I Need a new Lawnmower!?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey folks,

My ~20 y/o Sears 22" front wheel self propelled rear bagger lawnmower finally has died, blowing tons of oil thru the exhaust, probably broke/dropped a ring!? I had welded a few patch plates to the deck the past couple of years to fight the rust thru, but it's given up the fight!

I have to admit that it was the best/easiest pull starting mower I've ever had and used. I didn't like their design of the front wheel drive system, because they used these cheap plastic hub drive wheels, and plastic dust/dirt guards around the hubs, and with the tough mowing environment, the plastic guards got cracked/damaged, and then the dirt just got into the hub and ground the knobs down and destroyed the drive wheels!

SO...anyways, I'm gonna be looking at some new machines, but I don't want to spend $500.00. I still want front wheel self propelled, 22" deck/cut width, rear bag, pull start.

Any recommendations on brand that you've had good experience and reliability with??? Steppenwolf, you reading this???

T.C.

[Cuda 69]

seems like you had good luck with Sears,maybe a Craftsman?

[rpgoerlich]

Bought the wife a Craftsman 22" self propelled electric start on sale for $249 a few years ago.
Apparently it runs great. All I've had to do was keep fuel in it, change the oil and charge the battery every year.

[motoman]

front self drive, rear bag, now a good bit under 5bills, one word........Honda.

[GLoweVA]

TC, I feel your pain. Last fall mine threw the piston right thru the side. Not to bad to get 12yrs out of a Tecumseh. Haven't had a chance to get a replacement yet. Twice now I've borrowed my neighbor's.
I'm looking for a used one, that way I can have more funds for my bikes.

[ddragon63]

Troy Built... Lowes all day long for about $300

[WMarshy]

I cant speak for using a self-propelled one b/c I sill use the cheaper self-push version. I have Troy-bilt 21" mower, it seems decent. I picked it up for $75 with the bag and it was like brand new, only 2 years old... You should take a look on Craigslist, you might score a deal. If you go with the self-push get one with the bigger rear wheels, they push easier.

Make sure you use Mobile 1 full synthetic in it

[tv5150]

Go Craftsman

Check-out the rear wheel drive, Honda powered 22 inch cut Craftsman that has variable speed drive, I've owned 2 of them and the Honda motor has alot of torque. Plus the variable speed drive allows you to run wide open or a very slow crawl when you need to. I'd buy another in a minute if needed...

[Cuda 69]

Troybuilt used to be the best,but they were bought out by one of the big builder and now there not that great,kinda cheap imho. They used to be hand assembled not 20 miles from me in Troy,N.Y. Back then they were the best,same for Troybuilt rotortillers. The old rotortillers were bears,lasted forever.

[GARTHXS]

I have a toro that I got 2years ago one pull start 300 bucks at home depot . I had called a lawnmower repair guy and he said they we the best

[WMarshy]

Troybuilt used to be the best... The old rotortillers were bears,lasted forever.

Actually they are a Horse. I have one and love it. I think it is from the 60's as my grandfather passed it down to my mother and she to me. They still make and sell the Horse tiller but it costs $2K new. You can get attachments for it as well... snow blade, wood chipper and harrow blade.

Oops, this is supposed to be about mowers.

I see you can get a Honda powered Troy-bilt self (rear) propelled, electric start mower for abotu $350 IIRC.

[STEPPENWOLF]

TC..I just saw your post I would say that just about any 21" would do the job,I have two Toro's with blade clutches that we use very little but they do an excellent job of bagging and not too shabby on the muching end and the drive on them has been decent.But to do a yard right you need a Scag and then stripe it........

http://www.scag.com/lawnstriping.html

Cut safe and see you some where down the road.

[TopCatGr58]

Well,

Thanks folks for all of the advice and info. I knew of the Troybilt brand, and because they were supposed to be USA built, I decided to go with them. My yard isn't very big, so I didn't need the larger rear wheels, and variable speed seemed to add more unneeded complexity, so got the lesser expensive one with just one speed, but it's plenty fast enough. Put oil and fuel in it, and it fired up on the 2nd pull....has a no choke fast start gizmo?? But it had rained today, so didn't get to actually try it out, but I think it will be a good machine. Still has plastic drive wheel guards but hopefully they will survive better than the previous machine's!

T.C.

[Cuda 69]

Troy=built now owned by MD,they are the largest mower manufactur in the world.

[LoHo]

So now I guess we'll need to figure out how to put a chain drive and fat tires on that puppy, eh?