Lawnmowers

[iheartmaytag]

With my current Snapper mower on it 24th mowing season, I decided that it was a little underpowered for mulching, and was getting a little long in the tooth so I finally sprung for a new Snapper Hi-Vac. 

 

My original was bought on March 31st 1988 (I know that was only 23 years ago, but it's the mower's 24 mowing season)  anyway I paid $399.98 then.

The new one was last year's model so he took $200 off retail, and then there was a garden show last week so he gave me garden show prices which took another $100 off, but that didn't include the mulch kit at that price, so he added in $49.95 for the mulch kit (Ninja blade and chute boot).    All told I brought it home for $549 with a Briggs 8.75 Torque engine and accsssories mentioned above.

 

Funny thing, when I went to do the yard clean up, I decided I didn't want to dirty the new mower, so It sits in the garage hasn't even  had gas put in it. and the old mower worked away for almost seven hours last Saturday.  I have never had a complaint with that little 3.5 hp Briggs engine.  Going through buyers remorse/guilt now.  I think I'll go buy a new chainsaw to ease my mind about that purchase.

 

I do love the Snapper mowers, the disc drive is flawless, the bagging system is great, the mulcher is perfect.  I was cautioned that the design you find at Sear's and other big box stores is not the Snapper design that earned it's name.  It seems that the old Murray machine company went bankrupt and owed Briggs and Stratton $40 million dollars, so they took over there dies and molds and are marketing those designes under Snapper's name at the big box stores.  You still have to go to a dealer to get a "real" snapper. 

 

I guess it's like Snurry now.  Found out Briggs also owns the rights to Poulan, Club Cadette, Snapper, Murray, Toro as well. The dealer wasn't sure how they got hold of Snapper, but Ferris industries are also under their umbrella so that may have been how Snapper came into their hands.

 

 

 

[wiskybill]

Snapper, one of my favorite mowers.

I have two 1975 Snapper Hi-Vacs.
The first, a 3.5hp Briggs, I bought at auction in 1999 for $40. It hasn't needed a repair yet but I don't use it now. It's runs well enough but it is low on compression and hard to restart when it's hot. I'm considering having the engine rebuilt.
The second one, a 5hp Tecumsuh commercial model, I bought two years ago for $10. It needed a new primer bulb and general tune-up. This one runs great and gets the most use. I have a lot of trees so the Snapperizer gets a good work out in the Fall.

I've got two other mowers that get their turn on occasion, a 1965 OMC Lawnboy and a 1989 Lawnboy. The 1965 model still starts on the first pull.

When I don't feel quite so energetic, I have a 1993 Simplicity Coronet rider that I use. This one Dad bought new, but he never really liked it. I find it cuts very smooth and my grandson likes to use it when he helps mow considering that the yard is almost an acre. Kids these days!

I don't think I could trade any of them for something new at this point. It just wouldn't be the same.

 

[jmm63]

Funny, I was just thinking about this subject....

Last summer I needed a new mower to replace my 15 year old Toro. Now mind you, I changed the oil in it once in 15 years, never had any other service done on it and it ALWAYS started on the first maybe second pull. The drive broke on it and it was going to cost more to repair than a new one would cost.

So after reading all the reviews and shopping around, I chose another Toro. I figured I had good luck with the old one. I HATE this mower with a passion! It never starts on the first through 5th pull even though its "guaranteed to start on the first pull" but most annoyingly, it spits all sorts of stuff out the sides. I've been hit with acorns, twigs, pebbles, etc. I have to take the cars out of the driveway when I mow so they don't get hit. I wrote to Toro in the fall, we played phone tag for a while and honestly, I just put the thing away and have forgotten about it till now.

Why oh why, didn't I get a Snapper... or a Honda??

 

[norgeway]

I wish!

The DAMN government had stayed out of things they had no business in..like that stupid thing on the new mowers you have to hold down so it will run,and that stupid rubber or metal shield that drags behind, and does no more than making it hard to push, if I didnt have sense enough to operate a mower safely,then I ought to get a foot cut off!!Give me a 40 or 50 year old Lawn Boy or Toro anyday!!

