Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Being kinda new here, I figured it would be kinda cool to share some pictures of your OPE collection  and describe what kind of yard you have. I will start it off:

I live in Wantagh Long Island NY. My house is on a corner and my property is 85 x 112 ft. (lots of sidewalk!) And around here, it is a contest to see who has the nicest yard Lots of people hire it done and I used to do the same for 2 years but the pro's can never do as good of a job as me  The Pressure Washer, Mower, Snowblower, and the Echo blower were all purchase since I joined this awesome  forum!  Look what you guys have done!!!!

Outdoor Power Equipment group shots. I just cleaned up all my equipment and changed the oil/filters and gave them all the once over. Back row From left to right...

Troy Built 4.75HP pressure washer, 4.5HP Craftsman Yard Vac, MTD 3.5HP edger, Bradley 32" 12.5 HP Mower, Ariens 8.5HP Snowblower...

Front row: Homelite line trimmer (cheap but it works) and Echo BP200 Blower

So far, I am very happy with this equipment (The Snow Blower has not been used yet) The only thing I would have purchased different is my line trimmer. I would have went with an Echo straight shaft.

OK...Now I showed you mine, lets see yours!!!

Very nice equipment there!!! I liked the way you took the pics too! How long have you had them?

Here is my equipment...

Thank you!

       Nice Term! I have heard great things about those Toro mowers!  I had the SAME Toro blower as you but I gave it to my mother. I actually think it put out a stronger jet of air than my new Echo Also, is your trimmer a 4 stroke? It looks like a big engine...

My oldest piece is Trimmer  at 7 years old. The Yard Vac is 4 years old and the Edger is 5 years old. I will post some pictures of my shed and the front of my house later on tonight...stay tuned

Thanks Max For The Compliment!

HAHAHA, no max, its not a 4-cycle  My trimmer is a 2-cycle 40.2cc high performance engine with the equivilent to a 2HP 4-cycle engine but with more RPM LOL.
It uses 92 octane gas mixed at a 100:1 ratio. Yes, I do love that blower, it allways had plenty of power for me and I like that power adjustment knob. I have done reviews for all my equipment in the review section so go ahead and take a look. You will find them very imformative!

Your neighbors might have thought you're cocky without that fence.  I could care less myself.  I conplied a large library of my OPE, I hope you'll all enjoy.  It's almost like Power Equipment heaven. 
The photos can be viewed as a slideshow
I also have audio files
Craftsman LT
Echo ES-230
Ryobi 700r

ENJOY!!       

Nice slide show! And you have great taste in snow blowers and  leaf blowers

As for cocky? Nah...they think I am crazy  Like I really need a mower that big for my yard Here is my neighbors yard after 65K! It is a lousy picture and I stiched it together (notice the fence didn't line up). That deck that is behind the tree on the left is 3 levels. There is like 15 large soft globe lights  and of course speakers throught. They have a ton of parties!  Very nice IMHO but they pay over 15 thousand a year in taxes...so I am keeping my house as is!

LOL, nice going with that picture.  I hope the pool is away from your house cause of overflowing.  How did you like the audio files? 

Globe lights, speakers, pool, parties.....you need to befriend them!

The Craftsman sounded cool! I just love the sound of blades engaging! As for the Echo...well it sounds like mine

OK here are some pictures of my house...
This is the left side and the area where I took the shots of the OPE.


This shot is the front of the house...notice all the bags out front? That is 10 days worth of clippings! I am mowing grass every 5 days and it is high when I cut it!


This is the right side and it shows the garage


And I own 6 feet to the right of the garage


And this is a PITA to mow around!!!


This was not shot today and shows my daughters pink chalk  on the concrete


And last but not least...the new shed that houses all of my OPE!


For all of my pictures (hobbies and whatnot) Cut and paste this link:
http://www.pbase.com/cleanmaxx_brian

Well here is my stuff except for my new Stihl hedge trimmers & the Stihl power pruner.

Nice place Brian. How do you keep it so neat with children? OK, How do you keep it so neat?

Mike, Where did all that stuff come from?

Hey Rob,  I just bought each thing one at a time over the past yr & half. I got 16 yards  now.  That is really nice stuff you guys have!! My stuff doesn't get taken care of like it should I change oil and grease and things like that but I guess you should say I'm kinda hard on it trying to keep up with my yards and a full time job.

Nice place, I like the edging around everything.  Could you fix a tractor in that shed if you ever had to? 

Thanks everyone!

