Appreciate the response
Selecting a new gas mower for residential use
- Thread starter E150GT
- Start date
Owned a few Hondas and has been the only mower brand I've used since I purchased my first HR21 in 1980. Loved them all and sold the older ones off with tons of life and in excellent shape for good money. Currently using a five year old HRX217K2HXA variable speed with blade brake. Absolutely fantastic mower. I keep up with oil and air filter changes annually, plugs when needed, and occasional valve clearance check. Cables adjusted rarely and did hydrostat fluid change. Learned to sharpen my own blades (curiously a 40° angle on the Microcuts), and replaced the entire carb due to clogged pre-jet passageway ($18!) rather than clean it out and replace jets. It's been bomb-proof and super reliable, only needing one half hearted pull to crank it up every time. This one will last the rest of my life, or at least til I stop mowing grass. Thats good because I wouldn't know what to get that could match the one I have. Shame Honda is getting out of the game with such a great product. At least they are going out on top.
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- Jun 13, 2022
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- 42
We have 3 Briggs mowers and they’ve all been very good. One Troy Bilt push mower, one Troy Bilt self propelled, and one Toro self propelled. The push mower is about 16 years old, the Toro is about 13 years old and the TB self propelled is about 7 or 8 years old. The older two are Briggs L-heads and the newer one is an OHV. The OHV seems somewhat more cantankerous than the L-heads, IMO. I had to recently run Amsoil Power Foam through the OHV carb because it started sputtering, and never had to do that with the L-heads. They all run well now, though. Each of these mowers is probably run 20 to 30 hours per year, on average. Oil changes are typically once a year or once every 2 years using Amsoil 5W-30.
Briggs engines will serve you well if you take reasonably good care of them.
Briggs engines will serve you well if you take reasonably good care of them.
You can still find Snapper gas powered mowers online. IMHO, a commercial Snapper with Ninja blade is an unbeatable combo.
The Toro mowers also work great, but the drive system does result in 'drag' when pulling the mower backwards. This leads to considerably more effort when using it for finishing up a job.
The Toro mowers also work great, but the drive system does result in 'drag' when pulling the mower backwards. This leads to considerably more effort when using it for finishing up a job.
I prefer reel mowers over rotary for cut quality but I suppose that's not an option for those of you with massive properties and endless grass to cut.
Good old Toro Sportlawn 18" was amazing.
Good old Toro Sportlawn 18" was amazing.
This thread got me looking for replacement parts for my Snapper Commercial 21" mower. That thing is a beast, and is probably 25 years old now. It was worth every penny. Sadly, the deck is getting thin/rusty from years of abuse. I repowered it with a Honda 190cc engine a few years back.
I have an older version of this version. With caster/swivel front wheels. By far, without any doubt, the Snapper RWD drive system/differential is the easiest and most robust mower drive around. Add in the steel wheels and ball bearings, and it's "old tech" worth considering, as it will last a very long time.
Anyway, if you want a quality gas powered mower, now is probably the time to get one. As they are being discontinued rapidly. I like my battery mower, no question. But it can't do what the Snapper can do. It's slower and if the grass is not to tall, the 60V 5AH battery might last 30 min. I can't do my yard with the battery mower, that's for sure.
I have an older version of this version. With caster/swivel front wheels. By far, without any doubt, the Snapper RWD drive system/differential is the easiest and most robust mower drive around. Add in the steel wheels and ball bearings, and it's "old tech" worth considering, as it will last a very long time.
Anyway, if you want a quality gas powered mower, now is probably the time to get one. As they are being discontinued rapidly. I like my battery mower, no question. But it can't do what the Snapper can do. It's slower and if the grass is not to tall, the 60V 5AH battery might last 30 min. I can't do my yard with the battery mower, that's for sure.
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I placed a "pre order" from that link at acme tools for a Honda HRX with all the bells and whistles. I am not certain that order will get filled or not though.
JHZR2
Staff member
Good luck.
I’m in the same boat. Can’t find anything I want to buy.
ALL toro mowers are made in Mexico. I saw a super recycler on sale for $649 but decided against because of COO. My wife wanted a craftsman because that’s what we had before, so I think we may go with one of those which look like the Troy bilt and cub cadet mowers too.
Ideally I’d get something with a Kawasaki or Kohler engine with a presurized oil system and filter, though it’s total overkill for us. Our mowers probably see 20 hours per year.
I really like my antique snapper but can’t find a new one anywhere. There is a used commercial for $250…
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Yeah emailed Honda. They gave me a non answer. I am not hopeful.
I keep looking at the super recycler but then I look at the scag scf21 or the badboy pushmowers because I love overkill but then I get sane again and go back to the super recycler. It's an endless loop.
JHZR2
Staff member
Same. There’s a professional husquvarna with a Kohler with a pressurized oil system that looks good. I too like overkill, though weight is an issue not because I care about heft but because of the one very short steep slope I have to mow and look nice which can be dangerous and very inconvenient.
I’d love a Honda plastic deck with blade clutch.
Yup. The Honda has everything I want except the oil filter
Those places with inventory were put on stop sale until Honda can figure out extent of affected units with the cam recall. Once they do that, and units pulled for repair, you should see a trickle of product released. One of my neighbors did the same thing with an HRX order from Acme.
