I did not realize that there were about 50 lawn mowers that fell under this price range. I am getting a lawn mower for Jen's parents since their old one is crappy and her parents are old. I also need one so, I'll probably buy the same thing I get them.

I looked on epinions and other sites for suggestions; but, was wondering if anyone here could provide some insight. I'm going to use my BMW to transport it ;)

I do not understand all the differences between the craftsman ones, and, yes, I did ask the salesman and all he did (at 3 different stores - 3 separate salesman), was read the tag that was hanging on the mower. :rolleyes

My yard is fairly small at .25 acres. It is substantially flat; but, I have a crapload of trees to navigate and mulch to avoid. I'd like to be able to use it to pick up and mulch leaves, not create a huge dust storm, and have a bag that is easy to remove. Sears carries briggs and stranton motors, and also the honda ones. honda is more expensive.

I have not been to Home Depot or Lowe's yet -- are those better than Sear's? Also, is it worth getting the key to start it or will the pull rope ones be okay? It also appears that some have larger 12" diameter tires vs. 8" -- what's the difference? some are staggered as well. What about width -- 21" or 22"?

Homeownership is not all that it is cracked up to be ... I miss my TH and condo at times :(

I hear Andy has a honda wif vtec?

Use a reel push mower. Very green and good cardio. :D

This is also how I maintain my massive tri's.

Best are Honda's, pricey though. I think Meathead bought one last year.

Our john deer has lasted for a very long time, not sure how about how expensive they run though

Staggered setup will understeer :D

[quote=NoSoup4U;9165862]
My yard is fairly small at .25 acres. It is substantially flat; still get self-propelled, pushing heavy bagged grass ain't fun but, I have a crapload of trees to navigate and mulch to avoid. I'd like to be able to use it to pick up and mulch leaves, not create a huge dust storm, and have a bag that is easy to remove.most nowadays are 3in1 convertables - bag/mulch/discharge for versatility Sears carries briggs and stratton motors, 4 stroke at least, and one of the newer ohv Japanese designed ones, B&S may be up to that level by now and also the honda ones. honda is more expensive. not steel decked, either aluminum or plastic for rust resistance

I have not been to Home Depot or Lowe's yet -- are those better than Sear's? brand is key, Honda, Toro, etc, not some no name cheapie. We'd have one mower while a neighbor went through 3 in a 10 year span Also, is it worth getting the key to start it unnecessary or will the pull rope ones be okay? It also appears that some have larger 12" diameter tires vs. 8" -- what's the difference? easier manuvering some are staggered as well. What about width -- 21" or 22"? bigger is faster, though 1" isn't much

I have always been a fan of 2 strokers (Lawnboy, etc.). Granted you need to mix gas and oil but doing it at the pump is no big deal. These things run forever and a day with zip worth of maintenance. They tend to spin really fast and do not plug up or bog down in heavier grass.
Peace

There may be 50 mowers, but if you look closely, there's like 4 engines.....

Briggs & Stratton
Tecumseh
Honda
Chinese knockoff of a honda. (really, at like sears I think...)

i did buy a OHC honda mower. i love it. it was 600 bucks though. when vtec comes on, the power is great. super fast cuts.

the cheaper mowers seemed....cheap by comparison. they all cut grass but.... in my townhouse i had a cheap mower for 150 and it lasted three years there plus 1.5 years on 1/2 acre lot

My experience was many moons ago, but +1 on the Honda. Amazing piece of machinery. If you had more land, I'd say John Deere, but that is overkill for a 1/4 acre. Then again, there was the time my dad and my brother set up soccer cones in the driveway and autocrossed the Deere...:redspot (And this was long before I bought the M3 and started autocrossing...)

Scott

Hey, here's a thought... why don't you go SM, buy a mower and a BMW motorcycle engine and do an engine swap? I'm sure you could get some help from Doby...

Scott

I picked up a basic push mower from Sears last summer. Works well, starts easy with the pull cord. I had a lot of problems with the old (rather decrepid) mower clogging a lot, so I went for a slightly bigger engine. A whopping 6HP, WHOO! It does help tremendously, haven't had a single issue with clogging.

For a small, flat lot, I wouldn't bother with a mower that has powered wheels, though for older parentals that may not be a bad idea.

If you're going to be transporting it in a BMW, make sure that the handle can collapse. On the sears one I picked up, if I collapse that it can fit in the trunk of my E36.

