What you expect on a walk behind mower ?

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site , as a manufacturer , it's good to talk with final users

I'm working on a new design of walk behind series from 18-21 inch cutting with OHV engines 3.5-5.5HP, beside cutting the grass, maybe we can develop other functions on this unit ?

does a telescopic handle easy your job ?
or maybe we can improve the height ajustment to avoid bending dwon ?
how much you would like to pay for a key start ?
any suggetion or comments or appreciated

I've never been much for fancy push mowers. Just a simple lightweight manual start push mower is all I need. No drive components to wear out, break or require adjustment, plus the drive system usually adds substantially to the weight of the machine. I prefer a light 60 to 70 pound mulching mower with ball bearing wheels. The light weight and the smooth rolling wheels make self propel unnecessary for me. I'm also relatively tall, 6' 1", and have never had issues with the handles being in the wrong position for me, but a simple adjustable handle to accomodate people of shorter stature would be a bonus for some people. Cut height adjustment by way of a single lever would be much appreciated by those who need to adjust the cut height often, but what homeowner really needs to do that? Set it at whatever cut height suits you and leave it there. As far as key start, I think a simple main on/off toggle switch to allow or interupt the power from the battery coupled with a push button start switch would be better because a replacement switch, if needed, would be cheaper and there would be no worries about lost or damaged keys. I miss the old mowers that you could walk away from and leave running. There is wasted time and energy with the newer mowers that stop as soon as you let go of the handle. I know its a safety thing dreamed up by lawyers to protect the manufacturer from being sued by people without any common sense, but it still irritates me. A blade break to disengage the blade and leave the mower running would be nice if it could be done without adding a lot of weight. I keep a clamp on my mower handle to clamp the dead man lever down while I'm mowing, then if I need to step away from the mower to go refill my water bottle or something, I don't have to restart the mower when I come back. Also, I expect the mower to have enough power for its features. If you intend it to bag clippings, give it enough horsepower and torque to effectively shoot the clippings into the bag without clogging up constantly.

definately look at how snapper did thier height adjusters and axles, solid axle keeps from getting the wheels than lean over fron the thin deck material and thier adjusters last a lot longer than do the modern cheapo's , from my experience the one handle height adjustment systems that are out there are more trouble than they are worth, as actually how often do you change it. I never do mine stays the same all year round. if s/p it should be a rear wheel drive also as the front drives never seem to get good traction particularly when going up an incline. Never have been a big one on key start or blade brake clutch, just more crap to break and when I was at dealer they were both a fairly low volume item, kind of a specilty item.

thanks for your advice buddy ,
I would say dumping the clipping from the bag would be an inconvenient if you have a large garden
you have to walk away and stop the mower for safty , then the blade cluth would be a nice feature in this case ?

Briggs engine looks dominated DIY market in US,
but 450-675 are side valve engine , not a OHV,
I don't kown why People like this kind of things,
Only for brand ?

Ken Song said:

thanks for your advice buddy ,
I would say dumping the clipping from the bag would be an inconvenient if you have a large garden
you have to walk away and stop the mower for safty , then the blade cluth would be a nice feature in this case ?

Briggs engine looks dominated DIY market in US,
but 450-675 are side valve engine , not a OHV,
I don't kown why People like this kind of things,
Only for brand ?

Click to expand...

Yes, I think that would be the primary benefit of having a blade brake. Walk behind mowers typically don't have large enough bags to accomodate the clippings from the entire yard, so they need to be emptied multiple times. Having to stop and restart your mower 3, 4, 5 times or more just to go dump the clippings can be a pain in the butt.

Personally, I don't care if the engine is side valve or OHV, as long as its reliable, cost effective and does the job its intended to do. I've used Briggs and Stratton engines for years and have had no trouble with most of them until they started to just wear out from age. I'm pragmatic. I've found something that works for me and continue to buy them because they continue to work, but am not stuck on B&S. I've bought two machines in the past with other brands of engines, one of which had an OHV engine, and was equally satisfied with their perfomance. If an engine of equal or better quality is on a piece of equipment I want, and doesn't cost a lot more money than an equal machine with a B&S engine, I'm willing to consider that piece of equipment. OHV may be more economical or produce more power than another design of equal engine size, but if it costs substantially more, its not worth it to me. All other features being equal, I'll take a mower with a side valve Briggs over one with an OHV Honda every time, due to the increased price of the model with the Honda engine. My push mower holds 1 quart of gas and can cut my front yard and the majority of my back yard on one tank. If a more efficient OHV engine allowed me to cut the other 4000 sq. feet and finish the entire yard on one tank of gas, but cost me $150 more, the 40 to 50 cents savings in gas with the OHV would take roughly 10 to 15 years to recover the $150 difference in price. That's too long and typically about the full life of a mower, so I couldn't justify the extra cost of the mower with the OHV engine. If you want to really compete in the US market, you have to be able to produce an engine that is as good as or better than a B&S without it costing substantially more money. Put two simple push mowers with the same features, but one has a side valve B&S engine and one has an OHV Honda, side by side and ask the ordinary homeowner to choose between them and I'd bet the vast majority are going to pick the one with the B&S engine because its going to be much cheaper.

For a walkbehind self propelled I would want the following;
Blade clutch that allows motor to run with machine unattended
Rear wheel drive, maybe even large diameter wheels for ease of use
Castering front wheels
Aluminum or composite deck for long life
A dealer network that is top notch; manuals that are correctly spelled and understandable in the English language, parts that you don't have to wait more than 5 business days to arrive from "offshore".:wink:
I'd expect that with these features, this mower wouldn't be inexpensive. For my money, a Kawasaki or Honda (premium grade) engine would probably fit the mission statement.:thumbsup: