decent make of push mower

[walnut_guy]

I had a cheapie 3 yr old briggs and stratton mower that started having carb trouble this week. After taking it apart, I am just surprised at how junkie and flimsy these things are these days. I fiddled with it some to no avail. I know that I could fix it with a little more effort (replace the $25 carb most likely) but I think I would just rather go ahead and buy another mower.

My question is, is there any decent reasonably priced push mower these days that is NOT a Briggs, but preferably made in the USA? I have not liked what I saw at the Box stores.

 

[LenND]

I had a Sears front wheel drive mower with 6 horse B & S engine. Last year the front drive went to pieces and being as the mower was 16 years old I bought a new rear wheel drive w/7 horse B & S. The motor from the old mower still doesn't use any oil and has quite a few hours on it.

 

[Pops1532]

Bout the only thing that goes wrong with those cheapie B&S engines is the carb or mag. Fix or replace the carb and you'll get many more years of service from it.

 

[Mike M]

Buy a used top brand one. I have one of those silver JD models. They are really getting old now but you see many in good shape for sale reasonable on ebay. I really like the blade brake clutch lets you run the mower around the gravel drive without the blades turning. 5 speeds so you can set to your pace and the Kawasaki engines run great.

 

[2x4]

to get good briggs engines you must buy at least 3 1/2 h.p. 3 h.p. & below are cheaper made.

 

[showcrop]

My problem with the walk behinds, besides Briggs motors, is hitting something and bending the crank. There was a thread a few weeks back about different motors and someone who works on them posted about the small Briggs not even having crankshaft bearings. The crank just runs in the case! Due to these problems and bad legs I got a used zero turn. It is a Ferris with 2 cyl. Kawasaki. It had 1000 hours on it, and a friend in the landscape business says they easily do 2000 hours before major problems. At 35 hours a year I'm good. And the lawn is getting mowed twice as often which makes the wife happy.

 

[rustyfarmall]

We had an el-cheapo Lawn Chief from True-Value Hardware with a 3 horse Briggs. We got a full 11 years of service out of it with nothing more than general maintenance, but it finally just gave up and wouldn't run right no matter what I did. We replaced it with a brand new Poulan with the same 3 horse Briggs, and that mower has been nothing but trouble from the day we brought it home. It is just now 3 years old, and will probably go to the scrap heap when we are done mowing this year. I probably will be attending some auctions this winter to see if I can find a decent used mower of higher end quality.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Snapper (commercial model only) or Toro----with briggs engine, not tecumseh. The snapper has the rubber disc drive---almost indestructable. The toro has the personal pace trans--not as good as the snapper but better than most. Never get a front wheel drive walk behind. Always get a rear wheel drive.

 

[Brian G. NY]

Lawn-Boy is probably the best but.......quite expensive. Used to be all 2 cycle but I think they are probably all 4 cyle now.
I bought a "Silver Series" 2 stroke 6.5 HP self propelled Lawn-Boy at a garage sale 5 years ago for $20. I had to take the "composite" carburetor apart about 3 times before I got it to run right but it is by far the best lawn mower I have ever used!! It is rear wheel drive which works well on my lawn which is quite steep in places. The rear wheels give more traction when going up hill than the front wheel types. The speed is controlled by a small V-belt which grips more as the drive lever is squeezed. That belt is still in good condition even after 5 years of heavy use; about an hour and a half"s worth of mowing every week. I have just about worn the tread off the rear wheels so I bought a batch of 3 other Lawn-Boys on e-bay for $95 which included 2 identical to mine. They all have problems; bad carb, bad ignition module and such but good solid engines and good wheels.
Go on e-bay and you will find lots of good used ones but a little pricey. I think many of the landscapers use them because the 2-strokes can mow at any angle without loss of lubrication.
There is a push mower section on the My Tractor forum and if you go there, you will get a lot of info about Lawn-Boys as it seems that is where the Lawn-Boy guys hang out. Try one and you will will be a believer!!

 

[dhermesc]

Buy a cheap one and forget about it. Most likely it will have the same engine as the more expensive units and they have the same problems. All of them have cheap nonadjustable carbs. The differance is a Briggs is cheap and easy to replace and a Honda is super expensive to replace - with the same results.

My 4.5 hp Tecumseh powered Murray is now 16 years old. Even with all carb problems that Tecumseh seems to have this one has never been touched. Fill it with Stabile and Seafoam in the winter and add a little Seafoam a couple times in the summer and its still running great. One change of oil a year and two blade sharpenings a summer and its good to go.

Last spring my wife complained that I hadn't gotten it ready and she needed it. I told her it was ready (actually I hadn't touched it). She said I did a great job tuning it for the summer because it started on the second pull.

 

[PDB]

I have had a simple Honda side discharge push mower for about 10 years. I use it to mow where the tractor cant go and it has seen a lot of abuse. What I liked about it was the beefy design of the blade and crankshaft. I looked under a lot of mowers and the Honda was the best built.

 

[rhouston]

They are all garbage until you get in the upper 300 dollar range. Cheaper ones have no throttle, no oil drain plug (other than the dipstick hole)and the deck and blades are junk.

 

[bjb in TX from Ne]

Look into American Lawn Mower company.
No gas
No oil
You are the motor.
Takes a bit of tinkering to keep adjusted correctly.

 

[CJ3b_jeep]

I have a honda HR214, power driven, to mow around the house. It's a great mower and always starts. They also make or made a little 18" deal with a plastic deck. My uncle has had one for years. It only weighs a few pounds

 

[cadet trooper]

FYI, Briggs engines are now all Chinese and Tecumseh has closed down which includes Lawn-Boy let me know how that works for y'all. Check it out and varifiable. I have all of the older ones and do the normal maintenance requirements. Good Luck!