Lawn Mower question...
 

Do these things ever friggin go on sale?

Every time I browse the stores for a new push mower they never seem to be on sale.

Well, now mine is shot. I would think coming up on the end of the season soon, the price of mowers would be down. Does not seem to be the case.

Is there a time of year when they DO go on sale?

No. Buy a used Toro. Craigslist

I have a friend that works at Home Depot. I will ask her.

Sears has sales on them occasionally, but my Craftsman mower is a POS and I wouldn't recommend one.

The only thing I don't like about Craftsman is they use the Briggs and Stratton engine. I always have carburetor problems with that brand. Tecumseh engines have been golden for me though.

Yep, I've had carb problems since day one with the damn thing. I even replaced the entire carb this spring and it still isn't right. My lawn tractor has a Tecumseh and I've had problems with it too. Personally, I think Honda makes the best small engine out there.

Craftsman mowers are garbage. I bought a used one this spring for $50 and I've already put double that into it.

Sears seems to have the best prices but every damn one of them has the Briggs motors.

I take it you recommend Toros? Don't know much about them and have only found one at Home Depot. 21" cut but I would prefer 22".

Any recommendations?

I don't have an specific Toro recommendations. I have a couple neighbors with them and have used their mowers when mine was in the shop. They're smooth and dependable. Toro will be my next purchase.

I have a Toro self propelled. I swear by that thing. The only thing I have ever had go wrong was a piece of plastic snapping that activated the self propelling bit.

2 zip ties later and it is up and running again.

Found this one....
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...cStoreNum=8125

Really wish it had the big rear wheels though. Not real fond of the self propelled either. They are always too slow for me.

This is mine...

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...wer-large.jpeg

http://products.howstuffworks.com/to...wer-review.htm

I do not believe it is in production anymore though. A similar one should still be just as good.

$530 DAMN.

Dude, the Toro models I've used has the self propelled that goes as fast as you push down on the lever. I had to nearly jog to keep up when it I had it "floored". My craftsman has the big rear wheels. There's no benefit that I can see.

Sears is having a sale now on mowers. Got $280? They had a decent one there (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ear+Bag+Mowers) for that price last weekend. They're getting ready to move them out, I'm sure.

PS: $50 Gift card rebate. Don't know the details.

Has the B&S motor though. Trying to avoid that.

That $50 gift card is worthless unless you are going to have Chemlawn treat your lawn with it.

Wonder if Home Depot would let me start up the store model to see if it will move at my pace.

You would not happen to be making your way down to Wichita before you make your purchase, would ya?

If so, you are welcome to swing by my place and mow my lawn. Really get to know the machine before you buy it!

lol

You can meet me in Hutch a week from Sunday and I will mow someone elses lawn.

GDI, I'll be in KC. Going to a Royals vs Yankees game with my cousin.

I own a 21-year-old-Toro with a Suzuki engine. The worthless self-propel gear box failed 8-10 years ago, so I took it out and lightened it up. Just change the plugs every 3 years, change the oil once a year, clean the breather twice a year. Best $450 I ever spent.

Yeah, I removed the self propel feature on mine too. Seemed like a great idea to have it at the time. Till I figured out that it was making me take twice as long to mow my lawn with it enabled.

You didn't dig into it and remove the one-way pins from near the wheels.

Doesn't matter now. It's dead. But no.

I have driven this thing into the ground anyway, the rear wheels are falling apart and replacement wheels cost more than I think they are worth. Would rather just update the whole thing and go for another 10+ years.

Does the trash man pick up lawn mowers?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...6&ddkey=Search

This one looks decent too. HD has it marked down to $199 in this weeks ad. Probably none left on the shelf though.

Does it have combat experience?

With that color? Too bright.

Pass you gotta find a mower that cut some of the jungle of Vietnam man!

Damn neighbors and their plant gardens. :cuss:

I could go on and on about the horror stories on those damn sears lawnmowers. Being the merciful guy that i am i will spare you the details and give you the facts. Just buy Toro. Best thing i ever did.

One day. Perhaps a day when we get intoxicated and share stories over the days gone by when we had those awful lawnmowers to use in out everyday like. I shudder to think about it. We could show each other physical scars on our bodies just like on the movie Jaws of the pain and ordeal of just owning those hideous creatures.

I also have a JD 42"rider Lawnmower that is equal my pride and joy.

You don't have to tell me. My last two mowers were from Sears.

About 5 years ago my nieghbor went and bought a brand new sears crapsmen mower. It had blue smoke burning awful. I told him it was burning to much oil. Regulate the oil going into. Couple weeks later it was doing the same thing. He said he took it to Sears and actual got a new mower, and it did the same thing. He returned it to Sears for the money when he had enough ridicule and abuse and bought a Toro.

