You DO have a lot of water. In the Northeast I've about 2 acres of
land .. . about an acre of lawn .. . you can mow it all in half a day or in
3 one-hour+ sessions. Great exercise! With trees, shrubs and hillocks .. .
a simple 21" self-propelled mower is all that's needed (I've a 20 year old
Honda if that's a help). John Deere and Honda are bulletproof reliable.
Sorry to hear about Toro using B&S. B&S are fussy engines. I've also a 40
year old "Eclipse" reel mower (with zerk fittings no less) and you have to
pull the B&S head, scrape down the valves and combustion chamber annually
just to get it to start for the season. The Honda just sits around in the
sub-freezing winter .. . and starts on the first pull. Different
technologies. Recommend synthetic oil in anything you buy .. . word to the
wise.
Try a normal "bailer" chute, mulcher and bagger for attachments.
When the grass is thick .. . bail it. Mulch when it's shorter, to feed the
grass. Bag (and compost it) when it's too high to bail (or might otherwise
kill the grass). Sounds like you could also use "plugger" to aerate the
grass where you are.

"Bob M." wrote in message
...
Toro has gotten much cheaper in the past 10 years. That doesn't mean less
expensive. They don't use the Japanese engines any more, instead getting
B&S
engines specifically made for them. Parts are expensive and some of the
wheels are plastic instead of rubber.

Electric start isn't necessary on good engines. With compression release,
the pulling effort is much less than it was 20 years ago. The batteries
need
to be replaced fairly often. If you get a mower that has a blade clutch,
i.e. the motor can keep running when the blade isn't, you only need to
start
the thing once per session. One or two pulls aren't that much of an effort
any more.

Just my humble opinions. Your mileage may vary.

Bob M.
======
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
igy.com...


"Larry" wrote in message news:liDza.91731
I would like a riding lawn mower but just think that I will still need
to
get a self-propelled one to finish the job.... So, I am leaning
towards
a
self-propelled at this very moment... I want something beefy with a
good
horsepower that has a HUGE bag
I'm considering the new Honda aluminum deck commercial/master series
or
a
Toro with a 22 inch deck 6 1/2 hp... Don't know what to think of the
electric start feature they have...

If you have trees or gardens to mow around, you will find the self
propelled
to be more of a hindrance than a help. They are good for long straight
runs, not twisting and turning around things. They are more awkward in
that
situation. I learned to hate my first mower, a self propelled. Do a
comparison for maneuverability. The drive mechanisms add size, weight.

Normally, I'd say to get a mulching blade, but you may have too much
grass
to safely mulch. It would help in the drier times though, no bagging
and
hauling.

Electric start is not needed on a good mower. My John Deer is five
years
old. I push the primer button six times and it starts on one pull.
After
sitting the entire winter, it may take two pulls the first run of the
season.

Deere, Honda, Toro are all good. I've not kept up with individual
models
so
I can't give a particular recommendation.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome