If you were to buy a new lawn mower, what retailers would be on your list? Which wouldn't be?



Our old rusted mower is destined for the big pile out front at the end of the month.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GESince1958,

I would put Len's Ace Hardware store on my list. They were very helpful and sold me a nice Toro that's been working like a champ. We have a small yard, they ordered a manual push model they don't normally stock. I had a comparable experience w/ Buikema in Wheaton for a snow thrower.

I would NOT put Home Depot on my list. Bought an "MTD Yard Machine" there and it died the first year. In fairness, you get what you pay for. If you know what you're buying and they have it at a big box, I suppose you'll be fine.

I am buying the smallest Honda imaginable from Kip's in Lisle.

If you are like my family and don't take very good care of your lawnmower, I would recommend Sears. I don't know that their mowers are any better/worse than any other brand (Craftsman comes in all levels), but they will service them at Sears service centers and the wait to get it back is at least 1/3 to 1/2 less time than other small engine repair shops.

Which reminds me, I should attempt to start my mower now, before the grass gets too long. Since we never prepped it at the end of the season, there's only a 50/50 shot of it starting up.

We bought a battery-operated electric last spring... luvit! (UPS brings it to your door.)

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
I am buying the smallest Honda imaginable from Kip's in Lisle.

Ask for Wayne Kipper. He and his wife (we went to h.s. together) are friends of mine.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted E.:
We bought a battery-operated electric last spring... luvit! (UPS brings it to your door.)

Ted, I like the picture of the woman holding up a 48 pound lawnmower like its a loaf of bread.


My mower is 46 and I don't toss it around like that. But it is of course much lighter than a gas engine.

If you've got a small lot I'd recommend looking at electric. No gas, no vapors in the garage/shed, it never won't start in the spring because you forgot to add Stabil last fall, etc. etc. The main drawback is the smaller mowing deck.

I grew up with a corded mower (and we used to mow our lot and the vacant lot next to us) so I can tell you that you get used to it and learn the tricks of corded mowing.

Wait, Ted, that's false advertising. Without the battery it's 48 pounds. With the battery its 69.

The power on that Neuton is 50Amps x 36 Volts = 1800 Watts
The power on my B&E is 12 Amps x 110 V = 1320 Watts so it looks like There's more power in Ted's mower.

I'd say the downside to the battery one is its 45-60 min charge time. Do you notice that tailing off after many charges, Ted?

Also, folks, I think electric mowers will probably outlast gas-powered ones.

I have a relatively small lawn in comparison to most of my Coveted Lake Ellyn Area cronies. I have searched high and low for a quality lawnmower that will outlive me that DOES NOT have a "personal pace" or self-propelling feature. Honda makes one for under $400.

We had a rechargeable Toro for a while. Just didn't cut it for me (pun totally intended). Never seemed to get the speed necessary to actually slice all of the blades of grass. Blade was sharp as all get out. But 5% of the grass remained the same height as when I started. Ended up giving it to a friend that had a summer house in St. Joe.

Clam: With the size of your lawn, you could go to Sally's Beauty Supply for the proper shears.

When our six year old Craftsman blew up last year, I purchased a Troy-Bilt. I wanted a Honda engine and this is the only Honda powered mower for under $300.00 that I could find. It's a great mower for $239.00 at Lowes (even with the drive.

NOTHING MORE GREEN THAN THIS MY MAN!

Golden Sun Landscaping. They are pretty cheap and I don't have to mow or collect the grass in bags. Well worth the money. I'd have to go find his business card to get you the phone number...couldn't find it online.

WOW! Thanks for the help thus far.

Are most gas mowers still those old two cycle designs, or have they mostly moved up to the California emission control guidline on this side of the Rockies now?

Most mowers are 4 cycle.

quote:

Originally posted by perplexed:
When our six year old Craftsman blew up last year, I purchased a Troy-Bilt. I wanted a Honda engine and this is the only Honda powered mower for under $300.00 that I could find. It's a great mower for $239.00 at Lowes (even with the drive.

perplexed - I'm moving the old mover to the curb. We saw this one at Lowe's yesterday, but they have several the really look about the same but with several different option packages. Why did you choose this one over the others?

We just used my neighbor's Toro to mow and it did a great job. Electric or rechargeable are not options for our yard.

quote:

Originally posted by GEmom2:

perplexed - I'm moving the old mover to the curb. We saw this one at Lowe's yesterday, but they have several the really look about the same but with several different option packages. Why did you choose this one over the others?

We just used my neighbor's Toro to mow and it did a great job. Electric or rechargeable are not options for our yard.

I purchased that one because it has a Honda engine. I have had it one year and it works like a champ. It started right up yesterday (I did put Sta-Bil in the engine last fall).