Dear Friends,

My 13 year old POS Craftsman started running supremely crappy and belching smoke today. I bought it as a closeout and have never really liked the thing anyway. So, instead of paying the ~$200 it would probably take to fix it, I'm considering a new lawn mower.

I don't need nor can I afford a riding mower.

I do not want to entertain the notion of a push-mower (Fossil Fuels: Smoke 'em if you got 'em).

I have a quarter-acre lot that's pretty flat. I am not a lawn Nazi. You cannot putt on my lawn.

What say you?

Honda commercial

We have one that is at least as old as I am, so lets say 22, Starts up everytime, great little machine. The pull start thing broke so now I just wrap the string around the spindle thing and pull but its never quit. And it has been through alot. Im not even sure if the oil has been changed...ever..

One word - mulcher.

If I had to bag, I wouldn't mow... the tradeoff of once a year having to dethatch is a very, very good compromise for me.

I've got a Craftsman 21" with a Briggs 6.5 - push, not self-propelled - tried the old neighbour's self-propelled once... it'd probably help if you had a big rural lot, but the ins and outs of an urban lot with trees and other features just meant I ended up trying to hold it back a lot to make turns and doing burnouts on his grass instead. And all the gearing and drivetrain almost doubles the weight.

My .02 - YMMV.

Bren R.

Blacktop it all

astroturf it.

or buy a used ride on (that's what I did). Some might say I'm lazy...I prefer to think of myself as energy efficient.

it takes me all of 15 minutes to mow the lawn; my neighbours with the same size lot each spend around an hour and a half. They sweat, I sit on the deck drinking beer watching them. I win.

Or river rock!

Its all about Zero Turn baaaaaaby....

I would recommend a Honda self-propelled. They are great mowers. I've had mine now over 4 years and it starts the first pull every time. Runs like a champ. I also have a .25acre lot and its perfect although mine isn't all that flat. They have ones with different speeds also, which would be nice to get done quicker, and I will eventually upgrade to one of these.

Bill3508

Honda.

Just bight the bullet and get one. Or, you do what I do.... buy a POS mower at Costco every spring and regret it every fall. I could have bought two Hondas by now with the money I've wasted on these F-ers, and I'd still be using Honda #1.

Tom...

Two words - lawn service.

After years of going through the best of mowers and equipment for the countless hours of mowing, trimming, edging and manicuring our lawn to a 'T', about three years ago we *finally* decided to try a lawn service and haven't looked back since.

You may be surprised about how well this service may fit into the budget.

Does a year of lawn service cost less than purchasing a riding mower?

Mike, if you read and follow the manual for the mower from Costco it'll last you at least 20 years(and they have better sound than Honda).

Let's see now............no riders, no pushers, eco friendly....it will have to be an electric, with a long, long, cord.........no, no, you said no pushers...hmmmmm.

The only choice left: a couple of goats.

Err, umm, "thanks" guys.

Larry, I meant I wanted to burn petroleum rather than human calories to power the cutting and propulsion. Although, the goats do have some appeal. For the lawn.

I might actually look into lawn service. Thanks for the suggestion, Rick. I firmly expect to be too damn cheap to do it, but I like the idea.

Mike, you always make the truth funny. I like that. Thanks.

Is a Craftsman-with-a-Honda-Engine the same as a Honda?

I really dig the idea of riding around and drinking beer, but the repairs and maintenance for a riding mower have got to make the privilege costly. Besides, then I'd have to find a place to park the SOB.

Don't think I haven't floated the "let's have less yard maintenance to do" past Mrs. Tuttle. She likes having grass and flowers and stuff, and keeps telling me that I do, too. It's not working. I've always hated yard work, and I want to gravitate towards doing none of it as I get older.

Maybe I could suck up a big part of the yard with an addition for a dedicated theatre room...

I really do appreciate your time. You all make this a wonderful place. Well, except JP, who is obviously ignoring my plight. Bastige.