Poor guy was never the same after that. I try not to mention the subject to him.

Goodwill?

So whenever he pisses you off, you can just say CRAFTSMAN three times.

I bought a Snapper push mower this spring. I was given a Snapper mower a few years back that was 25-30 years old and still going, though old age is beginning to have an affect on it. I decided this year to buy my first new mower. Since I have also had exceptional experiences with the Snapper riding mowers, I went with the Snapper push mower. Cost $400 but I think it was well worth the $$$.

They use a drive pully like the riders for the self-propel. Plus they are rear wheel drive. The self propel seems to be just about bullet-proof.


(I believe most of the older snappers had the Techumse engines which most people hate, my old one has a Wisconsin Robin. The newer ones have briggs or hondas - much better than the Techumses)

Briggs just needs to fix their carburetor design. My Tecumseh has completely outperformed the B&S completely.

hire it mowed.

Bought one last year 6.5 briggs I second the pos.

I got a Weedeater brand mower from Wal-Mart for $127.

I've heard the newer techumseh's are a lot better, but they were pitiful for so long that it will be hard for them to change their reputation and climb back in - especially with all the Jap motors out there now.

Holy crap. bought the Toro 20071 today. Nice mower. cuts well. One BIG problem. I was walking around in a dust storm all night because the bag is not low dust like the craftsmans are. With my allergies I can't do that.

I have been searching the Toro website but am not finding an option for a low dust/dustblocker bag. Do you Toro users know where on the Toro site to find something like this. I have had no luck and fear that I will have to settle for getting another Briggs engine on a craftsman.

Yeah, you can get that feature at Lowes, I think.

http://images.lowes.com/general/d/dustmask_00.jpg

on a side note. How often should you get a typical lawnmower serviced (Tune Up) ??

why wont my mower start..

Ive cleaned the breather... Put new Spark Plug (Verfied that we have spark).... made sure the fuel lines are clear..

I can get it to start for like 2 seconds by spraying starter fluid in the Carb.

52" cut walk behind self propelled deck mower Skagg works like a charm.

I wouldn't know because I bought a 2 stroke Lawn Boy 10 years ago. Still fires up on the first pull everytime and will still cut down anything you can put under it. Best of all it has an aluminum frame that never rusts.

DT

I have one almost exactly like that, except it is from True Value...Poulan or something like that. Cost me $250. It does have a Bolts and Scrap Iron motor, but it has done well for me.

Yeah, that is an option. Doesn't change the fact that I am covered in dust though. If you coule have seen the dust cloud I was in for 45 minutes straight you would be thinking the same way as I am.

As much as I want to stay with the Toro, I need a low dust bag. Unfortunately, Craftsman is the ONLY company that makes them. REally stupid if you ask me. This should be standard on all mowers.

I have sent an email to Toro asking if they have something like this but based on what I have seen, I don't expect them to have the answer I need.

I've had Snapper mowers for the past 25 years and have had okay luck with them but was needing to purchase a new mower so I looked up walk-behind mowers in Consumer Reports. They highly recommended the Toro Self-Pace mower. Can't say enough good things about it. Whatever you do, don't keep the gas over winter and plan on using it next Spring. A friend of mine borrowed my three-month old Toro and I had told him where the gas can was when he was to go to my house and pick up the mower and he forgot to pick it up so instead of driving back to my house, he used some old gas he had in a container. You guessed it, it wouldn't start and is in the shop. He went and bought me a new one!!! By the way, the last ten to twelve purchases I have made on larger items were CR's Best Buy and I've been happy with all the results. It's worth an online subscription. You don't have to spend the most to get the best.

No doubt about that. I usually look first. CR has saved me WAY more than I've spent subscribing. I didn't realize the Toro was so highly rated by them but it doesn't surprise me.

I looked pretty seriously at the Lawnboy with that self-pace option (both are made by the same company now so I was told). The Lawnboy was a bit lighter. The local guy hadn't seen enough of them yet to know how the self pace option would hold up, and with my history with Snappers, I went that route instead.

This snapper has the adjustable speed, on high its fast enough that I cannot walk behind it.

The Toro I bought was hella fast too. Phobia was not kidding on that.

I don't quite understand why they are making them so fast. Mine is comfortable just above slow, which means if I'm in heavy grass it will be too fast.

Welp, looks like it died today. Can't even get a spark. sanded the contacts on the flywheel and arm, changed the spark plug, adjusted the gap and still nothing.

Looks like I will be in the market again.