First deteremine the size of mower you need. Then decide if you want a self-propelled or not. After that, the only difference is how you maintain it. If you take care of it (no matter what brand), it may out- last you. If you don't take care of it, it doesn't matter what brand you buy.
Hank
Be careful with the Toyota.
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After owning a bunch of cheap mowers, I broke down and bought a Honda two years ago, when we moved into a new house. It's been well worth the $700. The cut is much better than the Crapsman I bought in '93, it is a *superior* mulcher (I've only had to bag once - this year I cut the long dead stuff), and other than changing the oil and feed it gas, have done nothing to it. It starts the first pull every time (important since the nanny state requires the kill switch).
I find that 4 magnets (somewhat exotic ones from the milspec world) stuck on the handle, are quite effective at holding that deadman switch in the run position. An 12" cable tie holds that toe guard on the back in the up position, so I can actually pull the mower backward more than six inches. The nanny state can bite me- I don't mow barefoot, there are no kids around, and I have been operating a mower over 40 years without injuring myself.
Never thought of a magnet on the dead-man. It would have to be some magnet, but it's an idea. Thanks.
Most people use a loop of rope. Slide the loop down the handle when it's time to turn the mower off. As the loop goes down the handle, the moving part can then lift up.
I'm still not sure what belongs to the lawn mower. At the moment, we're discussing the lawn mower's handle.
Indeed. I just retired my 1979 Lawnboy 2-cycle, referred to fondly as the "Evinrude." Only lasted 30 years. :-)
The replacement is a Troy Built push mover from Lowe's Well it's just an MTD, but seems to be ok. Ssomehow I suspect I won't get 30 years of use from this one, but that's ok because I won't last 30 years either.
For average or smaller, relatively flat lawns, I think a push mower is the way to go. Mowers are pretty light these days, so it's not that much work to push them. Plus, all that self-propelled stuff is just nore stuff to break.
I wonder what a motor rebuild would cost, then get another 30.
Well, I would have needed a new fuel tank, a new carburetor, a new air filter cover, a new back flap, and a new bag. But the proverbial camel's straw was when I couldn't snug up the spark plug anymore. I know that can be fixed, but the cost of everything I needed was gonna be more than buying a new mower, and I just decided not to chase it anymore.
Oh, and two new wheels. Well, it just seemed to be time to let it go.
My Briggs powered big-wheel 24" mower is, IIRC, 33 years old now and still going stron - deck has been replaced with stainless steel, tubular frame still as good as new. 20" BMX wheels have been replaced, as have the smaller front wheels.
4HP horizontal shaft engine - carb's been rebuilt about 4 times (integral to tank)
My 1973 3.5 briggs got maybe 4-500 hours then it had no power but no smoke, maybe its because thats just when unleded came in and the Briggs had the wrong valve seals. But my 86 Lawn Boy still has the compression and seems like nearly new, first pull start even on first spring firing last week.
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