What features on a propelled mower?

[Rivets]

Both the Honda and Toro mowers have racheting rear wheels that allow the operator to pull them backwards as if there was no self-propel. Both work very well and last a long time if kept clean.

 

[exotion]

My little 20'' RWD toro with a 7.0 torque motor never bogged down and always left a clean cut and i put it through hell wet grass up to 8''+ and it only cost me i think around $200 new it was also the best mulcher i ever owned

 

[Yardguy]

I have to believe anything toro or honda or cub cadet with 6.something engine and a sharp blade will cut what you need. If it does not, you need more motor anyway which puts you in the 8.75 toro timecutter 30 inch type mower for twice the price.

From your info, I'll probably find that a 6.x torque mower with a sharp blade will mow through our tough zoysia grass without all of the gymnastics. It only grows tall in spots so it wouldn't be worth buying a 8.75 mower at twice the price. I guess I should have bought a new 6.x mower years ago rather than do all of the contortions with our underpowered push rotary mowers.

Thanks for the help,
YardGuy

 

[Yardguy]

Both the Honda and Toro mowers have racheting rear wheels that allow the operator to pull them backwards as if there was no self-propel. Both work very well and last a long time if kept clean.

Hi Rivets,

To mow back & forth with those rear wheel drive mowers, does one have to:

..... 1. Release the drive.
..... 2. Let the mower move forward a bit.
..... 3. Pull backward (ratcheting action).
..... 4. Engage the drive to move forward.
..... 5. Repeat steps 1-4 to go back & forth.

I assume that the ratcheting action will prevent "pushing" the mower on the forward stroke so the drive has to be engaged for each forward stroke. Is that correct?

Thanks,
YardGuy

 

[Rivets]

With the Toro PP mowers it's just like having no self-propel action. You have to try it to under stand. You want to go forward, start walking forward. You want to go backwards, stop and pull back. It's just that simple.

 

[Yardguy]

With the Toro PP mowers it's just like having no self-propel action. You have to try it to under stand. You want to go forward, start walking forward. You want to go backwards, stop and pull back. It's just that simple.

OK, thanks. :smile:

 

[Yardguy]

Bought a John Deere mower.

Hi folks,

I ended up returning the Craftsman mower (without even opening the box) and buying a John Deere JS28, 22", FWD gas mower from Lowes. I posted a review of the JS28 in the John Deere forum for anyone interested.

Thanks for all of your help,
YardGuy

 

[DDS]

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?

21 in. Steel Deck Smart Drive Variable Speed Self-Propelled Gas Mower-HRR216VKA at The Home Depot

Thanks,
Yardguy

!) IMO rear wheel drive is a must have for steep hilly yards. You get extra traction simply by pushing forward. There is a naturally occurring vertical downward force component from the forward push. This downward force on the rear wheels is amplified further as you push down and remove weight from the front wheels. The exact opposite occurs with front wheel drive - you loose traction. Also front wheel drive normally does not have differential drive. Maybe the newer mowers do. However front wheel drive is fine for flat level lawns. There is no reason why you can't also raise the front of a rear wheel drive mower in order to get over high grass. All power propelled rear wheel drive mowers have differential drive on both rear wheels.

2) The geometry and weight of a mower are the main factors that effect the handling (or lack of) on any mowers and it is getting harder to find lightweight mowers that come in small packages. I have a Toro that is one of the most reliable mowers I have ever owned but it is monster in size and weight and handles like an antique car. In days gone by manufactures boasted of their powerful small lightweight mower designs. Today it is hard to find a mower that you can even lift up on the work shop table without help. I have an old 20" Homelite mower (now) with a 6 3/4 hp motor that has a small aluminum deck only 20 1/2 wide x 25 1/2 long that weighs only 63 lbs full of gas. @ 68 years old I can still lift it up to the work bench by myself. It's all engine! They simply don't make a mower like that anymore. Above all else you must consider size, geometry and weight.

3)My old Homelite also has internal plastic drive gear wheels driven by metal pinions. I have bought only three sets of wheels over the past 21 years and have retreaded the wheels several times. (You can actually buy the rubber retreads and replace the rubber). The point is the plastic internal gears molded into the wheel hubs have lasted very well - I just retreaded my very first set again this year the plastic gear teeth are still fine. The one thing you might consider, however is the bore hole through the wheel. The bore thru my Homelite wheels were plastic and the bore deteriorated long ago - they wear into some sort of an uneven ellipse and the wheel starts wobbling on the axle. I have a little lathe and I simply re-bored and reamed a new mtg hole and then hammered in a 1/2 bore steel bushing. These bushings have lasted well. I realize not everybody can accomplish this so you might want to look for a mower that comes with steel bushed wheels. Toro has steel bushings in their wheels as well as steel gears and pinions. However the plastic part of the Toro wheels does not last - cracks after a few years, so the high quality aspect of the steel bushings and gears is worthless.

4)The design of the transmission varies between manufactures. And the design make s huge difference in the handling. My Toro has a transmission gear box that has lasted for years, however the dam thing is NOT a positive drive. It is a "tendency" drive meaning it is designed to slip. They give you a set amount of torque that the gearbox will transmit and that is all you will ever get. The problem is the amount of torque they give you is simply not enough except for level flat lawns. I have steep areas in my yard and I soon discovered that the Toro would not pull up the hill and cut at the same time. I tried to take it back but I was told that the mower I had chosen was for residential use and that it was clearly stated in the sales brochure (which it was) and that I should have bought their commercial mower (that weighed hundreds of lbs). My old Homelite has a positive drive gearbox, which has worn out about every 7 years and is a pain to rebuild, but when I want it to go - IT GOES! You are right about the variable speed - it is simply a slipping action that is finicky and which can be a major drawback. This aspect of choosing a mower will be the most difficult to discover and come to a decision because even the sales people don't usually know and if they do they won't tell you the whole truth. The engines used on all mowers are a separate consideration and IMO not very important to consider simply because they are all good and reliable. They are seldom a problem other than maintenance and when something breaks you can purchases any part directly from the engine manufacturer and there is ample diagrams and parts list available to help.


5) Sorry I can't actually give any comparison of other mowers but maybe the discussion will be of some help. I hope your new John Deer works out fine. I recall when I purchased my Toro (model 20036) 10 years ago that I stayed away from the John Deer's because they offered nothing but very heavy mowers, albeit high quality.











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