this old Honda. I think it was something like an 1989 model, but pretty advanced. It has a 13HP twin with liquid cooling.


But mowing as much as I do would get pretty old after several hours in the seat. So this is what I'm using currently.
It's a John Deere 1025r with a 24.2 Hp Diesel. Going from a 42 inch to a 60 inch Deck cut down on mowing time.