Self-Propelled Mower?

[gfretwell]

Plus a transmission, a drive axle and the controls. They end up being quite a handful when they stop "self propelling"

[Stormin Mormon]

I was going to write that with front drive. If you want to stop for a moment, you push down on the handle. Much easier than trying to lift the back of the mower.

One mower I used, years ago. You could adjust the ground speed. The church custodian had it set to warp two speed, and I spent a lot of time pulling back on the handle. Until I found the knob that adjusts the ground speed.

[Stormin Mormon]

If the mower smokes, try using two stroke gas mixer oil in the crankcase. Less smoke than detergent oils.

[James]

I would be very careful about putting a riding mower on a 40 degree slope !!

James

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Forget the front wheel drive for going up hill. A small riding mower would be better. Plenty of used ones for 300.

[Ulysses]

I have a Sears front-wheel drive mower, 6.6 HP Tecumseh engine, and I use it to mow down weeds. It will go up a 3:1 slope but I have to lift the handle a bit to get traction. In any case it's a LOT easier than using my push mower. If I had to use my push mower I would have to find another way to mow down the weeds.

[Wilfred Xavier Pickles]

Yeah, but there's *this* little detail (like cleaning up after the dawg) and *that* little detail, and ...

Also my "Old Rule": if I'm able, then I gotta.

Thx, Will

[Wilfred Xavier Pickles]

Weight was one of my primary concerns.

There are several places where I have to guide the mower on 2 wheels (sometimes 1 front and 1 rear) to avoid blade/grade contact. One where I have to shut the motor down. Sink-holes, uneven concrete, etc.

Will

[Wilfred Xavier Pickles]

Probably what I -really- need is a good, super-lite 2-stroke, maybe 20" rear-bag.

Damned if I know why there seems to be no 2-stroke mowers on the market.

Finding a worth-while used one could be d-d-difficult.

Thx, Will

[salty]

Your self propelled mower must be 30 or 40 years old or a very poor design. Modern ones have as I said, a couple of pulleys and a belt. The "drive axle" is a piece of small diameter steel rod. Maybe it weighs a half pound. Probably less. I have a Toro personal pace, and it has no "controls" in the traditional sense. It has infinite speeds in forward and disconnects (neutral) when you stop applying minimal forward pressure to the handlebar.

[gfretwell]

I guess you have never looked under the covers. If you look at the parts catalog there is certainly a transmission in there. Something has to do that transition from a vertical shaft to the horizontal axle.

[Ernie Willson]

I can attest to a transmission being part of a walk behind self propelled. Replacing the one in my two year old mower cost about $100.00.

EJ in NJ

[Ernie Willson]

Likely its due to some EPA regulation and pollution.

EJ in NJ

[salty]

Big whoop. A small ring and pinion inside a little case. You can call that a transmission if you want to. I account for that in my original weight estimate. I included the weight of any grease, too, since you want to nit pick. With the aluminum deck, the overall mower is probably lighter than an average non-propelled mower.

The idea that a self propelled mower is significantly heavier than a non propelled model is nonsense. There just isn't any appreciable difference.

[Wilfred Xavier Pickles]

That has nothing to do with any of the myriad 2-stroke line trimmers on the market?

I suppose it's possible, and I know they are smaller displacement, but ...

[Ashton Crusher]

I had a cheap Murray self propelled and the drive mechanism was very poor and provided poor power delivery. I finally got rid of it and replaced it with the cheapest push gas mower I could find which was a "yardman" I think. The new cheap mower does a far better job and it less trouble overall then the self propelled one because it is so much lighter. Bottom line in my experience is IF you want self-propelled plan on spending quite a bit of money for a good one because with the yard you have you'll never get an inexpensive self-pro to work satisfactorily. I doubt I'll ever buy another self-propelled, the lightweight cheapy just works too good.

[salty]

Most, if not all EPA regulations that apply to internal combustion engines have a threshold for displacement. Anything smaller than specified is exempt from the regulation. Try and find a new 2-stroke outboard of even 2 hp today. They are no longer made for sale in the U.S.

String trimmer engines are tiny - As are model airplane motors.

BTW - Last year I bought a Cadet 4-stroke string trimmer/brush cutter. Starts every time with one easy pull, and is quieter, has more power at lower speeds, and is overall far more pleasant to use. It does have a weight disadvantage, but I find the positives overwhelm that one negative, especially since I use it mostly for brush cutting rather than trimming grass. It replaced a 2 stroke that had about 3 hours of use, and about 10 hours of pulling the starter cord and swearing. It was "idiot proof" and you could not simply adjust the choke or do anything else if it didn't start. I considered taking all the "better starting" crap off and making a manual choke for it. I decided it would still be a hard starting, noisy, smelly, piece of crap.

It sits on a shelf in the garage.

[Ernie Willson]

Thanks Salty for that great explanation. BTW I had a RIYOBI trimmer, it never started. Replaced it with a John Deere which always starts by the third pull.

EJ in NJ

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[gfretwell]

Take the belt off, push it around the yard for a mowing and get back to us.

[willshak]

on 5/16/2009 12:01 PM (ET) [e-mail] wrote the following:

That doesn't make it heavier, just a little harder to push.

[salty]

Why would I do a stupid thing like that? If my mower broke, I would either fix it or get a new one. Meanwhile, if someone needed to push my mower around, they would find that it is pretty much indistinguishable from a non-propelled mower. There just aint that much difference in weight. Since my mower has an aluminum deck, it is probably lighter than many non-propelled mowers.