What features on a propelled mower?

[Yardguy]

First time poster. Been using push Craftsman rotary mowers (two) for years. Our lawns are flat on a small lot of 5000 sq. feet including the house. Getting on in years so when our current Craftsman push rotary blade retainer stripped, have decided to get a self propelled rotary now.

The grass is zoysia and can be pretty tough to cut. I'm not a religious mower so the grass can get a bit tall (1.5 inches higher than normal) at times with some spots with different grass a bit higher.

When I mow the lawn, sometimes in spots I have to tilt the mower, push it over the tall grass and then slowly lower the mower to prevent binding up the blade and stopping the engine. Also since our front and back yards are relatively small, I need good EASY 180 degree turn ability.

Could you tell me if my current ideas for buying a mower are OK or bad? My ideas are:

1. I'm thinking that I need to get front wheel drive to be able to tilt the mower up, push forward over tall spots, and slowly lower the mower to cut the tall grass gradually. This would only be is some spots, not the whole yard. Since our front and back yards are flat, I don't need rear wheel drive. Would front wheel drive be best for this type of cutting situation?

2. When I handled two self propelled mowers in Sears, I noticed that the one with large rear wheels was harder to push the handle down due to the weight of the mower. It seems that with the larger rear wheels, the wheel pivot points are further back which increases the leverage of the weight of the mower making the mower appear to be heaver. So I'm thinking that when I make 180 degree turns, small rear wheels will be less work due to less weight when tilting the mower to make the turns. Are these correct assumptions?

3. I bought a Craftsmans 370660 front wheel drive mower with small rear wheels yesterday. I haven't unboxed it yet. When I did some research this morning, I saw that this model has plastic ring gears on the front wheels and small metal gears to drive the front wheels. Should I just return this mower or can this configuration last if I grease the gears well?

4. Which mowers have good variable speed mechanisms? The Craftsman 370660 appears to have a drive belt to a small pulley that's mounted on the vertical to horizontal gear box. Sears advertises this model as having variable speed but it seems it is misleading since variable speed appears to be just loosening the belt to let it slip. Seems like a trick advertising. How do other mowers achieve variable speed?

5. Which mower would you recommend for my situation? Would this Honda HRR216VKA at Home Depot be better even though it has rear wheel drive?

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Outdoor-Power-Equipment-Walk-Behind-Mowers-Self-Propelled-Mowers/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbxc3/R-100617092/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UCnEDKP-3vw

Thanks,
Yardguy

 

[txzrider]

I think there will be plenty of guys with more experience than me... but for the record I hated front wheel drive. If your have any kind of incline... it gets old quick trying to push up on the handles to force the front end down so it gets traction! I love my snapper with rear wheel drive! Now my snapper does not have personal pace(toro) or whatever system the honda has... it has 4 or 5 speeds but I always leave it on 1st whereas my son will push it to high. In any case (and it may be my lack of experience with your type of grass) but I think you need a mower that will cut your grass. My snapper walk behind has never failed to cut (and mulch) anything I attempted, worse case was, I slowed way down. These days I mostly use my zero turn rider (bad back) and so I dont use the snapper near as much.

 

[exotion]

I used a front wheel drive craftsman on my very flat lawn for a long time i loved it easy to turn around and the belt slipping variable speed is just how alot of transmissions work. I think you have the right idea about what you need. A high torque mower will help with thick grass as it wont bog down.

 

[Yardguy]

Txzrider and Exotion,

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experiences and suggestions. I'm kinda worried about the plastic ring gears on the front tires for the Craftsman mower that I bought since reviews on the Sears website indicate that the plastic gears strip in about a year. Also the slipping belt type variable speed. I'll try asking questions on specific brand forums to try to find out how other mowers work.

Best regards,
YardGuy

 

[robert@honda]

Yardguy:

Since you mentioned it, having to lift the mower to keep it from stalling in the tall grass is probably easier with a front-wheel drive, BUT, what if you were using a mower didn't stall? I think a better quality mower would probably handle taller grass and would not require you to lift it as you have done with other mowers before.

Those rear "high wheel" mowers are nice for rugged or rutted lawns; the larger wheels help roll the mower, and that's really the only reason to consider one.

Honda SmartDrive models use a slip-belt design to change the speed. Many mower makes use this method as it's proven and helps keep costs down.

Honda Cruise Control models change speed via a hydrostatic transmission. A belt runs from the engine to the transmission and is under constant tension and speed. The input pulley on the transmission runs a small hydraulic pump, and can apply pressure to turn a hydraulic motor that makes the drive axle spin. The operator just move a lever that controls the pressure to change the speed.

Honda Commercial model HRC216 also uses a hydrostatic transmission, but it runs off a driveshaft from the engine and not a belt. This is very durable, and suitable for many, many hours of regular commercial use.

Best of luck in your decisions; ask me anything you might want about Honda stuff.

 

[Yardguy]

Yardguy:

Since you mentioned it, having to lift the mower to keep it from stalling in the tall grass is probably easier with a front-wheel drive, BUT, what if you were using a mower didn't stall? I think a better quality mower would probably handle taller grass and would not require you to lift it as you have done with other mowers before.

In general, would a 190cc, 6.75 torque rotary mower be considered powerful enough to cut tall grass without lifting?

Honda SmartDrive models use a slip-belt design to change the speed. Many mower makes use this method as it's proven and helps keep costs down.

Thank you very much for this info. If Honda uses slip-belt for variable speed, then it seems it's an acceptable technology.

Thanks a lot for all of your information,
YardGuy

 

[Rivets]

The Toro personal pace mowers would fit your needs very well. Prices will vary depending on which model you chose. With your post I suggest that you purchase an extra blade at the time of purchase (no matter which brand) and always keep a sharp blade on at all times. You may have to change them often due to the way you do your mowing. That will make it easier on both you and the machine. Personally I would stay away from all sears models, they just don't stand up to your type of use.

 

[robert@honda]

In general, would a 190cc, 6.75 torque rotary mower be considered powerful enough to cut tall grass without lifting?

YardGuy

Lots of factors can come into play, turf conditions, grass type, height, mower settings, blade condition, etc. But, in general, yes, I'd say a mower with an OHV-type engine with at least 160cc displacement spinning a 21" blade should be up to the task.

Most of the front-drive units I've seen are side-valve engines, and it's my understanding they don't produce the same torque as an OHV engine. And torque is more critical for a mower's performance in challenging conditions than horsepower. At least that's what the engineers have told me.

 

[Yardguy]

The Toro personal pace mowers would fit your needs very well. Prices will vary depending on which model you chose. With your post I suggest that you purchase an extra blade at the time of purchase (no matter which brand) and always keep a sharp blade on at all times. You may have to change them often due to the way you do your mowing. That will make it easier on both you and the machine. Personally I would stay away from all sears models, they just don't stand up to your type of use.

Hi Rivets,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll do more research on the Toro mowers.

YardGuy

 

[Yardguy]

Lots of factors can come into play, turf conditions, grass type, height, mower settings, blade condition, etc. But, in general, yes, I'd say a mower with an OHV-type engine with at least 160cc displacement spinning a 21" blade should be up to the task.

Most of the front-drive units I've seen are side-valve engines, and it's my understanding they don't produce the same torque as an OHV engine. And torque is more critical for a mower's performance in challenging conditions than horsepower. At least that's what the engineers have told me.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for sharing your in-depth knowledge with us. Very helpful!

YardGuy