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

1. I saw this at costco for 320.00  That stainless deck is sure neat, what's holding me back on this is the fact that it's front wheel drive,  I'm not to sure about front wheel drive mowers,  and it appears to only have one speed.  I'm pretty inexpeirenced and am susteptable to buying things that "look cool".    So I'm trying to get an idea of the pro's and cons of a model like this.   Here's what my yard is like,  1/3 acre, I will only be doing my lawn with it, there is some moderate hills and, oh yeah I dont have grass yet! but will be hydroseeding asap.

6.5 HP*/21" High Wheel Self-Propelled Mower

• 6.5 HP* Honda Engine

• *as rated by engine manufacturer

• 21" Stainless Steel Deck

• Rear Bag & Mulch Kit Included

• 8" Front / 12" Rear Wheels

• Oil Included in Carton

• 2-Year Limited Warranty

What's that matter can't you read my mind fred?  lol   sorry bout that I guess that would be good info to have,  Yardman.MTD.  also here's a bigger picture.

i've owned a couple front drive push mowers and never really had problems with them..............

all were single speed and were used on the banks on my property................

if the speed was too slow on the flat sections i would just neutral the drive and manually push it.....................

honda engines a nice feature too............

just my input,

bill

I saw one at Sam's over the weekend. Not self propelled. The wheels looked cheap. Could not tell about the bearings. seemed like a lot of money for what it was. Did the stainless catch your eye? I would rather have aluminium or plastic.

Do you need self propelled?
What did you like, the Honda?

It seems to me the wheels, how they mount, and how they are driven is just as important as anything else with a mower. That's where the one I saw did not look to worth the money.

Hi Mang:

I used to have a Yardman mower up until 4yrs ago.  My unit was self propelled (by me not machine).  My mower had the B&S industrial engine, 6hp if I recall, that had the lined cylinders and actual bearings on the wheels.  The mower was a heavy unit, especially if you bagged the clippings.  I found that the mower generally performed very well, but that I had problems with cheap items breaking: throttle control, skirt, metal panel on the back bottom breaking apart.  I could not complain about the service that I got from it as it was 7yrs old and I got it for a song.  I bought it for $60 on clearance at Wal Mart.  Not a bad mower if you can get it for the right price.     bbwb

Let me just say that I would recommend a Toro Super Recycler for $445.00 over the MTD. I would also recommend one of the Husqvarna's (see Sears also), Lawn Boys, Ariens, Snappers, etc. over the MTD. Their reputation is to offer an engine of decent make with high HP at a low price in order to catch your eye while the rest of the mowers is not as desirable.

With the Toro SR you gain a 5 year GTS (guarenteed to start) engine, a superior mulching deck, the personal pace system which is great and a mower that is built well, all for only $100.00 more.

Here is a link to Speedway Sales, they advertise on this Forum, there add is to the right of the threads, FYI.

You might click some of the other advertisers links too just to check them. Would be happy to answer more question specifically about any of them.

I have to agree with Marshal on the Toro Super Recycler...That is what I replaced the yardman with.  I really like the personal pace feature, it really takes the work out of mowing. 

bbwb

Those are all very good point's. I did not think of those things,  and yes that cool deck caught my eye.

Here's an alternative  scenario, my dad bought a toro super recyler and gave me his old snapper mower that his dad gave him,  can you believe that this mower is on it's third generation in our family,  it runs and mows  as of now but needs some attention.

If you guys can help me a little bit with info here and there, I would much rather bring this snapper back to good condtion and see if we can't get a few more generations out of it.  I would like to plug the hole for bagging and put on a mulching blade, replace the disc drive clean and repaint the deck and maybe get it some new shoes.  I'm sure there are a few things I'm missing  and I'm open to comments and other things that might need to be done.