On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:05:07 GMT, G wrote:

I have about .4 acres to mow. Originally I was looking

I"m leaving the rest of the post. I thought you said 4 acres. This
is why most people write 0.4 acres, because you don't know what my
monitor or room light is like or how good my vision is, etc. There
are lots of typos on the net, and if there seems to be an extra space
between t and 4, no one will think that is strange.

Most of what I wrote is fully applicable to the smaller lawn you have.

at self-propelled, but have been convinced by a long-
time mower friend (this is my 1st house and I've NEVER
mowed before), that a push-model is good enough. That

ROTFLOL. I thought the choice would be between self-propelled and
riding. In JHS and HS, we had about 1/3 of an acrre, counting where
the house was. With a self-propelled mower**, it took 90 minutes for
the front lawn and 90 for the back. If we figure you'll go twice as
fast as I did, that will be 18 hours to mow the lawn.

**Admittledly I kept the engine running slowly and that made this
model proceed quite slowly.

They do make self-propelled with one throttle for the engine and a
separate one for the speed the mower travels. I don't think they are
common though, they probably all have big engines (see below) and the
maximum mower speed at any given time is I'm sure limited by where you
set the engine speed.

AFAIK, It is better to have the front wheels driven than the rear. I
had to shift to neutral all the time to pull the mower away from the
trees etc. With front drive, push down on the handle and the rear
wheels move freely while the front is off the ground, ass uming no one
is in front of you to get hit by stones or sticks or pine cones.
Seriously, it's immoral to injure someone this way, and these days
you'll be liable, and you have to make looking the automatic first
step all the time. Otherwise you'll forget to look on the infrequent
occaions someone is there.

the more complex a mower (i.e. Propel vs. push), the
more things can go wrong,

We had a Moto-mower. I think the transmission did break once in the 8
years we lived there. They don't use that style of transmission
anymore, but I don't know if the new ones are better or worse.
"Transmission" is an overblown word, maybe the wrong word. It was
just a clutch, a little box 3 by 3 by 3, with a belt, a pulley , and a
couple 45 degree gears and a lever.

and I'm 30 & fit so a push
should not be an issue.

LOL. I was 12 to 18 and fit. My land in Indiana was totally flat.

Now that I see you mean point 4 acres, it will be a lot of exercise to
push the mower, but I think you can do it. And riding mowers have
major problems around obstructions, like others have described.

Land is mostly flat, backyard
slants up about 30 degrees.

Thirty degrees!!!!! You don't think it will be hard to push on
that! BTW, if it is really 30, you have to go sideways, not up, and
they say not even down. I think, or the mower will fall over ON you.
Even if you go sideways on the hill itself, somewhere you will be
pushing your mower up that hill, over and over..

If I were you, I would absolutely borrow your neighbor's mower before
I bought anything***. I think you have no idea of what this will be
like. If he won't let you mow your lawn (unlikely) offer to mow part
of his.

***It's a good way to get to know your neighbor. But don't mow near
the rock garden or any place else you might hurt the blade. Just
leave that stuff for next time. It's a bad way to get to know your
neighbor if the first thing you do is nick his blade, or worse. When
you are mowing one swath, you can keep your eyes on the next swath to
see if there are any rocks that you're going to hit next time. Not
necessary most of the time, but probably is the first time you mow the
lawn. There are kids around here, and I keep finding white stones
that are used in a bush or flower bed. It comes and goes but
sometimes I keep finding them in my yard.

If he has a riding mower (likely) keep going down the street until you
find someone with a push mower. If he thinks he can win an ally in
the push mower brigade, he'll readily lend you his mower, because he
thinks he's smarter and stronger than those with riding mowers. He
may well be, but you should make sure in advance that you want to be
like him.


Obviously, electric not an
option.

After looking at Consumers Reports and reading a lot of
stuff in general, I'm considering the Craftsman 38886.
It's a push, large-rear wheels, with mulching & rear-

The larger rear wheels mean nothing on really flat land (whether level
or not). They are there to help you go over rough land, curbs, etc.
The same reason a bicycle can handle ridges and bumps

bagging.

And you're going to bag too! Do you realize how many loads there are
in 4 acres? 50? Just a guess. I predict with a wlaking mower you
will never finish, even the first time. I never bag. it's good
fertilizer

I wish I could find out if it is ball-bearing
or not (I'll go this weekend to look at it and hopefully
the salepeerson would know....we'll see....is there any
way to tell myself?)

Any opinions on Craftsman push mulching/rear-bagging
mowers, specifially the 38886? Oh yea, it's B&S 6.5hp

Does it have a throttle? 6.5 make a lot of noise, for no good reason
unless you're trying to mow a baby forest. Even 3 HP make too much
noise to run at full speed. You can run most engines, especially
big ones, at half throtte, even in the spring, and still mow the lawn
fine, including mulching. 1/3 throttle would be enough when the
weather has been dry. IF it has a throttle.

BTW, when I didn't have a "mulching mower" I duct-taped a business
size envelope over the grass opening and voila, a mulching mower. I
only did this in the fall when I wanted to mulch the leaves. It
worked fine.

I would think every engine, especially on lawn mowers, would have a
throttle, and they used to, but lately not all do. I have a mower
with no throttle coontrol but seemingly a place to connect one. I
also have a Craftsman with no trottle and NOWHERE to connect one.

I may keep it for its other features and wear earplugs, but I'm very
unhappy about this lack.

Also 6HP engines weigh more, and that will matter a lot when you are
pushing the mower. A couple years ago I had one push mower that
didn't start, but I borrowed one from a friend, and 've been keeping
my eyes open and I've found 4 mowers in the trash. 3 looked brand
new, although one of those was made in 1978. Some are 6 or 6.5HP and
some 3.5 I have to lift one side to get it up on the cement slab where
I store it during the summer, and with some of them, I can just twist
the handle and the right side goes up. Others are so heavy I can't do
it and I'm afraid I'll bend the handle. I have to go up to the side
of the engine, bend down and lift it up, and push it on the slab at
the same time. No big deal, but it would be if I had to push the
thing everywhwere.

Thanks a ton, trying not to make a bad decision
considering I've never owned a mower before, and I
figure a $220 Craftsman is better than spending $700 on
a Honda HRX217HXA now that I have mortgage payments...

I buy alsmost everything second-hand. Your house was second-hand,
right?

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.