My New Mower

[countryguy]

I've had a Toro Personal Pace rear wheel drive mower for 10 years. I've had to replace the rear drive wheels twice already because the sprocket is made of plastic so the teeth wear out quickly. The drive sprocket is metal so the wheel sprocket should have been made of metal also. I also had to shim the wheels so that the sprockets would align properly. Anyway, the drive wheels started making a racket again and I thought it was the worn teeth but I took the wheels off and they were still not too badly worn...so now I'm thinking it is the transmission. I didn't want to put more money into the mower and I had problems walking a few weeks ago due to my hip so I decided to get a Cub Cadet riding mower. Meet Tweety

Gary

 

[justjunque]

Congratulations!

Hey, Gary,

You just gave me a slight "jaw drop" moment.
When you were describing the problems with your Toro, I was completely relating...having the same mower, with the same issue.
I was told by the service tech that they all develop that problem, due to a bad design.
It was a great mower otherwise.
As I read on, I was thinking; "wouldn't it be something if he bought a Cub Cadet CC30H?"
Lo and behold!
That's the exact same rider that we bought about two years ago!
It's my first experience with a rider of any kind.
We only have a half an acre, so we didn't really need anything big.
It's been a great little machine. Or, as we call it, our little tractor.
I like the feature that allows you to keep mowing while backing up.
We also got the optional rear bagger, which we use a lot for picking up leaves in the fall.
We still wanted a walk-behind for the tight spots where I can't get with the rider.
Since we liked the Toro, all except for the transmission issues; on the recommendation of the service tech, we bought a higher end version of the same machine. It has an aluminum deck, which is much heavier gauge than the steel deck on the previous one.
So far, no problems. He said he's never had one of these come back with the transmission problems.

Good luck with your new "little tractor"!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we are!

Barry

 

[countryguy]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for confirming that the Cub Cadet has been reliable. I almost bought an AWD walk behind Cub Cadet last year before deciding to try and fix the Toro. I watched several videos on youtube of people with Toros having the same issue. I added in the washers on the wheel brackets so that the wheel sprockets would align better with the drive gear. It worked great for most of last season but now the grinding noise is back and worse than it was before. I looked at the Toro AWD but figured the wheel sprockets would still be made of plastic and I'd just end up with the same problem.

I do like the hydrostatic transmission on the Cub as well as being able to mow in reverse. I have a lot of tight areas to get around. It would be nice if the mower deck had anti-scalp wheels. I have a lot of dips in my lawn. I'm going to try using the mower to pull my lawn roller and hopefully get rid of some of the bumps caused by the moles over the winter.

Gary

 

[petek]

I saw those and was thinking I'd like one too but really our yard isn't big enough. Have fun..

I have a 12 year old Lawn Boy with Sensa Speed which I think is the same as the Toro Personal Pace (Toro owns Lawn Boy since ? not sure) and I've had no problems with it at all. Just had it in last week for an oil change, sharpening, greasing and tightening of the drive mech and it's good as new, not that it was ever bad, just figured it should be looked at after all these years.

It seems like Lawn Boy has since the buyout become a bargain brand compared to the Toro's .

 

[speedqueen]

^Toro has owned Lawn-Boy since the late 1980s, but only killed off the old staggered wheel and two stroke design in the early 2000s. Since then, they have been the Toro economy line, a shame because they used to be among the best. My daily use mower is a late 1970s Lawn-Boy 8238AE

 

[tolivac]

Envionmental regs killed off the Lawn Boy and other 2 cycle motored mowers.Small yard care appliances such as weedeaters and hedge shears are next.I used to have a LB stagger wheel mower-once it got started-no stopping it!!And it ran QUIETER than 4 cycle motored mowers!

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">I'm not too sure about all of these new environmental laws. Many of them seem excessive and too restrictive. A new law starts today in Palm Springs (I live in adjacent Cathedral City) that prohibits the use of gas-powered blowers. Almost everyone here has a gardening service. It was 112 today at 2:00 when I finished my chemo. Who wants to do yard work in that like heat? Gardeners need high-powered blowers just to keep up with the tons of bougainvillea that grow here like weeds...pretty but very messy. Cordless professional blowers and the many power packs gardeners would need are super expensive. I wonder how many of the Palm Springs City Council Members who passed the law have actually ever used a leaf blower? Probably none...it's too easy to break a nail or lose an eyelash. </span>

 

[tolivac]

I can agree that the new laws are too excessive-makes it hard for the yard care contractors to do their job-and takes them longer-more cost to the client.I have a high power cordless blower-as powerful as a backpack gas blower-BUT----the runtime of the gas blower is longer and takes LESS time to "recharge"!I really liked the 2 cycle LB mower-did a GREAT job and was QUIET for a gas motor mower.Now I use my rechargeable electric one.The majority of my yard is done by a contractor with a gas ZTR mower.Its cheaper to pay him to do the bulk of the lawn than to buy a new gas rider mower.I just do the backyard with the electric mower.The gate is too narrow for the contractor's gas rider to get in.His ZTR takes only half hour to do the lawn.Yes,those guys that pass the stupid laws NEVER use the garden tools-they have someone do it for them.And the time the noisy tools run is NOT that long.I don't like their noise either-but can bear it for the time it takes.

 

[petek]

I sometimes wish they'd ban gas leaf blowers here, although I have one myself. I have two fussy neighbors one on each side and those two women spend an inordinate amount of time blowing the driveways off, blowing their decks off, etc.. It wouldn't even be so bad if they just held the trigger steady but they keep going from hi to low and that is ear-itating as all get out. At least they're considerate and don't use them before 10 a.m. because they know we sleep in a lot LOL.

 

[sudsmaster]

I have some 2-stroke gardening implements: Poulan chain saw, and 30" long Echo single sided hedge trimmer. I don't use the chain saw that much, unless I need to take down a tree. The Echo hedge trimmer is a professional version; it has huge teeth (for a trimmer) which are required for the 12 foot high ivy covered chain link fence at the back of my property. It beats the snot out of consumer version two sided hedge trimmers.

On the 4 stroke side, a Honda powered Yard Machines (made in Canada). That is a very good motor; never fails to start. Of course, my lawn is like a postage stamp: about 30' x 30'. But I still have to cut once a week during the growing season. A self propelled mower would be gross overkill. The reason why the front lawn is so small, is because this is a cul-de-sac. So the lot is pie-slice shaped, with the biggest area towards the back.

Also have a 4 stroke Patriot chipper shredder that is required to reduce ivy and other trimmings to compostable sizes. Then a Yard Machines roto-tiller, ,also 4 stroke. A cool little 4 stroke is a little Ryobi with multiple attachments: lawn edger, weed whacker, chain saw, hedge trimmer, even a little roto-tiller (like for between rows). I mostly use that for the lawn edging and weed whacking. The Patriot has a Tecumseh motor that has always been very hard to start. Until I finally pulled the carb (it was clogged) and adjusted it internally. Now it starts better. The big roto-tiller has a Briggs and Stratton thumper that isn't too bad. Haven't used it for a while; that carb probably needs to be pulled and cleaned and adjusted as well.