"You said, 'Snapper.'"
Posted on 07/19/2011 3:00:36 PM PDT by StonyMan451
I've just been informed that my second Toro gas powered push lawn mower isn't worth fixing. I know very little about engines and such, so I'm taking the mechanic's word for it. The engine has thrown a rod (I can hear it) and the transmission's shot (that's why I took it to be repaired).
Now I have to plead a little a lot guilty. I did not take proper care of the thing. I should have changed the oil, etc., etc.
However, before I invest in another lawn mower (which I PROMISE I will take good care of) I thought I'd ask my fellow Freepers for some advice.
Here's my situation... Our lot is 0.7 acres, and bumpy. We're in the mid-atlantic region, so we need to cut the lawn from early April through the end of October. I am not interested in collecting the grass clippings when I use it, so I would want them to mulch back into the lawn. I would like, but do not strictly need an electric start. I do need self-propulsion. Parts of my lawn get very thick and I need the extra power of a larger engine.
So here are my questions:
1. What brand/model do you recommend? (I can spend about $400, give or take)
2. Do you believe an extended warranty is worth the extra cost?
3. If I take good care of it, how long do you think it should last?
4. Besides changing the oil, what should I do to make it last?
5. Are there any other considerations I should take into account?
Thanks.
Change or clean the air filter, change the oil, run out all the gas or crank it up several times over the off-season. Bad gas can foul up the carburetor.
Don’t they make Snappers anymore? Last time I bought a LM there was no equal. Worked great till I gave it away. If it costs too much, get a used one.
LM’s are like vacuum cleaners, you can save the money but you will have to buy 4 of them in a few years anyway. I stopped that when I bought a Dyson VC, and a Snapper LM.
"You said, 'Snapper.'"
“Don’t you have a nearby 12-15 year old who needs money and has access to his Dad’s mower?
Or does that America no longer exist?”
You don’t live in SoCal, do you?
It looks like a well oiled top heavy machine. See that bumpy patch over there? Why don’t you mow it about three or four more times.
If you empty the the fuel tank for the winter, put some a bag of some kind of dessicant in the fuel tank, or it will collect water over the winter.
Just BS unless they are hand tools. Used to be a good bet, but their weed eaters, lawn mowers are crap. The motor on the lawn mower is good (Briggs) but the wheels and self drive need parts in two years. Electric start lasted one year. The weed eaters go in the trash the second season, small engine guys laugh about fixing them. And I DO the maintenance.
Just BS unless they are hand tools. Used to be a good bet, but their weed eaters, lawn mowers are crap. The motor on the lawn mower is good (Briggs) but the wheels and self drive need parts in two years. Electric start lasted one year. The weed eaters go in the trash the second season, small engine guys laugh about fixing them. And I DO the maintenance.
Snapper now owned by Briggs and Stratton by the way.
Get a used riding lawn mower on craigslist or ebay and attach a lawn roller
it will be less bumpy and more pleasant to mow all around
you could get all that for less than $1K if you look hard but it will las far longer than a push mower for that size lot
I use one of these. Good for tumbleweeds, cholla cactus, and errant saplings up to 1" thick.
Old model 80s Cub Cadets with manual transmission. The Hydra-statics were never very good. The manual models stood up to many years of me and my sister’s abuse.
And if you do run it dry, and it’s cranky about wanting to start drawing fuel the next spring (those little vacuum drive fuel pumps they use now are bad for that), screw the tip off a propane torch (mind that little pill in the end), open it all the way up, point it down the carb throat and crank it over. Let it run on the propane for a minute or so, until the fuel system gets itself primed.
I’d had good luck with a Toro push mower for many years, and when it finally got to be more trouble than it was worth, I went and got another, a self-propelled model, for mowing the tight spaces and areas too steep for a riding mower.
It might have been my fault to some extent, but it was not a good mower. My contribution to the matter would have been mowing over a yellowjacket nest, they swarmed and stung my legs over thirty times, I let go of the mower and it went end over end down an embankment into the woods. It was nothing but trouble after that, several hundred dollars every mowing season to keep it working. That, on a walk behind mower that cost as much as some riding mowers.
Went to Lowe’s and got a TroyBuilt self-propelled, and haven’t had one minutes’ trouble out of it for the three years I’ve had it. Starts right up, even after sitting all winter. Blade cuts like new, and I’m sort of bad about mowing in rough areas that are hard on the blade.
Couldn’t be happier with it.
Growing up on a farm in Illinois....my Dad instilled in me that the proper place for a scythe is hanging in a tree! I have one hanging in a pear tree here in North Texas. Daddy would be proud!
Move to a townhouse and pay the $40-60/month to have it done. A lot less effort and the yards all look great.
Definitively agree the other Craftsman lawn stuff like weed eaters, trimmers, etc. are low end cheap....they are cheap for a reason
Get a used DR high wheel trimmer. Most of them have 6 HP Briggs and Stratton engines. Mine’s been great. And it’s a real knapweed assassin.
Let me add...a couple of years ago I purchased a Cub Cadet 46” riding mower. Although we didn’t have International’s (Allis Chalmers)...I had to have a baby international...of sorts...MISTAKE...have had nothing but trouble...terrible engineering to just plain a POS...been under warranty so far but what a pain in the azz to have to load it up and carry it to the fix it shop....neighbor bought a “cheap” Toro and lends me his machine while mine is being fixed.. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
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