Going to Buy a Lawn Mower...need your advice

I am buying my first home in a week, so I need a lawn mower. I want a walk behind, rear wheel drive. I don't have much of a preference on brand but I was looking at the MTD/cub cadet or the craftsman from sears.

Has anyone purchased a lawn mower recently, and if you have reccomendations I would be all ears!

Make sure the blade engage/disengage mechanism is not linked to the engine cutoff, you want one that allows the engine to run without the blade spinning.

As with all things mechanical, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS before you use it the first time.

One option I would pay extra for is a self-starting engine. I've never had much luck with those pull-cords. You'll find self-starters in the top-end of the walk-behind line.

Ask the salesman about maintenance of your new mower. Besides the mower itself, you want to have on hand a blade sharpener, a gas can, plenty of the proper oil, spare parts like spark plugs and air filters, a steel brush to clean out grass clippings under the deck, etc.

And consider accessories as well. Some units have a mulching blade option, others have different accessories you can bolt on for other yard tasks.

Some mowers have a clippings bag that attaches behind the engine. Some have a bag that goes on the side. Some have no bag at all. You'll have to ask the salesman what the pros and cons are for each design.

Once you get it narrowed down to one or two models, shoot me a PM and I'll look them up in Consumer Reports for you.

Toro, Toro, Toro. My previous one lasted 21 years (it was sold, not junked), I did very little other than the recommended service - changing plugs & oil, etc. I replaced that one solely to get a self propelled. Buy it from a mower dealer nearby, not the China Mart, and +1 on the prior recommendations on maintenance.

I have a John Deere that is almost 20 years old. All I have had to do over that time is have normal service.

Def by from a dealer and try to stay away from Sears and some of the lower end models. Honda makes some really good mowers.

Weed eater- Stihl
Blower- Stihl
Hedge Trimmer- Stihl
Edger- Stihl

Check out Consumer Reports, I believe they recently had an issue where they reviewed lawn mowers.

My two cents: simplest lawn mower you can find, with the biggest engine you can afford. Simple lawn mowers are getting hard to find, hence the heartache.

Talk to your new neighbors ... some blocks will pool their resources and 5 or 6 families will share things like lawn-mowers, snow-blowers, fertilizer spreaders, rakes, shovels, etc.

There may already be a community owned mower ready and waiting for you.

I just ordered this electric Ryobi 48v self-propelled mower from Home Depot. I'll let you know how it works when it arrives

Lawn mowers are made from mostly commodity parts so there is a great deal of overlap. Despite the above comment, I have had good luck with Sears. I like Sears because

• They try to offer something in every price range and style so you can see what the range of choices really is.
• They have no-hassle warranties and customer service.
• They use quality components, like Briggs & Stratton engines and heavy gauge steel decks.
• Parts will be generic, easy to find, and fairly priced.
• Something is almost always on sale.

It has been a long time since I bought a lawn mower but I think rear-wheel drive might not be common. Perhaps it is a growing trend. Even so, I don't think I would like rear-wheel drive because it is quite handy to push down on the handle to lift the (front) drive wheels while doing tight maneuvers, or simply turning around at the end of each pass. It would be quite clumsy trying to lift rear drive wheels by lifting the handle!

I found that the large rear wheels was a tremendous improvement over the more standard smaller wheels. I tend to live in places with pretty rough terrain so that may not be as important for those with golf-green or pool-table lawns.

My lawn mowers tend to expire with broken shafts due to hitting immovable objects! One hit doesn't kill it, but the stress adds up. They usually last about 10 years.

Quick questions, how big is your lot, what are your obstacles like trees, tree roots, grades etc.

If you have a tiny lot get one of those old school push reel mowers, it's great exercise and it's good for the environment and good for your lawn. Now if you have a bigger lot, convienence is going to play a bigger role. I would not recommend a push reel mower on a third of an acre or bigger, go with either an electric or the latest gas powered lawnmower.

Now if it were my preference I would rather go with a big zen garden or let it go wild. I hate mowing lawns.

dpm802 said:

Once you get it narrowed down to one or two models, shoot me a PM and I'll look them up in Consumer Reports for you.

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Back in the '70s or '80s I was in the market for a lawnmower and at the time had a CR subscription and a recent issue had lawn mower reviews. Perfect, I thought. I found the reviews to be *completely* useless! They dismissed out-of-hand any mower that didn't have one of those (at the time) new-fangled self-stopping gizmos on the handle. That soon became the law -- the early days of the Nanny State! You could no longer walk a few steps away from the mower to kick a rock out of the way or toss the kids toys to an already-mowed section.

That's when I stopped renewing my CR subscription. After that opened my eyes, it was not the only incidence I noticed of CR pushing their political agenda in the guise of a product review. The could no longer be trusted. Who knows -- maybe soon they will ignore any mower that doesn't have a biofuel option, or doesn't contribute some portion of the sales price to carbon offsets.

Bill Smith said:

Now if it were my preference I would rather go with a big zen garden or let it go wild. I hate mowing lawns.

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I hate mowing lawns, too. When I get a place of my own again, I'm planting Zoysia grass, which only needs to be mowed 3 times a year.

My father wasn't too keen on mowing, either. He kept joking that he was going to rip up all the grass and install green concrete.

How about Astrturf? Stays green all year round and never needs mowing!

Thanks for all the feedback fellas. My lot is fairly flat and about .35 acres. There are not many trees, plants, hassels...just a sizeable patch of grass both front, side and rear.

I was looking at this mower:

http://www.farmandfleet.com/product...arden/power_equipment/tractors_mowers/mowers/

Or this one from Sears:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...ed+Lawn+Mowers&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4

What do you think?

Or this one:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

kwk285 said:

I have a John Deere that is almost 20 years old. All I have had to do over that time is have normal service.

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Maybe they were good 20 years ago, but I've had nothing but bad experiences with John Deere lawn mowers.

Robert Paulsen said:

They dismissed out-of-hand any mower that didn't have one of those (at the time) new-fangled self-stopping gizmos on the handle. That soon became the law -- the early days of the Nanny State! You could no longer walk a few steps away from the mower to kick a rock out of the way or toss the kids toys to an already-mowed section.

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Darn safety features. What the heck were they thinking?

Sluggo said:

I am buying my first home in a week, so I need a lawn mower. I want a walk behind, rear wheel drive. I don't have much of a preference on brand but I was looking at the MTD/cub cadet or the craftsman from sears.

Has anyone purchased a lawn mower recently, and if you have reccomendations I would be all ears!

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Check Consumer Reports.

Unless you positively musy pay up for a Honda, there are good choices at mulch cheaper prices.

Pun intended.

If you don't buy a John Deere, you will eventually be sorry.