As for the kids, we have a rule...take it out and you have to put it back (Which loosely translates to kids take it out and Dad puts it away!) When I come home from work, I pick up the yard before I enter the house. I found that if I stay on top of it, it is less overwhelming.

As for the edging, yea it is all over!!! I go through 4 blades a year!  And to think, when I bought this place, I tried to do it with a manual hand edger! I made it 12 feet and drove to Home Depot!!! The shed is 12 x  16 so there is plenty of room for a tractor.  It is however filling up fast!

Mike,  nice collection! Looks like you put your money right where it counts! Your  Bridges mower looks a lot like my Bradley. How has it been holding up for you? Are both mowers belt drive? And one last question, what do you use to pull your trailer?

Brian, I have the same fort in my backyard, minus the slide, it's on the wooden swingset. It 's in the far back of the yard that buts up 440 acres of greenbelt, woods and ponds. I put a tarp over the top too but long enough to cover both sides. My kids and I have been known to get in it at night with a spotlight, wait and listen and spotlight coyotes. They think it's fun and get excited, I get excited because they do. We've seen raccons, possums, armadillo, all them critters that lurk after dark. My little girl calls it hunting. LOL She turned 8 Friday. I think I had more fun doing that than I do on my deer and duck hunts. Well maybe just a different fun.

One night we did it and I heard something coming, figured a coyote but sounded bigger. It got close, I hit spotlight, turned out to be a big ole bull starring at us. LOL

I hope it's not like my place where it seems that I have gotten a few comments about the wide gap between the drive and the walk.  It's about a good inch.   I guess the ideal is 1/2". 

Gee, a bull.  I would take a weapon with me after that.      Man, I was just on Brian's page and that perfect square hit me, that yard is something. 


Brian, do you cut different ways each time?  I try to, as I understand it is better for the lawn. 

Marshall, that sounds like so much fun! What a great way to spend time with the little ones!

Ajace,  Yea, try to keep it 1/2 inch or so. I have found that if it gets too wide, you will get ants!
And yes I always cange directions...next cut will be front to back instead of diagonal.

AJace wrote:
Naaa, they're just a cow with nads. 

Hey Brian, My Bridges was built by the same person that makes the Bradley ,I've only had it for about 6 months i guess. It's done great for what i paid for it 500.00. I use it on two yards now and for a back up. Both the bridges and the Exmark are belt driven. I use a F150 4x4 with the 4.6 to pull it. It does good just no over drive lol. It does ok on mpg i have'nt figured it up yet though.

Brian...

Your lawn is looking really good! I guess certain mowers are able to give that cutting shape in the lawn, plus it helps to have a high quality lawn! My lawn is low quality grade of grass. It was already in when we moved in. It was in very bad shape and had weeds growing in it. So what we did is removed all the weeds and started fertilising and wattering. It took a while but we got our lawn looking the way you see it in the pics on my website and pics you may have seen here at abbysguide. I have already fertilised this year and planning to do another fertilise in July. Then I will put down Scotts winteriser in September.

Term, my yard was pretty bad when I moved in! The problem was this house was rented ...and that means they never cut the grass/weeds! On top of that, my side yard has a HUGE tree and they never picked up the leaves. Up against the fence it was 3 feet deep for the whole depth of my property. I put out 96 contractor bags of leaves that first year! It took over 2 months feeding the garbage men To get the lawn back in shape, I used Scotts 4 step fertalizer. I also used a liquid spray that I put in a dispensor on the end of the garden hose. Every year it got better! I am now  on my 5th summer. Anly thing different this year is I gave a double shot of the spring fertalizer...we will see if it helps or maks things worse. I also bought a tool that removes weeds and I have stayed totally on top of the dandalions! (1st year for that!) I have pulled them BEFOR the flower has turned to a seed. 

My grass is far from perfect! I would say it is about 75% compared to the best I have seen around here. However I am working on it!!! All the time I might add! I spend 4 hours every 5 days on the grass and edging so far this spring. Tonight I picked up 8 large bags of red mulch that will go down in the beds up front. I sprayed Roundup on Sunday first and I will put down Preen as well.  This project I will work on a little every night when I get home from work.

It never ends!

Just wait after all that work, someone will come by and want to put it in a magazine.  If not Microsoft might want to use it as their desktop wallpaper. 

O.K. here's the stuff from my garage...check my signature for a list.  Missing is an Brinly (Craftsman) tow-behind 40" core aerator.  It's hanging on the wall and just didn't feel like getting it down just for a photo op.  Not as neatly placed as Brian...but it's all there.

LL

LL, is that Volvo a S60-R?

