Hi there, as the title states I'm in the market for a new push mower to use this upcoming spring.

Its main purpose is to be used in my small lawn-care business. At the moment I have about 6 yards to mow, in addition to my own, and working at another job part-time so I definitely stay busy. For the past couple years, I have been using Craigslist mowers basically haha. But they have been doing the job well enough, Id just like something with a bit more power, and maybe some features.

The mower I use the most now is a 5HP B&S, with a side-discharge 22in cut. No frills. No self-propulsion.


Most of my yards get cut every 2 weeks, definitely not how I like it, but I understand that people don't want to shell out the money every week. Grass here in Missouri grows quickly, and when the humidity arrives around late April-early May, the grass can and does stay wet all day long.

Another caveat is that the mower needs to be light enough to be lifted frequently. I haul my equipment in the back of a Jeep Cherokee that I turn into a 2-seater every spring/summer. Before anyone suggests it, pulling a trailer is not an option, so it needs to be under 100 pounds or so.

I few features I would like are:
High quality wheels, like a ball-bearing style, something that will roll easily and track straight.

A bigger engine than my 5HP, because its currently not big enough, and slows me down quite frequently in the longer grass, especially if its wet, and it almost always is.

The ability to switch quickly and easily between mulching and side-discharge would be a nice feature. I stick with side discharge most of the time (see long, wet grass above). But there are times when I could get by with mulching, and it certainly does look better. I will never bag.

I honestly have never used a self propelled mower, but am not opposed to it, as long as it wont slow me down. I tend to walk pretty darn fast while cutting, and Im around 6' 1" so I do have a pretty good stride. Plus the self-propelled is just more weight and more to go wrong, so Im on the fence with that. Im leaning more toward not having it though.

Id like to get a little bigger cut than 22in, but seems no one makes one, in fact, I barely even see any 22in mowers now. Not that going down to a 21 in will be noticeable. But if there is a bigger cut out there, that I can still get good power with, bring it on.

Final thing, and probably the hardest feature to accommodate is that Id like to keep it under 300 bucks.


Sorry for the long post, I just don't know what all is out there anymore, and who makes a decent mower, etc, etc.

Not that I'm biased, but, sounds like it hits most of your wants except price. My self propelled one is a beast. Going to be hard to find more than ~ 5 hp and ball bearing wheels for $300 though.

Toro | 21" Heavy Duty

Yeah I was looking at various models on Toro's website.

The ball-bearing wheels would be nice. My other mowers just have the cheap plastic wheels, and granted, I havent lost one yet, but they wobble while rolling a bit, and they just dont feel solid ya know? I could probably live with cheaper wheels for some extra power.

That Toro certainly looks nice, but unless my eyes deceive me it doesnt have a side-discharge option?

I will be using side-discharge I would say about 75% of the time, mulching 25% and bagging -100% of the time:)

You're right; it's a 2 in 1, mulch or bag. Mine is a 3 in 1, although I have sucessfully cut 50%; nearly 6 inches down to ~ 3 inches in one pass while mulching after 2 weeks of rain ended. (There were a few clumps your customers may not like.) Like I said, it's a beast. Love the ball bearing wheels; my mower is rear drive and at the end of a row when I lift the front wheels to turn they keep spinning (straight, not wobbly) for a few seconds.

here you go look at this mower Metro 26 - YouTube

I like the Toro Timemaster 30" Walk Mower check it out