No probs with my Sears mower, would buy it again. It came in at a whole lot less than $350, though I forget exactly how much.

i have a Toro Recycler from circa '94 at home. it's a key start self-propelled and is still going strong. i'd seriously suggest a self-propelled as it makes like MUCH nicer. key start is nice, but not a must-have. maybe for the parents though. the key start requires a small starting battery that i charge maybe one a year. the key cylinder broke a few years back but i repaired it using parts from a mower shop down rt1 in VA. i also don't have to fix oil and gas as the engine has a seperate oil filler hole.

it's a heavy beast and my yard is all slopey, crooked, and covered with objects like slate walkways and trees. the old snapper i had wasnt propelled and it sucked big time.

We've had a Gravely walk-behind self-propel lawn tractor for 17 years and a John Deere L-series riding lawnmower for 2 years. Both are fine. The John Deere has had as many problems as the Gravely has had - in 17 years versus 2 years. Which is not much for either, but it shows that you get what you pay for in professional/high quality lawn equipment versus price-point-built consumer shit.

I don't have any recommendations for brands on consumer-level push mowers. We had a Briggs & Straton for two years. It worked great for a two years and then it had some minor hiccup and we bought the John Deere L120. The only advice I have is to find out what you want and then buy whatever is one step better. You're going to underestimate the hell of lawn maintenance and you will appreciate spending $200 more for whatever key feature you got for it.

Good luck!
ps- posted from Christchurch, NZ; easternmost point in the world

I still have my ancient Lawnboy. Best. Mower. Ever.

Get a Honda, they have a self propelled model for $400 at Home Depot, spend the extra $50. They last forever if properly maintained, plus their bagging system and dual blade setup is pretty efficient.

Hmm ... thanks guys for the opinions. It's a bit harder. Sear's is having 10% off appliances, plus, if I click-through, I get another 10% off, and, then if I apply for a Sear's card, I get another 5% off. So, the $399 mower becomes $311.83 with tax out the door. It is the key start one.

I looked at the Honda OHV at Home Depot, the Toro, etc., and those are fairly nice as well. I'll let you know what I get and my impressions. If anyone has an extra hedge trimmer, weed wacker, or pruning shears for tree limbs. I would be interested in buying it from you.

Update - just in case anyone searches for a lawnmower thread, lol.

I bought the lawnmower from Home Depot. I purchased one of those 20% off home depot coupons from Ebay for $50.00. It allows you to take 20% off your purchase up to $2K -- for $400 savings. So, I decided to go that route and just get some patio furniture and a lawnmower (BTW -- why the heck is patio furniture so freakin' expensive!!!!!).

The lawnmower I bought was a Toro FWD. This is the one I bought.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100521267

I bought 2 of these: one for myself and one for Jen's parents. However, mine has crapped out on me after 4 weeks of use. The one Jen has is performing flawlessly. Here are my thoughts:

a) the lawnmower still works -- but, the FWD mechanism no longer works. I have to push it.

b) the warranty is for one year -- but, they want to take the mower and fix it rather than just exchange it for a new one. They said it would take 6-8 weeks to fix. I don't understand. Kind of ticks me off. So, probably need to either hire a landscaper or haul Jen's back and forth between my place.

c) BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY -- it's only like $40/lawn mower. Well worth it. Extends it out for 3 years.

d) The bag -- surprisingly -- it does not hold a lot. My lawn (from the estimate the landscaper provided) is around 5200 square feet -- so, not that big. However, I need to stop and empty the bag, probably at least 6-8 times: no joke. I cut the lawn when it reaches about 3" to about 1.5". Plus, half of my yard is dead -- so, it's not even full of grass.

e) It does start very easily -- just one pull and it goes. So, shortcomings are the bag, capacity of the bag, and workmanship so far. Hopefully, I just got a lemon. It is easy to manuever because of the larger rear wheels. It has a 22" cutting diameter versus 21" -- still, it takes me about 1.5 hours to cut my lawn because I have to stop so much.

My lawn is relatively flat -- I did notice that it likes to kick up a lot of dust and dirt.

Update - just in case anyone searches for a lawnmower thread, lol.

I bought the lawnmower from Home Depot. I purchased one of those 20% off home depot coupons from Ebay for $50.00. It allows you to take 20% off your purchase up to $2K -- for $400 savings. So, I decided to go that route and just get some patio furniture and a lawnmower (BTW -- why the heck is patio furniture so freakin' expensive!!!!!).