 

[iheartmaytag]

Jim

I looked ad Honda, Toro, Craftsman, and Lawnboy.  I kept saying I liked my Snapper.  In reviews the Honda's drive system is troublesome, and expensive to repair.  The Toro's drive system, the same as on the Snapper SPX and NXt series had bad reviews from being difficult to opperate.  Craftsman's reviews many had problems with the bagging and the drive system.

 

The man at the Snapper dealer said that once you had a Hi-Vac deck you wouldn't like the others.  I felt he was right, Spring and Fall clean up is so easy.  I just rake the leaves away from the fence and suck them up in the bag.  Then I dump them in the compost bin and I'm done.  Snapper's drive system the Driven Disk is simple and easy to work on.  I have had to replace belts and and an idler wheel last year.  That's all I've had to do, but very inexpensive and DIY easy.

 

 

 

BTW--I bought the chain saw last night.  I was looking at a Black & Decker rechargable, but hated the part where you paid another $50 in two years for a new battery pack, but with no more cutting and trimming than I do I couldn't justify a gas powered saw with all the maintenance, and mixing; so I opted for a corded electric 14" Poulan.  There are a couple of saplings that will feel my rath this weekend.

 

 

[petek]

I bought a Lawnboy Gold (Honda engine) back in 07. So far I've had no problems with it but it has some annoyances (for me) and some good points. I really like the easy to remove bag, flip up the handle and just reach down and pull the bag off to empty.. no fiddling to get it fit in anything. I'm 50'50 on the EZ push self propelling, there are a few times when it feels like you are pushing the thing but overall it works good. Our backyard is very landscaped with nary a straight run anywhere, it's all curves and lots of tight spots and this mower is a bit cludgy on curves. I'm thinking one of those mowers with the swivel wheels might have been a better choice for my situation. In the front yard where it's straight forward back and forthing it's fine.
It's a great mulcher for leaves. We have tons of oak leaves,, 8 oak trees in the backyard alone, not counting all the neighbors the same. So what I do rather than rake is I mow/mulch the leaves without the bag on just as if I was mowing the lawn. That chops them up into small chunks.. Then I put the bag on and I re-mow the lawn which chops the leaves up very tiny and bags them. It's a helluva lot easier than raking or using the leaf blower, with minimal stooping over and back pain.

 

[circlew]

My mower is a John Deere JS-30, a push model. I bought it at a John Deere farm equipment dealer, for the same price that Lowe's had. By purchasing it there, I get priority for maintenance and service. It will be 5 years old this June, and I've been very pleased with it. Almost always starts with one pull. It also has electric start, but I don't have a good place to keep the battery charger plugged in, so use the rope.

 

[washernoob]

We have a circa 10 year old Toro push mower. I think it was near TOL for its time. it has a variable speed selector stuff and all that jazz. You control the speed of the wheels by how far you push the safety bar up.

VERY nice mower. Love it. Like the angled handle, and rear drive too.

We also have a Scotts ridding lawn mower. ITS A pile. lol. Sorry. Its got a ridiculous amount of hours on it though. We got it last summer used. Its about 10 years old too.

It doesn't have a brake which drives me nuts. It jolts real hard when you get it going, and turns like a cadillac. lol

its a John Deere product, but isn't anything like my grandpas JD rider. His is amazing. TOL model.

 

[luxflairguy]

Now this is a lawnmower! Our next door neighbors had this growing up. I think I'm taking a drive this weekend!

http://[email protected]

 

[rickr]

Still using the 1963 Lawnboy Automower here

There are 3 city lots to mow here now, including the rental. This 1963 Lawnboy does the job very well. It was overhauled in 2007. I added a mulch plate to it, and it mulches just fine. It is a four horsepower, or maybe four and one half horse. Cannot recall, but it does the job very well. I have a few extra parts stashed away for it too. (drive gears, etc.) It makes mowing less of a chore, when you can "go vintage"

 

[washernoob]

That beast looks brand spankin new! Fantastic! Now there is a good owner.

 

[philr]

I also have a few lawn mowers, a MTD Lawn Flyte with a 2 stroke OMC Iron Horse "D" series engine. I also have 2 Lawn Boy and one OMC Marauder with "C" series Iron Horse engines.

