Self propelled lawn mower advice

[Charles in Aus.]

My aging ' no name ' self propelled, walk behind mower is slowly losing its transmission.
It's powered by a 6.75 Briggs and Stratton that has never missed a beat , sadly though I'm now a little too frail to push it along myself .
I need a new petrol powered one , there's no practical way of repairing what's gone wrong .

it seems most manufacturers are replacing i.c.e. engines with battery powered machines , these just won't cut it ( pardon the pun ) our grass is tough South African Kikuyu, full of fibre and silica .
Any recommendations please ? Market availability aside there has to be one good one on the world market .

 

[Janicholson]

One example.
Ariens , DR, Craftsman all have some reputation. The Craftsman has some heft to it. as well as rear wheel drive.

 

[Caryc]

I purchased a Yardmax gas mower. There are two things I don't like about it. 1. When you put the power to the wheels, you have to practically run behind the thing. There is no way to slow it down. 2. When you just want to move it without the engine running, you're fighting the front driving wheels. There is no way to disengage them from the mechanism that drives them. Without the engine running, the wheels are still turning what ever it is that drives them. So, to move it you have to push down on the handle to lift the front wheels off the ground.

I'm really sorry I bought this thing.

 

[OliLt]

Honda with personal pace drive, or multi speed drive. Pricey!

 

[glennster]

Charles, not sure how much you are mowing, but maybe look into a commercial walk behind. look for either a kawasaki engine or honda. i have a Ferris hydro walk 48 inch walk behind, dual hydraulic drives. and a troy built 33 inch cut mulching mower. the ferris will pull a sulky. Exmark, Scag and Hustler make good machines also. if you dont like walking, look at the stand on mowers. highly maneuverable and fast cutting.

 

[Southern Ray]

I purchased a Yardmax gas mower. There are two things I don't like about it. 1. When you put the power to the wheels, you have to practically run behind the thing. There is no way to slow it down. 2. When you just want to move it without the engine running, you're fighting the front driving wheels. There is no way to disengage them from the mechanism that drives them. Without the engine running, the wheels are still turning what ever it is that drives them. So, to move it you have to push down on the handle to lift the front wheels off the ground.

I'm really sorry I bought this thing.

can you replace the drive wheels with smaller ones?

 

[Don B.]

Hilly yard? Ditch banks? You want REAR drive. Otherwise at the end of a run and you're still going uphill the drive wheels are up in the area are flailing away not driving anything when they are up and n the air because you pushed the handlebar downward for your turnaround.

 

[jwal10]

Honda engine only for me. I want rear wheel drive, not front drive, high rear wheels (big). They make small stand up ride on residential mowers now....James

https://www.wrightmfg.com/assets/images/product/feature/feature_3/stander_fixed_32_right_rear_quarter_475x475.jpg

 

[Don B.]

Nope. No Honduh. I have enough NOS Briggs and Tecumseh from the 70s/80s to last me a lifetime.
Granted if you are buying new current today models there really ain't much of a choice. Lots of Johnny come lately brands I've never heard of. Power more? Huh? Predator? No way.

 

[RedMF40]

I use a Husqvarna AWD mower I bought new. Usually starts with one pull. My place is fairly hilly and the AWD really helps. Owned it for about ten years now, no problems except I had to adjust the engagement for the drive wheels once which was easy.

 

[jwal10]

We had Briggs on wheel lines and bulk fertilizer transfer bins, had enough of them, put Honda's on, in the 70's. A 5hp had way more power than a slow ol'e 7 Briggs. I have had a few Tecumseh, one on a Horse tiller and another on a small Wards 3 wheeler, way back in the day, to sour me. We had some Robin/Wisconsin or Subaru small engines on plate compactors and de-watering pumps, tough but took a lot of monkey business to keep them running. Better take 2 of each if you planned on being out all day. Honda's start easy and run and run....James

 

[Don B.]

Not the Honduh 's I've had to deal with..... I've honestly had less headaches from Tecumseh. And I've had a whole lot more of them, than Honduh.

Can't explain it, but that's my experience

 

[JIM MN]

Honda! Rear wheel drive, vary speed, good power. No problems with many hours of use.

