Self-Propelled mowers -- Single speed vs. Variable speed?

[Kevin]

Hello,

I've always had self-propelled mowers with three speed settings, which I thought was great. I'll be buying a new mower soon, staying around the $300 range. It seems self-propelled has only two options now -- single speed and variable speed.

I don't have the best feeling looking at the variable speed mowers, if you have to hold the bicycle brake type thing and squeeze tighter to go faster, it seems like that would be a pain. It seems like my hand would get tired if I had to squeeze half way instead of being able to close my hand. (I don't actually know if that is how it works though...)

So I would lean towards single speed, but I have no idea how fast the single speed is. What if it's way too fast or way too slow? Kind of scary not knowing.

Any opinions on these? Thanks! Kevin

[jaykchan]

I have a 3-speed self-propelled mower. I mainly run it in medium-speed (or is that slow speed?) because I use it for mulching; moreover, I don't feel tired if I run it in that speed.

Occasionally I ran it in high speed (or is that medium speed?). That was when I sensed that rain was approaching and I had to finish mowing before the rain came. I didn't like running in that speed because this was too stressful and I consider myself as physically fit.

The bottom line is that I would not like my mower if it only had one single speed and that was on high-speed.

Of course, someone may say that we need to run the mower in high speed in order to finish mowing a large lawn in a timely fashion. My thinking is that if the lawn is quite large, that person is probably better off getting a riding mower instead of a walk-behind mower.

Jay Chan

[trader4]

"I have a 3-speed self-propelled mower. I mainly run it in medium-speed

(or is that slow speed?) because I use it for mulching; moreover, I don't feel tired if I run it in that speed. "

Same thing here with my Honda 215. The medium speed is just right for a nice cut and comfortable pace. I've never tried one of the continuously variable speed ones, but would think it would be a pain in the ass if you have to continuely hold the grip in just the right position for the speed you want. What would be more practical IMO, would be to allow you to adjust the existing 3 speeds within a range to fine tune them to the speeds you want. Once set, you could just lock it in med speed and be good to go for 95% of what you'll ever use it for.