 

[mattl]

Growing up we only had Reel type mowers. As a kid I remember you just lifted the handle up and the mower engaged the drive, drop it it stopped. Later it's replacement had controls on the handle, but still very easy to use. It's funny how reel type power mowers have totally disappeared from the market. My folks always thought the lawn looked better cut with a reel type mower's shearing action vs. just chopping the top off the blade of grass.

 

[tolivac]

Lawnmowers-go thru a lot of them-todays machines are largely--CRAP!!esp the newer Briggs and Stratton motors.I had a newer John Deere model45 I beleive -its motor crapped out when I hit just one small stump-remember those older B&S motors-when you hit a stump like that-yes-the mower stopped-but you just yanked the start cord and kept going.At worst you would have to replace the shear pin on the motor shaft that held the blade adaptor on.Present-havea Black and Decker 36V cordless 18" mower.Really like it-use it for the back yard-can't get my John Deere tractor there.The shear pin in the new JD mower was INSIDE the motor--how STUPID!!I am also for getting the Govt out of the mower shed,kitchen,bathroom,and laundryroom.Let the marketplace decide on some of these things--and it would cut the Fed Budget.I don't like the dragging toe guards on mowers either-most of the time for me-they just break off-or if you pull the mower backward-get ground up by the blade as the guard goes under the mower.I had a newer Toro-couple in fact.I had a High wheel model that was GREAT for a modern mower-it had a Tecumseh motor-they have been improved-liked it better than the B&S motors-It truely started on the first or second pull-the B&S motors need more pulls.Sadly that mower got stolen.I bought another to replace it-what a disappointment-It had a crappy B&S motor-and plstic deck inserts that fell off and got ground into plastic schrapnel.Then a hole in the top of the deck that would blow debris in your face.Yes-I do miss the older mowers that didn't have all of the safety crap that don't really make them any safer-just harder to use,more expensive ,and heavier in weight.and those classic Lawn Boys with their 2 cycle motors-those worked well.So miss them-victim of the silly air pollution laws.and besides-the smell of the gas and oil was in a way-sort of pleasent mixed with the smell of the fresh cut grass.Sadly in my area-older Lawn Boy and Snapper mowers are just rusted out hulks.Motorless and turned into yard carts by their owners.-or sitting in the barn or shed--rusting away.-too bad a shape for fixing or restoring.

 

[mrb627]

Lawnmower Pix

I like the lawnmower pix guys.  Keep 'em coming!

 

Malcolm

 

[norgeway]

Old Lawn Boys!

Those old Lawn Boys are to my mind, the all time best mower overall,if any of you guys using the new mowers, which are heavy ,awkward, hard to start and for the most part cheaply made,would use one of these, you would never go back, the main problem with the new stuff is they are so heavy it takes a ox to push them, those old smooth running LBs handle like a dream.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Mowers are like vacuums and washers, everyone has their preference I guess.

 

As to engines I guess this applies as well.  I have always had very good service from Briggs and Stratton engines, and have had poor results from Tecumseh,  Alot comes down to what you are familiar with.  Briggs engines are extremely easy to work on for the most part, but that could be again my being familiar with them.  I was steered away from the Honda engine by the man saying they have been having some problems with main oil seals.  I didn't pick the Kawasaki because it was a smaller engine, so I choose the larger Briggs.

 

 The secret to a quick starting Briggs engine is to avoid at all cost the Pulsa-jet carburator.  You want either the Flowjet, or Vacujet design that has a float,  with either the choke a matic, or primer.  If you have these you will have years of faithful service.    If you get the Pulsa-jet, plan on 15 or 20 pulls, hard to adjust speed, and stalling when you increase loads. 

 

[washernoob]

re: real reel mowers!

We used to own two! Before we had the Toro, we had an awful old craftsman that kept failing. We replaced it with a reel mower we bought off craigslist. It was old and outdated.

So we went to Sears and bout a brand new Reel mower with a bag catcher, and other neat modern features! I actually enjoyed using it. Very simple and easy. Just dont run over sticks with it!

 

[mrb627]

Mowers

The first mower I bought when I moved into my current house was a YardMan.  Ughh!  What a piece of junk.  In five years it cost me twice what I paid for it in repair bills.  I junked it and bought a Honda mower from HD.  What a step up that was.  After my car accident, I hired someone to cut my yard for me.  Ended up giving the Honda away to regain space in the garage.

 

Malcolm