I like my honda that cost just under $600 in 2001. Self propelled with blade brake clutch. It has a heavy duty plastic deck that was warranted for five years and still going strong.
I could have paid a lot less for another mower, but I insist on the blade brake clutch that few mowers have these days. I can't stand having to restart the mower if I stop for some reason.
John Deere and Honda were top rated in 2001, but John Deere push mowers are hard to find and Home Depot sold the Hondas.
Home Depot, Lowes, and the rest are keeping the prices down on mowers because they insist that the manufacturers not increase the cost. Manufacturers are cutting costs anywhere they can to keep Lowes and Home Depot as customers.
Funny that this thread should pop up now...I just spent the better part of three days cutting my grass!
Summer before last ('06), it was rainy most of the end of the year and my grass grew like crazy. And last summer was a difficult one with a lot of medical and personal issues. So the grass got higher still. A couple weeks ago we went out and bought a reel-type push mower - it was cheap and we knew a powered mower would just bog down. To my surprise this old fashioned reel mower cut the grass better than even the rented "professional model" powered ones did!
Yeah it was a lot of work - the grass was knee-high and laying down - but I got through it and now I have a yard back...plus I lost about 10 pounds!
"There's no such thing as too much tow vehicle!"
Wes, Linda, & kids
"Tow Twuck" - 2008 Ford F350 DRW CC LB 6.4 Powerstroke
"Cougar" - 2006 Keystone Cougar 289EFS Fifth Wheel Our Website
I had two of these I would pull behind an ATV. That was many many years ago. The biggest thing I found was keeping the blades very sharp. When they were sharp there wasn't much that they couldn't handle.
Traveler, we get it from both ends don't we. From nineteen feet of snow in the winter to grass that grows three inches overnight! Or at least what we call night since the sun doesn't set. 24 hours of sun and plenty of water from snow run off is why the grass grows so quickly in the first place!
Dan
2002 Dodge CTD - Duelly
1995 Lance 945 - Hope It Is Half As Tough As My Cameo Was
1990 Dodge Ram W250 - SOLD! Could Make A Hemi Shimmy!
1987 Cameo 9 ft TC - SOLD! One Tough TC!
For me, I bought a Honda 21" "walk behind" (push behind) lawn mower approx 4 years ago. re: - Click here for picture -
Its quiet, starts easy, is really good on gas and overall, 9.5 out of 10 (10 being the best). Next time around, I'd still buy a Honda. Except it would have the front wheel drive feature. Thus, I don't have to struggle with it on hot day. Simply point, squeeze the safety handle (for FWD activation) and walk behind it. In all, it takes me 3 hours to cut our grass - with our push behind mower. NO don't want a riding mower. My body needs the exercise of a walk-behind mower. But a FWD feature would dramatically reduce the stress on my "older bones" (sort of speaking). In the future, my next Honda mower will have FWD feature.
I have 2 Hondas. Bought the second one, because wife couldn't haul the first one over 8 garden steps
The one used on bigger lawn has variable speed. The more you squeeze the level, the fastest it go. The other one has a stainless steel deck what looks good and doesn't hold the dirt too much.
For steep lawns RWD is better, since FWD skids too easily, but that is small detail. Than FWD is easier to control in small areas.
Pessimist sees dark tunnel, optimist sees a light at the end, realist sees lights of coming train.Engineer sees 3 idiots on the tracks.
If I had to get a new lawn mower, unlikely for awhile, as I have an almost 19 year old LawnBoy...did I mention Lawnboy 2 strokes are the best lawn mower engines on the planet?
But you can't get new Lawnboy 2 stroke lawn mowers anymore, as production was shut down a number of years ago ...emission worries .
But I would get a self propelled...rear wheel drive...as I have a slight incline to the front of my lawn, Honda or Kawasaki powered lawn mower. It might be from Sears, etc.....but I'm looking for quality engine and I think currently the best engines made for lawn mower are those two makes of engines.
I purchased a Honda for my father about 16 years ago because I got tired of watching him buy a new cheap mower every 1 or 2 years. He about had a heart attack when he found out I paid $700 for it, but it still runs great after all these years.
I bought one for myself about 5 years ago, and now even my wife agrees it was a smart decision - and that sure doesn't happen all the time.
John, the lovely wife, plus the 3 kids. 2007 Jayco Jay Flight 31BHS - Parked at the Seasonal Site Previous setups...
2002 Ford Explorer V6 pulling 2000 Trail-Lite Bantam B19
1997 Chevy Blazer pulling small Coleman popup
The one poster posted about a K-Mart special for $89.99 or $99.99. I did this when I bought my home in the mid-'80s It was a brand-new, 19" cut, red push mower from K-Mart, with the Briggs & Stratton engine. I changed the oil every few times I used it, and would clean, wash and wax the deck. I was proud of buying new, and I was sure going to take care of it. Well, the da#%med thing quit on me, and wouldn't start regardless after the first season. It was out-of-warranty, and I was befuddled by why it quit. The regional B&S rep. I talked to on the phone said the lower grade engines get shipped to the K-Marts, and that was the way it goes.
What made me buy cheap in the first place was a buddy of mine from Texarkana, Texas, told me his family had bought a new discount store cheapie special like this in the early 1960s, and that it lasted way over 10 years for his family cutting their yard as kids.
I guess back then, B & S hadn't decided to ship their junk, like they later did to the K-Marts of the world. What's strange is that one poster here has had excellent luck with his K-Mart cheapie. Boy, I sure didn't!
Well, that's when I bought the Lawnboy, and I'm up a tree as to what I would ever want to replace it with. I have no confidence in anything out there but the Honda engines in push-mowers.
I have a sweet tender nature, however I enjoy sharing my thoughts and opinions.
The old Lawn Boys were awesome. Very light with magnesium decks.
I worked cutting grass commercially and they had a number of the old Lawn Boys, but later bought the cheapie $150 Lawn Boys and those were junk for commercial use. They finally wised up and bought commercial Lawn Boys that worked great.
Lawn Boy got bought out by Toro and now most Lawn Boys are just Toros with green paint instead of red.
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