 

[ss55]

My aging ' no name ' self propelled, walk behind mower is slowly losing its transmission.
It's powered by a 6.75 Briggs and Stratton that has never missed a beat , sadly though I'm now a little too frail to push it along myself .
I need a new petrol powered one , there's no practical way of repairing what's gone wrong .

it seems most manufacturers are replacing i.c.e. engines with battery powered machines , these just won't cut it ( pardon the pun ) our grass is tough South African Kikuyu, full of fibre and silica .
Any recommendations please ? Market availability aside there has to be one good one on the world market .

Toro Personal Pace mowers work well for me. They are simple, reliable and easy to repair when repair is needed.

 

[UncleTom]

I love the Toro personal pace mowers in rear wheel drive.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

My aging ' no name ' self propelled, walk behind mower is slowly losing its transmission.
It's powered by a 6.75 Briggs and Stratton that has never missed a beat , sadly though I'm now a little too frail to push it along myself .
I need a new petrol powered one , there's no practical way of repairing what's gone wrong .

it seems most manufacturers are replacing i.c.e. engines with battery powered machines , these just won't cut it ( pardon the pun ) our grass is tough South African Kikuyu, full of fibre and silica .
Any recommendations please ? Market availability aside there has to be one good one on the world market .

10 years my son bought a new house. I bought him this 48 inch mower as a house gift.
It will last him a lifetime. It takes him 25 minutes to mow his yard.
Top speed is almost a run.

 

[Brian G. NY]

My aging ' no name ' self propelled, walk behind mower is slowly losing its transmission.
It's powered by a 6.75 Briggs and Stratton that has never missed a beat , sadly though I'm now a little too frail to push it along myself .
I need a new petrol powered one , there's no practical way of repairing what's gone wrong .

it seems most manufacturers are replacing i.c.e. engines with battery powered machines , these just won't cut it ( pardon the pun ) our grass is tough South African Kikuyu, full of fibre and silica .
Any recommendations please ? Market availability aside there has to be one good one on the world market .

If you're not against buying older used stuff you might want to consider a two stroke Lawn-Boy.
Sorta crude by today's standards maybe but one of the best and toughest walk behind mowers ever built!
They are still much sought after and you can find the mowers and parts for them in abundance on ebay and elsewhere on the "net".
Because they are two-strokes you can mow the steepest of banks and not worry about engine lubrication.
I have had a couple of the 6.5 HP mowers over the years and still have one for mowing some of the banks along side the road and my driveway.
They are very powerful.
The newest versions are 4-stroke which are nearly as good except for the lubrication on very steep inclines.
The "variable speed" is simply a belt....squeeze the lever and you go faster. Have never had to replace one of those belts.
They are rear wheel drive which is what you need for maximum traction on steep slopes.
That's just my opinion but if you go lookin' you'll find many, many people with the same opinion.
Actually, I'm kinda surprised no one else has mentoned a Lawn-Boy.

 

[Ray(MO)]

My aging ' no name ' self propelled, walk behind mower is slowly losing its transmission.
It's powered by a 6.75 Briggs and Stratton that has never missed a beat , sadly though I'm now a little too frail to push it along myself .
I need a new petrol powered one , there's no practical way of repairing what's gone wrong .

it seems most manufacturers are replacing i.c.e. engines with battery powered machines , these just won't cut it ( pardon the pun ) our grass is tough South African Kikuyu, full of fibre and silica .
Any recommendations please ? Market availability aside there has to be one good one on the world market .

 

[NDIHC]

I picked up this Snapper 7 hp self propelled used for $40 at a garage sale. The only thing wrong is the ignition switch doesn't work so I have to use the rope starter. Haven't even looked into the electric start because it always starts on the first or second pull. You can stop the self propell by releasing the lever and it will freewheel so easy to push. Has a speed control lever to adjust speed from a crawl to nearly a run. I have no idea how old it is, but it had a tune up in 2013 so not real new.

 

[Mule Meat]

Husqvarna only makes two little $1200 20" "push" mowers that will only bag or mulch. Neither one is worth the gas it would take to haul them home.

I would spend $500 keeping my old Lawnboys going before I would spend a dime for any push mower on the market today. Give me a Tecumseh or DuraForce and I will be happy.. Would love to find a few sets of steel drive wheel for a Lawnboy. The last set I found was over ten years ago.