Life Expectancy

monica123

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What do you consider the average life expectancy of a mower, trimmer, tiller, etc to be these days? The one we have we have only had a little over a year and it is in need of servicing again. I remember my grandad's old tiller, that thing is probably still running, the quality seems to not be there anymore.
 

dcgrazier

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I have a Lawnboy that is 30 years old. I also have a Kawasaki weed wacker that is 25 years old. Both run great. I have had to clean the carbs from time to time and give them new spark plugs. Use good fuel (NO Ethanol) in them and they will work a long time.
 

noma

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Hi Monica

Yes the life expectancy of new yard equitment is not very long, we are in a throw a way world now. So they get repeat sales if it doesn't last very long. I got two trimmers that don't run and i should take them in and have them serviced to, how much money do you spend on a under $100.00 unit or just get a new one its a racket you go through.
 

ILENGINE

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The average life expectancy (replaced by customer for various reasons) for a customer rider is 4.5 years and gets run approximately 38 hours per year. The oem's are building equipment to meet that life expectancy. If i remember correctly the life expectancy of a pusher is 3.5 years with an average run time per year of 12 hours.
 

JDgreen

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The average life expectancy (replaced by customer for various reasons) for a customer rider is 4.5 years and gets run approximately 38 hours per year. The oem's are building equipment to meet that life expectancy. If i remember correctly the life expectancy of a pusher is 3.5 years with an average run time per year of 12 hours.

I have to wonder where that "12 hour per year average" for a pusher came from. I put 50-60 hours a year on one of mine easily. Prior to buying a new pusher this year I had a 6 year old MTD self propelled that racked up at least 250 hours and the engine still runs good. The front drive gearbox is failing and the control cable for it seized up...I think the engines last a long time if kept serviced but all the other components are made as cheap as possible.
 

bret

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Makes me sad to think what the world is coming to, in a time we should be conserving things they are building things that are virtually disposable. Makes me sick honestly.
 

jmurray01

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My friend in Canada owns a mower (bought when new) from 1993, and it is still going strong now.

It is a Tecumseh 3.0HP push mower.

I hope my Briggs & Stratton 3.5HP lasts as long!
 

rer

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Makes me sad to think what the world is coming to, in a time we should be conserving things they are building things that are virtually disposable. Makes me sick honestly.

Don't buy poulan saws I ran one for about an hour went to start it blurbled, backfired then ran in reverse
unwinding rope start and rewinding it in the opposite direction. Was the oddest thing have ever seen.
 

KennyV

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Don't buy poulan saws I ran one for about an hour went to start it blurbled, backfired then ran in reverse
unwinding rope start and rewinding it in the opposite direction. Was the oddest thing have ever seen.

That can happen with almost any 2 cycle engine and happens with diesel engines as well... very bad with a 4cycle diesel as it is then turning the oil pump backwards ... :smile:KennyV
 

Two-Stroke

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I have a Lawnboy that is 30 years old. I also have a Kawasaki weed wacker that is 25 years old. Both run great. I have had to clean the carbs from time to time and give them new spark plugs. Use good fuel (NO Ethanol) in them and they will work a long time.

I've got a 34-year-old Lawn Boy that still runs great. The compression is excellent and, so far this year, it has always started on the first pull. The guy that had it before me had one acre of land (maybe 3/4 acre of grass) so he put lots of hours on it. The wheels are worn and are probably the next thing to be replaced.

About using fuel with ethanol -- I think it's OK as long as the mower is stored with the carb dry. I shut off the fuel and run the engine. This isn't necessary when it will be run again within a week or so.

Please post some photos of your mower in the Lawn Boy forum. :cool:
 
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