Tom, just buy a cheap mower and have one of your kids do the yardwork. I swore that was the sole reason for my dad raising me. I didn't quite understand the glint in his eye when he first showed me how to work the mower. It soon became all too clear, though. One of the happiest days of his life. Probably.

Toro.

Last year I was living on a lot other than my own while our house was bing built. I already had a ride on but needed a push mower for many sections of this yard. Since it was only for one summer, I purchased a cheap mower at Walmart with a Briggs & Straton engine. I knew full well that B&S had sold its name to another company a few years ago and that their once respected quality had tumbled to 'laughing stock' ever since, but I wanted cheap.

Well that's exactly how long it lasted, One Year. Just long enough for the warranty to expire. I maintained it perfectly, did not abuse it and did not cut longer grass than it should. This summer, I did a section of my neighbors lawn for him and BANG! I haven't taken it apart yet but lets just say it won't start anymore.

The Honda engine advice is SOLID! You definitely get what you pay for.

I would look for a old used pusher with a B&S motor. My original pusher (my Dad gave it to me) had a B&S motor on it and is close to 25 years old, if not older. I gave it back to him about three years ago since I needed one with the large wheels on the back. My current mower with a B&S motor as well, was rescued from a trash pile in the front of a guy's house. (I checked with him before taking it.) The only problem was that he let condensation build up in the gas tank. Emptied the tank and cleaned the carb and good as new. I just check the oil before I use it each time and add as needed. I change it twice a year.

I also have a Craftsman rider that the owner of my current house left behind. The only problem was that the tires were flat. 17 plugs later, I have a perfectly good mower. I also check the oil before each use and change twice a year. I also sharpen the blades on both about every three months. I prefer to use the push mower for excercise since I hate running on a treadmill. Takes me about 1 1/2 hours to push the first acre (on a slope) plus weedeating and blowing and another hour to ride the second acre (open field). Don't know why I've never thought about putting a beer holder on the rider. DOH!

Just to be clear, if you can find an older Briggs and Stratton, I would agree with the above. Older models are a tough motor. There is one in my Troy Built lawn tractor that is still working seamlessly after 9 years of cutting an acre and a third. I'm not sure what year it was taken over by a new company but if you compare an older B&S engine with something you'll find in a store today, you easily will see that they have gone the route of lower end, mass market production.

Also, I second that a lawn tractor is not a high maintenance investment at all unless you buy an old beater. On the tractor mentioned above, I change the oil filter and spark plug every year, clean the air filter with some gas, sharpen the blades every couple of years and that's pretty much it. In nine years, I bought 1 new belt (it's hydrostatic) and had it tuned up twice. I repaired one flat tire by adding a 6 dollar tube. That's it for maintenance. Worry free yard racing.

However, if you can comfortably cut your lawn with a push mower, then I would still say don't bother with a ride on. Good exercise, you often need one anyways to get into tighter areas and the smaller engine produces less emissions.

Tom, my advice would be to forget the lawnmower, get the new TV you were asking about and relax.

Well, Michael, that is certainly my preference. The Tuttle Family CFO has a different view of priorities, however. She thinks we're already overcapitalized on interior resources.

I'm not very good at that whole "relaxing" thing. But JP's trying to help me.

Hey, come up to Iowa... The Iowa State Fair (largest in the country) is going on right now. If you time it right, you could pick up a couple of goats on the cheap... Easy to take care of, but be sure to keep them out of the neighbor's bushes...
LOL

Oh sure, the goats are cheap, but I understand that all subwoofers go "thump thumpity thump thumpity" in Iowa.

Yep, and you can by Natural Light real cheap. Just go down to K-mart and get a K-Pro pusher with a Tecumseh motor, you'll be fine until the wheel axels fall through the flimsy sheet metal on the mower deck.

Bob, give Bren your man card. He REALLY loves yardwork!

So, Bren, how does it make you feel to have these "intimate" experiences with your yard work?

Tom and Dr. J...

No hanging out together anymore... seriously.

Bren R.