Marshall,

Nope, just a 2.4T.  The "R" didn't exist when I bought mine.

LL

LL, nice rides man, very nice! 

Thanks for the nice pictures folks !

Dave...

WOW!!! What a collection! And you are just a home owner correct?

How big is your property? Are you happy with each and every one or do you ever wish you bought a different model?

Nice taste in the vehicles and Sears lawn tractor and Toro brands.  They all look like there ready to tear something up. 

Yup, just a homeowner...about 3/4 acre but with dreams of owning more.  As I tell everyone, if I didn't have to work for a living, I'd be mowing lawns, it's just something I (like the rest of us) truly enjoy.

The only change I would make in my equipment today is that instead of the tractor, I'd take a good hard look at a ZTR.  I considered one a couple of years ago but didn't get it because I wanted one with individual pumps and wheel motors rather than the dual intergrated hydros that most residential units have (the Snappers with separate pumps/motors weren't around then), couldn't justify the price or size of a commercal unit, and didn't want to buy used (I like having a warranty).  When the trimmer goes (it's a cheap Deere (Homelite) that shows no signs of slowing down), I'll probably replace it with an Echo, Stihl or the like.

The other evening, I told my wife I was depressed...with the addition of the backpack blower, I had basically obtained all of the OPE I really wanted...but after thinking about it, I still don't have a pressure washer...

LL

Ohhhhh Presure Washer = FUN  FUN  FUN!!!

I am going to be buying a preasure washer in a couple months. I am looking at a Black & Decker 1600 PSI model as its only going to be for home use and I don't need alot of PSI.

I was at Lowes a month or so ago and they had one of those big pressure washers with a 13HP Honda GX on clearance for $500, regularly around $1,000.  It was as-is but the only thing I could find wrong was that it was missing the hose assembly and any attachments it may have come with.  There was most likely nothing wrong with it as there had clearly never been any fuel in the tank.  I'm still kicking myself for not buying it.

I think it may have been this one.

LL

Hi LL.

 Just wondering how you like your Husqvarna 145 backpack blower. Thats the model I've been eyeing up, but haven't had a chance to test one yet. Does it have the power to move most debris and how is it to operate for an extended period of time. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost you?

                                                                             Thanks,    Kevin

Kevin,

Here's the story behind the blower:  The story behind the blower

I'm still waiting for one part which should be here next Wednesday.  I haven't fired it up yet but I'll let you know when I do.

LL

Thanks LL. I remember reading reading about that now. Good deal. Well, when you get it going let us know how it performs.

                                                                                      Thanks again,    Kevin

Brian,

How's that Craftsman Yard Vac work? I see them at Sears everytime I'm there, they stick them where you have to walk right buy them, you can't miss them at the Sears here. I always wondered how they did.

Marshall, If you have lots of leaves that you have to pick up (Not mulch with a mower) the macine is a god send! It has a powerful suction and will pick up small as well as very large leaves yet It leaves small peables in place! My buddy has one too (I talked him into it!) and he is just as happy with his. He picks up pine needles. The only issue he has is with the bag. He has to run over lots of concreate and it wears a hole in the bottom of the bag. He has gone through 3 of them so far and they are expensive. I actually use mine more than he does and am still on the original bag. As for the blower section, it is awesome! There is nothing like CFM!!! Makes my little Echo a toy in comparision! However, there is no way to adjust the air output without moving the whole machine. Sears sells a more expensive model that is red if  remember right and it has a bigger engine and a large air output tube that allows you to control the blowers output. Plus it is self propelled (I have NO IDEA why you would want that? it is soooo easy to push) Here is a picture from e-bay:

As for the wood chipper, it too is good for the small branches that fall from trees. Nothing to big but It will take whatever you can fit down the tube. I wonder how long before I need to sharpen the blades??? I have filed the bag a few times with just wood chips!

All in all, a good machine. The engine runs strong but is is hard to pull (has a large heavy cutter wheel inside that you are pulling along with the engine itself and therefore when you cut the engine there is a long coast down).

I hope this helps a bit.

When I get a chance, I am going to write up a review on all my gear and post it in the review sections. I may cut and paste whats above for the yard vac! LOL!!!

Thanks Brian, sounds like they really work well. I don't need one, I just throw my hi-lift blade on my RER and suck up everything, and I mean everything. Dog crap doesn't stand a chance.

I can see where they would really be beneficial. I had a neighbor once that mowed his lawn with a Jacobsen Reel Mower, and afterwards would take his Jacobsen Lawn Vac, much like yours and vacuum his lawn. He had a great looking lawn too!

Thanks.