"Frank" wrote in message
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brooklyn1 wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message
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brooklyn1 wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message
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On May 21, 5:08 pm, "Pete E. Kruzer" wrote:
A self propelled, mulching/bagging/throwing clippings. I have a seven
year old Toro, it's OK, but it doesn't handle thick grass too well.
The underside of the deck cakes very easily.
Any recommendations?
I had an old front wheel drive Toro that kept breaking down. Bought a
rear wheel drive Lawnboy which I like better but grass caking is still
a problem. My son was borrowing it when he first moved in his house
and now he has a Honda, which he says beats Lawnboy hands down.

I believe Toro and Lawnboy are now the same company which I assume
will combine the worse of both names in new mowers in order to save
money

===========

No mystery, all rotary blade mowers clog when mowing overly tall and/or
wet grass. Always wait for grass to dry, and if too tall raise the
deck for the first pass, then make a second lower pass. Mowing has
nothing whatsoever to do with mower brand (if red is your favorite
color buy Toro, if green buy a Lawnboy, etc.), it's all about common
sense.



I'm sure you're right and I don't know how son's Honda fares on wet
grass. In my experience, grass should be absolutely dry before cutting
but often this is not possible or convenient.

No mower does well with wet grass. Honda makes a quality machine but it
wont mow better than any other brand with wet grass. Mostly what one
pays a higher price for is longiviety of the machine, the power of it's
motor, and quality/availability of service.

My preference is still for rear wheel drive.

I wouldn't buy any self propelled push mower... if the area is so large
that it needs to be power propelled I'd opt for a riding mower. None of
the self propelled mechanisms last very long, they arre continuously
troublesome, they rob too much cutting power, and they make the mower
cumbersome and heavy. If I have to run a mower over so much area that I
think I need self propelled then I'd rather ride than walk.
Might agree. I have 0.8 acre lot but heavily terraced. I would not risk
taking a riding mower between sloped levels. There is also general
planting. Neighbor lended me his rider with cart once to give me some
chipped mulch and it was very difficult to maneuver on my lot. Takes me an
hour and a half to cut grass but it takes him longer on rider on same
sized lot. A zero turn mower might work better but that's starting to get
into big bucks.

My Lawnboy's about 10 years old but still starts on the first pull

With the terrain you describe all you need is an ordinary push mower... and
if you're living on that lot your house, driveway, walkways. bedded plants,
any shed/outbulding, etc. takes up substantial area... you probably have at
the most like .4 of an acre of actual grass to mow... with it "heavily
terraced" as you say any kind of self propelled machine would be a
hindrance... having to move from one level to another and navagate all kinds
of convoluted areas you want the lightest weight narrowest mower you can
find. Lawnboy used to make an 18" magnesium deck push mower, no one does
anymore. I must have seached for a year for one... all I could find were
junked ones and no parts available. I think the last 18" push mower made
was a Murray.