Dangerdoggie
Veteran XV
build one yourself
or buy a Honda
or buy a Honda
Let's talk Lawn Mowers...
- Thread starter JoMo
- Start date
Not really into tinkering. I could get a new skirt for $15, and a new wheel assembly since what broke is a plastic spacer or something in between the wheel, which will probably cost another $15-20 or something. There's not a whole lot wrong with it, but it's 9 years old and more stuff is bound to start breaking. Had to replace the gas tank last year since plastic gas tank with a seam + vibration from engine = leaky gas tank at the seam.
I have thick Bermuda grass that's almost always wet, the blade was sharpened earlier this year, same problem. The engine is 5 HP, but that's used to drive both the blade and the self-propelled belt and there's no throttle control. There's no easy way of adjusting height so I don't really want to mess with adjusting each wheel individually so I just end up mowing the back yard 1 1/2 times to get rid of the clumps the best I can.
So I was curious about the dual blades in the Honda mowers, it's said they mulch really well.
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haha, I do the scrape off thing as well, usually after wondering why it feels like the mower weighs 10 extra pounds, and then I turn it over and scrape off 10 lbs of moldy grass under the deck.
Honda builds the best small engines...
The engine is heart of the machine.
You can buy many brands of Lawn Mower, like a Craftsmen from Sears, with a Honda Engine on it. Or you can buy a Honda branded machine and perhaps pay a little more for the name on it.
The same with Briggs&Stratton. Both are good engines.
Also: If the grass is not collecting into the rear bag, remaining on the lawn instead... clean the bag. Catch bags are vented using a mesh material in their construction. If the bag is excessively dirty, the bag can not breath. No airflow, no grass in the bag.
The engine is heart of the machine.
You can buy many brands of Lawn Mower, like a Craftsmen from Sears, with a Honda Engine on it. Or you can buy a Honda branded machine and perhaps pay a little more for the name on it.
The same with Briggs&Stratton. Both are good engines.
Also: If the grass is not collecting into the rear bag, remaining on the lawn instead... clean the bag. Catch bags are vented using a mesh material in their construction. If the bag is excessively dirty, the bag can not breath. No airflow, no grass in the bag.
Well it depends on the features and build quality as well. On a lot of mowers, almost everything is plastic these days other than the deck/engine. Honda's deck is 'virtually indestructible' and will never rust, for example and it has dual blades. The ability to determine how much is bagged and how much is mulched (which would be handy for mowing up leaves in the fall). Toro has some different features like their "Personal pace" which controls the speed based on how hard you are pushing the mower.
Basically it comes down to useful features...Electric start, All Wheel Drive (which seems useful on hills to me, but also more likely to break down), ability to easily adjust the deck height, etc..... And build quality.
Wet and tall grass clumps. Mow that shit more often. I have a piece of wire to hold the side discharge flap wide open. Shit blows everywhere but no clumps. I usually mow twice a week in the spring and part of the summer.
TheVoiceOfReason
Veteran X
Haha yep!
KingSobieski
Veteran XX
Find a lawnmower in the trash on big trash tuesdays.
soak the carburetor in kerosene overnight.
put a new spark plug in.
turn the lawn mower on and laugh at the idiots in the world.
soak the carburetor in kerosene overnight.
put a new spark plug in.
turn the lawn mower on and laugh at the idiots in the world.
RunningWolf
Veteran XV
Virtual Reality isn't fully here yet and you're already talking Lawnmower?
StapleMammal1
Contributor
That a his problem and not a your problem. Tell em go to home depot and buy one like a normal guy.
this
Last year I pulled an ancient yardman rider one out of a foot of mud under the lake cabin, rebuilt the carb, new plugs, fresh battery, new belts, 2 new tubes, sharpened the blades and made a belt cover. I ride the little fucker sideways across hills like a sport racer cornering hard with one knee near the ground.
Same mower, not my pic.
My dad bought one for his properties, and shortly after a co worker gave me their broken John Deere rider for scrap. I paid $100 for a second one for parts and combined the two. Love getting the yard done in 15 minutes instead of an hour and a half...
This year another acquaintance gave us a Husqvarna rider. Said it was running rough, and no power. I pulled the plugs and one had so much carbon build up you couldn't even see the electrode. Broke the carbon off with pliers, scraped it with a knife, and it runs like a champ. Burns oil, but I'll just slap it in my plug blaster occasionally and check the oil. Told them it was fine to run, but they already had another one and didn't want it back.
Troll craigslist for a used riding mower next month. You will hate mowing and your life quite a bit less I promise. Things to look for and avoid:
1) Foot controlled speed and reverse is where it's at unless you have nothing to mow around. Even if you think you have nothing to mow around don't settle for a stick speed control. It's night and day mowing with my foot controlled tractor vs my dads hand lever controlled tractor. I end up mowing with one hand on the stick and the other on the wheel. Stick control actually comes in handy with the Yardman on the steep lakeside hills. I removed the seat switch and can walk behind it if I need to.
2) Mow in reverse. I have hills, a pool, garden etc to mow around and need to reverse. Most manufacturers handle this by cutting ignition to 'teach' you to not reverse without disnegaging the mowing deck . -It's scary and people might get hurt! Get one that allows it either by pressing a button when starting to reverse - my John Deere, an ignition key position -my Dad's and Husq, or none at all - Yardman.
3) Lever controlled deck. Avoid tractors with push button deck engagement. When they fail the replacement part is usually over 300$ - It's an electric magnetic clutch as they use for a car's air conditioning. Mechanical wins here.
4) Don't consider anything below 42" deck. 46" is better but usually more costly as the number of blades increases.
Same mower, not my pic.
My dad bought one for his properties, and shortly after a co worker gave me their broken John Deere rider for scrap. I paid $100 for a second one for parts and combined the two. Love getting the yard done in 15 minutes instead of an hour and a half...
This year another acquaintance gave us a Husqvarna rider. Said it was running rough, and no power. I pulled the plugs and one had so much carbon build up you couldn't even see the electrode. Broke the carbon off with pliers, scraped it with a knife, and it runs like a champ. Burns oil, but I'll just slap it in my plug blaster occasionally and check the oil. Told them it was fine to run, but they already had another one and didn't want it back.
Troll craigslist for a used riding mower next month. You will hate mowing and your life quite a bit less I promise. Things to look for and avoid:
1) Foot controlled speed and reverse is where it's at unless you have nothing to mow around. Even if you think you have nothing to mow around don't settle for a stick speed control. It's night and day mowing with my foot controlled tractor vs my dads hand lever controlled tractor. I end up mowing with one hand on the stick and the other on the wheel. Stick control actually comes in handy with the Yardman on the steep lakeside hills. I removed the seat switch and can walk behind it if I need to.
2) Mow in reverse. I have hills, a pool, garden etc to mow around and need to reverse. Most manufacturers handle this by cutting ignition to 'teach' you to not reverse without disnegaging the mowing deck . -It's scary and people might get hurt! Get one that allows it either by pressing a button when starting to reverse - my John Deere, an ignition key position -my Dad's and Husq, or none at all - Yardman.
3) Lever controlled deck. Avoid tractors with push button deck engagement. When they fail the replacement part is usually over 300$ - It's an electric magnetic clutch as they use for a car's air conditioning. Mechanical wins here.
4) Don't consider anything below 42" deck. 46" is better but usually more costly as the number of blades increases.
H
houston
Guest
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TheVoiceOfReason
Veteran X
Good on ya!