The lawnmower I bought was a Toro FWD. This is the one I bought.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100521267

I bought 2 of these: one for myself and one for Jen's parents. However, mine has crapped out on me after 4 weeks of use. The one Jen has is performing flawlessly. Here are my thoughts:

a) the lawnmower still works -- but, the FWD mechanism no longer works. I have to push it.

b) the warranty is for one year -- but, they want to take the mower and fix it rather than just exchange it for a new one. They said it would take 6-8 weeks to fix. I don't understand. Kind of ticks me off. So, probably need to either hire a landscaper or haul Jen's back and forth between my place.

c) BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY -- it's only like $40/lawn mower. Well worth it. Extends it out for 3 years.

d) The bag -- surprisingly -- it does not hold a lot. My lawn (from the estimate the landscaper provided) is around 5200 square feet -- so, not that big. However, I need to stop and empty the bag, probably at least 6-8 times: no joke. I cut the lawn when it reaches about 3" to about 1.5". Plus, half of my yard is dead -- so, it's not even full of grass.

e) It does start very easily -- just one pull and it goes. So, shortcomings are the bag, capacity of the bag, and workmanship so far. Hopefully, I just got a lemon. It is easy to manuever because of the larger rear wheels. It has a 22" cutting diameter versus 21" -- still, it takes me about 1.5 hours to cut my lawn because I have to stop so much.

My lawn is relatively flat -- I did notice that it likes to kick up a lot of dust and dirt.

Don't bag clippings. I'm not sure if you have a recycling lawnmower but they are better. They don't require you to bag and they are better for your lawn.

Pete

James-

You should've gone with the new Honda Mower Type-R. Once in the upper rev band and VTEC kicks in, you can mow the lawn in no time flat. It comes with an cockpit adjustable coilover so that you can raise and lower the mower on irregular spots.

Plus the motor in it is highly receptive to mods like a Weapon R intake, Hondata ECU re-flash, JUN cams, headers and exhaust.

Oh well, your loss. :(

i got TODA vtec KILLER cams and a MUGEN cf intake airbox for my mower :eek:

Thanks for posting a follow up.

oh, thought this was the 'lawnmower mod recommendations for $350' thread :help

Plus the motor in it is highly receptive to mods like a Weapon R intake, Hondata ECU re-flash, JUN cams, headers and exhaust.

C'mon jed, don't lie to him. Hondata is a piggyback, not a reflash.:rolleyes

I dunno about those JUN cams, they may not provide the blade with low end torque for cutting up thick crab grass.

I was thinking about some mods to the lawn mower:

http://www.jmagar.com/index.php?y=0&myh=menu&meid=508&context=&myh_blog_id=212

http://www.callieskustoms.com/CalliesKustoms-Mower.html (NOS powered lawn mower)

So, who wants to race for pinks!

actually, they really have lawnmower racing ^_^

Think about what your time is worth and how much time you could have saved...

http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/ :)

---Eric

How much does a mexican cost? I kid I kid..

Urggg ... home depot stinks with customer service :( ...

I went to try and have the toro lawnmower fixed:

a) I spent 1.5 hours there;
b) They had no clue on where the MOD was (manager on duty) -- they called and called, and never showed up;
c) If you need to have a lawnmower repaired, you have to have all of the gas out -- I mean ALL of the gas out so that it is BARE dry.

I ran the lawnmower until it died ... so, there was very little in it. I asked them to help me get the rest out -- but, they said it's not home depot's responsibility.

I can understand that; but, considering I need a pipette or something similar -not sure how to get it out without just turning the lawnmower over and shaking it. When I told her that is what I would need to do, she said the warranty would not be in effect if I did that because I am shaking the lawnmower ... WTF!!!!

d) They stated it would take 6-8 weeks to repair the lawnmower. Now, this lawnmower is only maybe 30 days old and was used twice. So, basically, I'm screwed for the summer and would either need to buy a new one, or, hire lawn people.

e) The lady asked if I kicked it to not make it work or run into something. I responded, what difference does that make -- it's under warranty ... she said if I kicked it, it's not covered under warranty :confused

I know with customer service -- that not everyone is pleasant to deal with. But, the people acted like they are doing 'me' a favor just by talking. Plus, why do they care if it is under warranty? I mean, they roll their eyes when I ask to speak to the MOD. The lady even said I should have spent more money and bought a better lawnmower if I was concerned about reliability ... I bit my tongue :shifty

To top it all off --- they will charge me $100 to ship it out and .. if it is deemed a 'warrantiable' repair, I'll get my money back. Again, this freakin' lawnmower is only 41 days old from original date of purchase.

Just buy the $400 honda and call it a summer, or hire lawn people. You should be able to find someone to cut your 1/4 acre for $35-40 a cut, on contract of course.