The best lawn mower

[Terry]

OK, I'm not liking the lawn mower I bought last year.
The grass doesn't go in the bag, but drops all over the lawn.
The cut is pretty ragged.

What mowers have you tried, and which did you like?

[maddog]

When I used to mow grass during the summers for the Parks Dept., we used Snappers. They are great if you have a lot of grass to mow. Honda also makes very good lawn mowers. These are both on the pricey side and may be over-kill for most homeowners. I currently have a very small lawn and use a Craftsman mower, which is OK but I wouldn't really recommend it.... Dog.

[dowop]

The problem sounds more like your blades then anything else.. From sharpness to pitch. There is a difference in blade design for mulching verus bagging. A good mulching blade (3/1) is a high-lift blade versus a medium, low-lift bagging or side discharge blade (2/1). Mowers with inadequate HP or poor deck design will have problems with a 3/1 blade and bagging. The cut issue is 100% the sharpness. Homeowners are notourious for not sharpening their blades frequently enough. Roughly every 10 cuts or so ... they need to be checked.

If your serious about your lawn... don't waste your money on a residential mower - get yourself a commercial mower, even if you have to buy it used. Landscapers around here are always going out of business or upgrading equip. and there is always used equip. available. It will outlast you and your kids....

Good Luck!

[master plumber mark]

all push type lawnmowers are junk and are made
very cheapely anymore.....

Dont buy a Snapper....they are high maintaince
and will probably be in for service every summer...

I finally threw away one after two summers of cutting
a very small lawn....

My wife spent a lot of money for it and it was nothing but trouble


what I now do is go to the harware store when there is big sale and get the cheapest one I can find.....

then I figure to get maybe two seasons out of it....

then when the blade gets dull
or when it finally breaks down..

you cant have it repaired for what another one cost so

I throw it away and I repeat the process.....


another approach is to go to a lawnmover repair shop
and see what they have used for sale.....

I traded plumbing for a nice rideing lawnmower
that still works great....

[Cookie]

Borrowing the neighbor's works, sometimes, even with gas.

[Verdeboy]

When I used to mow grass during the summers for the Parks Dept., we used Snappers.

I also worked for the Parks department for 5 summers during college in Michigan. We got a new batch of Snappers in every year cuz we used them every day and beat the hell out of them. I think the old ones were auctioned off at the end of the year.

At some point, they were replaced by weed-whackers, since the newer riding mowers were able to turn 360 degrees on a dime and push mowers became unnecessary.

[speedbump]

Here in Florida, there are at least a dozen lawn guys living in each neighborhood. They all drive around with these trailers with a dozen weed whackers, a few leaf blowers and one or two Dixie Choppers on them. They seem to be the favorite of these guys. I imagine they run 5 grand or better, but they use them a lot. They also turn on a dime and give nine cents change.

I guess it all depends on what your looking for. Master Plumber Marks throw away or something that would last most homeowners a lifetime but will make mowing a pleasure. You will need more room in the garage for this Chopper though.

bob...

[Mort]

I've had a Honda Commercial mower for about eight years. Two speed, rear bag, rear wheel drive. Cut is adjustable to four different heights and everything goes into the bag. Zero maintenance and not a single problem. I sharpened the blade (took it off and had the mower shop do it actually) about three years ago but didn't notice any substantial difference in cutting ability on my type of grass so haven't bothered since. Honda small engines are virtually indestructable. I check the oil level on occasion but have never changed it (hey., I'm lazy) I'm figuring I'll take it in and have it completely serviced in a couple of years and then give it to my son-in-law and buy a new one for myself..........same as I did on the last one I had that lasted the previous ten years

Mort

[SteveW]

Terry,
One thing I learned at The Lawn Mower Repair Man site (great place to check out - it's the lawn mower equivalent of this site) is that the mowers Toro and some other companies sell to the big box stores are NOT the same as the mowers you can buy at a small engine sales/repair place. They strongly recommend that you go to the small independent shop when you buy a mower so that you get a better quality piece of equipment (not to mention MUCH better repair service).

[PEW]

Another sad fact is that none of them are built as well as they were 15 years ago. Sort of the dumbing down of America!

Have had a zero turn Snapper for eight years with no major problems.

[Alectrician]

It took me many years to realize that the best lawn mower was a guy named Esteban. He comes here every week with 2 other guys and does in 1/2 hour what used to take me 4 to six hours on Saturday (acre lot).

He charges $125 a month.....I was earning 6.25 an hour to mow my lawn PLUS trying to keep the lawn mower and weedeater running.

[Kiril]

I would go with Toro or Honda, and second the observation of getting it from a small shop.

Also, if your using a cloth catcher, wash that sucker with a hose. You would be surpised at what a difference it makes in effectively picking up the grass.