While mowing the yard yesterday the lawnmower made a clanging noise and quit.
Pulling the starter cord seems too easy now and I hear it spin longer than it should. And no, it doesn't start.
Should I give up on IC engines and buy an electric? I've certainly had my struggles with gas engines the past couple of years.
I have an electric (Ego self propelled battery powered). I love it. No gas, no noise, push button start, folds up for storage, light. I've had it for a year now. Makes mowing a pleasure.
Consumer Reports battery push mowers. Ryobi RY401200 Rated 79. Has only a 40 minute run time. $480. DR Power Equipment CE75021XEN0. Rated 77. 80 minute run time. $600 Hart HLPM011 Rated 70. 70 minute run time. $248.
I too dislike dealing with small gas engines and would prefer electric but consider battery replacement cost as they will be the first part to wear out. Years ago I had to toss an electric hedge trimmer and grass trimmer set with two batteries when the batteries went and replacement cost more than what I paid for the set. Also consider as batteries wear out distance will diminish so I would buy a mower with much more time than needed.
All the research I did pointed to the Ego. I'm on 7/8ths of an acre and can do the front and back without a recharge. The battery recharges in an hour or so. Just enough time for lunch or a beer.
A push model would be okay, the electric mowers are very light.
I bought an electric lawn mower in 1997 and liked it for about 4 years. It was a Black and Decker. Just as you said, the battery power started to diminish in year
5 and after finishing year 6 it was useless. Still not bad really, with 1997 battery technology. It was quite a bit heavier than a gas model, and it was a chore for my wife to use. They apparently didn't sell well then, and I only paid about $250 for it. Paid about $400 in 2003 for the Craftsman with a Honda engine to replace it. Still using that. I don't mind keeping gas for a 4-stroke. So I'm in my 19th year that Honda engine, and it mostly starts with one pull. One thing about electrics is they're quiet.
I was wondering about that. I'm pretty careful about oil, but when I checked it after the failure it was very dark.
Also, I ran out of gas halfway through the lawn, and had to take a break for a couple hours, because this mower ran well but never did want to start hot. I tried a bunch of times, then just let it cool off and it started fine.
(Of course I tried it again the next day hoping maybe it healed. Nope. Still pulls easy, still has the same amount of dirty oil, still doesn't start.)
That is the problem with many battery devices. Often the replacement battery is more than the origional price. I have had to toss a couple of battery drills because the replacement batteries were more than I can buy a new one with batteries for. I thought I was going to have to toss a very good seldom used Dewalt drill but found an adapter that let me use the batteries off my other Dewalt impact wrench (which uses different batteries) in the drill.
On Mon, 12 Apr 2021 08:06:10 -0700 (PDT), TimR posted for all of us to digest...
Not being a smart ass, but, have you considered paying someone to do it?
Not a good sign. Are you sure it wasn't a ringing, whistling, or thumping? For example, thumping would mean you ran over a rabbit.
But if it did start, just think how fast it would run.
I can see getting a battery model. I have no experience with them (though I have used a battery-powered flashlight) so I can't just the problems.
But I would also recommend an AC powered electric lawnmower, with these considerations. I use a 100 or more likelyl a 150' cord and that has not been a problem, and it reaches far corners. If your yard is bigger than that, the cord may be heavy, especialy if it's thick enough that the voltage does nto go down. The big problem is bushes and trees. You can only go so far and then you have to back up. And in the center where with a gas mower I'd just go around in forever smaller circles, here I have to stop once per circle to throw the cord where I won't mow over it. I think I did cut my cord once or twice in early years though that was with the hedge trimmer.
OTOH, corded is cheaper and less bother. You never run out of electricity, always full power, no expensive battery to replace, mower is a little lighter without a battery.
Once you're used to the idea that you can't go and go without retracing, cords are fine. Of course I only have 1/20th of an acre!
I wish they would state the deck material in the description... .. assume that it's tin, I guess - or they would say .. My last new power push mower rotted away - from under a really nice B&S engine. The used aluminum deck unit is about 30 years old and going strong. John T.
With only that much to mow I would look into the push mower with rotary blades and no engine or motor. Almost nothing to maintain or wear out.
My 12 year old self propelled Honda is still in great shape with service twice that cost about $100 each time that included new blade, spark plug, air filter and lube. Wish I could say the same about me and my very hilly 0.8 acre lot now being past my expiration date. So I now have a landscaper to do it all. Most of my neighbors even those far younger do the same.
Take the plug out. Stick a pencil in the plug hole and see if you can feel the piston moving when you rock it over with the blade (wear a glove). If you have one of those politically correct mowers with the blade disconnect pull on the rope slowly. Just be careful you don't get it wedged and break it off. (why I don't suggest a screwdriver)
If the piston is moving Bob is probably right about a stuck valve, valve spring popped off or you blew a hole in the top of the piston. My guess is you are buying a new mower.
Thanks. That's what i was looking for, help with a diagnosis. I don't know small engines at all.
So I pulled the plug. The piston is only about half an inch inside the hole, and it doesn't move. If I spin the blade, the piston doesn''t move, if I pull on the rope slowly the blades spin but the piston doesn't move.
I didn't think I hit something. there was a repeated metallic clanging noise before it quit, like something was hitting metal on every cycle, before it quit. But is there any chance there's a safety spline on the shaft that let go? Or is this one dead and gone?
The last time I had one apart was about 20 years ago. I loaned it to the neighbor kid, and he brought it back broken. I took it apart to see, and (I don't know the right terms) there was a yoke type attachment on the end of a rod on the piston, and it was broken in several pieces.
I have one. My grass is just too thick. Mowing is a shove forward six inches, pull back a foot, try again frustration. For a little while in the spring before the grass gets going it works, or on a golf green, but not in my yard.
We had one of those when I was 17. Too much effort required. Of course we had suburban grass then, not city grass.
You broke a rod. It is toast unless you just want a learning project. I am not even sure you can find the parts.
That has been my choice for the past 2 1/2 years. Works well.
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