favorite lawn mower makes

[FuzzyCat]

I will NOT ever have another John Deere! Their parts are too expensive and can only be purchased at a dealer...no after market stuff available that I ever found.
Won't have another Snapper either. Have had one self propelled and 2 riders. They lack several features like a floating deck!
DH has an old Craftsman that is 30-35 yrs. old and still runs & cuts. I have a Troy-built, it works fine. We also have a Cub Cadet "0" radius that we both LOVE! No matter the brand, the "0" radius is a dream.
I started mowing the yard back in the 50's with the old reel push mower. My Dad figured out how to mount an small engine on it and then we had a "power" mower. And I was mowing about an acre of yard with that both before & after the engine. Also used to ride the seat of the sickle bar mower that Dad pulled with the tractor to mow the ditches along the road. It was my job to lift the blade when obstructions like rocks were coming up...or someone's driveway.
So I really don't have a single preference, I just know which ones I'll never buy again. And we have about a 5 acre front yard and DH also mows some in back down by the creek and around his shop areas.

 

[mamooth]

Agreed on a John Deere. Unlike every other vendor, you can't get parts mailed to your home. You can order them online, but they have to be shipped to a nearby JD dealer. I've got a JD push mower. The case cracked open at one of the welds (after the warranty period), so I had a friend re-weld it. That caused a front wheel to be just a bit misaligned, and thanks to the bad wheel design, the extra stress which that put on the wheel assembly made it crack and fail. I've broken off two wheels in that mounting, so now I just run it 3-wheeled when I use it. No more JD.

I've also got a Toro push mower with the bells and whistles (electric start, multiple speeds), but the one I usually use is the old Lawn Boy. Two-stroke engine, leaves me smelling strongly of exhaust smoke, only one speed, but it just plain works. I have a big complicated yard that requires a lot of backing up, so the small size of the mower is a big plus.

Oh, I also once had a push mower with a Honda engine. The piston ring failed, and the mower guy said it would cost more to fix than it was worth. And that it was the only time he'd seen a Honda engine fail like that. And I had a Sears Craftsman push mower where the main bearing failed badly and messed it up. My luck with mowers is not so good. That's why I keep 3 on hand now, so I always have spares.

 

[Toro]

Mine should be obvious.

 

[whitehall]

You gotta narrow it down to push mowers and riding mowers. Sears offered a strong motor in it's Craftsman riding mower but the mowing deck was a piece of tin that didn't last more than two seasons. I finally took off the deck and gave the mower to the grand kids to ride around. John Deere mowers are out of sight both in performance and unfortunately in price. Husqvarna offers the best compromise in power, reliability and performance for my money.

 

[Mr. H.]

The best rider I ever owned was a JD. Until my brother took it back LOL.

Now that we're city dwellers, the Toro self-propel works just dandy.

 

[The Professor]

I purchased my EGO 20 inch, 56 volt Lithium-ion battery operated mower from Home Depot in Lake City, Florida, for $500.00 and l couldn’t be happier. When I opened the large shipping container, I found the mower was already fully assembled (except for the side discharge and rear bag which I didn't want to use anyway).


I placed the battery into the charger and it was fully charged in 15 minutes. The charge lasted for around 30 minutes. I was amazed by the mower's performance. It was easy to use, easy to push and mows a lawn better than expensive gasoline mowers I have owned in the past. And, best of all, I don't have to worry about buying and storing gasoline.


Finally, they EGO has a fantastic customer service department . I had a problem starting the mower and I called the number they provided with the instruction book. Within seconds, my call was answer by a young lady who spoke perfect English. She asked me if the handle was fully extended and I told her it was. Then she asked me if I pressed down on the battery until I heard a clicking sound. I told her I didn't think so. She told me to give it a try and she would wait. I did what she told me and the mower started right away. I thanked the young lady and apologized for not having read the instructions. She laughed and thanked me for the call.

 

[Pop23]

My favorite is my Son pushing my Toro

Yeah, like that's gonna happin

 

[KissMy]

I use the hired help for most of the mowing work.

For trimming I like the Sthil FS 560 C-EM

For small mowing I like any brand 22" big ball bearing wheels push mower with 5+HP Briggs & Stratton Engine with straight non-mulching blade.

For regular small to mid yards I like the Cub Cadet Hydrostatic with Kohler Engine.

For the mid to large areas, trails, grass, weeds, brush & trees. I like the 106HP Cat Track Loader with the Brush Wolf 72" M-AX Mower that can chew up 10" diameter trees.

For the larger areas, drainage ditches & fields I like the 225HP Case-IH Magnum Tractor pulling the 20'ft Bush Hog 12820 Mower.

 

[sameech]

Just a word of warning as my brother just found out--if you have a Troy Bilt mower whose starter spins some but won't start the engine, tighten down the bolts to the engine. The engine mounting bolts are the ground on those mowers.

 

[whitehall]

Anybody who uses a bush hog to mow a lawn either has too much lawn or not enough sense.