Lawn mower advice

[SheitlQueen]

I just purchased an all wheel drive from Costco. It is supposed to do great on uneven and sloped terrain. I haven't tried it out yet (brought it home yesterday so it's still in the box) but am hoping to do so over the weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. It's made by Husqvarna but private labeled by Jonsered. Has a Honda engine, AWD, adjustable speed and was on sale for $279. Seemed like a good buy compared to others I looked at.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Around here most people mow the lawn 1-2 times a week. OP mentioned mowing once every two weeks. I don't know if the grass grows slower in TX or if OP just lets it get really long before mowing. Normally I always mulch but if you let it go too long you may need to discharge or bag. Best to get a mower that has every option.

In those parts of TX it gets so hot, the grass stops growing quickly. We have a similar issue in central Oklahoma. Last month with plenty of rain (and cool), it was hard to keep up once a week (fescue). Now that it's hot and dry, we *can't* mow but every two weeks, since fescue needs to be "taller" for health. Even watering daily, it's still growing very slowly.

 

[Mdlerth]

You can't spell mowing without w-o-r-k. Wait, I guess you can

A 9100 sq ft mowing area is right within the range of a robotic mower.

They are pricier than manual mowers, but you'd spare yourself the time and energy of dealing with the chore. Set it up and let it run in the heat while you sit in the shade with a cooling brewski. Think how many strokes and heart attacks you'll have avoided.

Of course, if you're already retired, time may be what you've got plenty of. And you'd miss out on the gritty satisfaction of honest toil.

 

[Dawg52]

SIL lives in Austin and he has a cordless battery mower and loves it. I suspect that his is not self-propelled.

I would consider cordless... there seem to be a fair number of cordless self-propelled mowers on the market.

I have a cordless and its great. Not self-propelled but its so light....self-propelled is not needed. I will never go back to gas.

 

[Audie Murphy]

Thanks for that. I've been tempted by the 30" twin-blade Toro Timecutter self-propelled mower. It's pricey (about $1000!) but I'm skilled at rationalizing such things ("If I keep it 10 years, that's 300 mowing sessions. If the wider cut saves me 30 minutes from my 1.5 hour regular session, that's 150 hours saved in mowing. This mower is $800 more than a regular 21" pusher, so that time savings will cost me $5/hour. Bargain!"). Still, I wondered if the self-pacing walk speed contraption was troublesome (apparently it works okay). It's still a very heavy mower, though, and the turns/short back-and-forth bits under the low tree boughs, etc wouldn't be fun.
My best use of time would be to fix the layout of the yard to reduce the troublesome little hard-to-mow areas.

I have had no regrets with the, “buy once, cry once” way of getting certain equipment. You will have the lawnmower for many years. Get what makes the most sense and just buy it. When you spread the cost over the many years of use and you will be happy every time you use it and save time cutting.

I have always “limbed up” those trees in the yard so I can walk or ride freely under them when mowing.

 

[ziggy29]

A 9100 sq ft mowing area is right within the range of a robotic mower.

They are pricier than manual mowers, but you'd spare yourself the time and energy of dealing with the chore. Set it up and let it run in the heat while you sit in the shade with a cooling brewski. Think how many strokes and heart attacks you'll have avoided.

I just finished mowing out back. It's probably about 5000 square feet in total. I have a self-propelled, 5-year-old Black and Decker cordless which works reasonably well, and it has just enough of a charge that I can usually finish the main part of the back yard on one charge, only using the self-propelled featuer for certain tougher parts of it. Still, at some point when it's not getting the job done and/or the battery starts giving up the ghost too much, I may look at the new robotic ones, and by that time, they may be considerably cheaper as the technology matures.

 

[Walt34]

...I may look at the new robotic ones, and by that time, they may be considerably cheaper as the technology matures.

I've been eyeballing those too. I think they're not "quite there" yet for our yard, being 1/2 acre and with a steep hill that it would probably get stuck on, so for now I'll stick with the guy we hire to mow. But I'm watching and waiting.

 

[drb391]

interesting mower factoid - ya know how, when you set the front and back wheels to the same numbered notch, the mower isn't level, but tilted down, back to front? I had always leveled it out, setting the back on different #. Guess what? it's s'posed to be that way. googled it last year, cuz it bugged me. seems optimum cutting, blade life, and I can't remember if there was a third reason, dictates you only cut with the front edge of the blade. who knew? not I. been doing it "wrong" for years

 

[Bamaman]

Let me just say that cutting grass is my life, and it always has been that way.

And there is just one mower to buy, and that's a Honda mower. No other brand holds a candle to it. In the last 40 years, I've been through 8 Honda self propelled mowers. They would last long than 5 years, but I'm cutting an embankment at my lake house that's so steep I have to wear treaded shoes to even stand on it. My Honda self propelled mower is the cat's meow, and the engines are the big difference.

My newest one is a HR217 I bought on sale in the winter at Home Depot. It's got the plastic deck, and I can run the grass into the grass catcher or mulch it. The grass catcher sucks up the yard debris like a vacuum cleaner.

At my main house, I'm cutting 150' x 220' with an Ariens zero turn with a 23 hp Kawasaki engine. It's nice to be able to cut 100% of that big yard riding--in only 35 minutes.

It's a shame the builders sod or plant with Bermuda grass. It grows fast, and makes it easy for them to establish a yard. Too bad they don't use Zoysia which doesn't require cutting half as often. This is especially important in our retirement years. We sprayed Roundup on our Bermuda and came back with Zoysia sod.

 

[mountainsoft]

For a city lot I would probably choose a cordless electric mower like the EGO self propelled mowers. I have their blower and string trimmer and love them.

Unfortunately, I have a bit over an acre with hills to mow and I am not sure the EGO would be able to handle that on a single charge (takes me about 45 minutes with the gas self propelled).

I have a 30 year old Honda HR-214 Self Propelled mower. I chose that mower after having issues with cheaper belt driven mowers. I constantly had issues with belts stretching, or grass building up under the pulleys and throwing the belts. My Honda is a shaft drive mower, so no belts or pulleys to worry about. I have not had a single issue with the drive system on my Honda mower in over 30 years, other than replacing the control cables. I also like that the blade stops without having to turn off the mower. I think you have to buy the commercial Honda mowers now to get the shaft drive.

You might also have a look at the Ryobi Electric Riding mower. It's on my list of possibilities if my Honda finally gives out or I can no longer walk the one mile around the yard.

 

[Montecfo]

Wow - I learn something new here every day. I didn't that mowers came in both front and rear wheel drive models. I've never used a self propelled mower.

OP - I would drive around the neighborhood and see what others are using. Ask the neighbors who have similar slope and yard size conditions to yours.

Push mower for me, always. Toro also, great machine. I remember the first time I heard of self-propelled mowers I thought it was not serious. Just never occurred to me. I did use someone's self propelled mower once and found it more trouble than it was worth, at least for me. Almost all my neighbors hire it done.

 

[DrRoy]

I had a RWD Toro for year at our first home. It was a great mower. It propelled as fast or slow as you wanted to go based on the pressure you applied to the drive bar on the handle. For our small lot it was a perfect mower (~1/4 acre).

I've had this since last year. Does a good job and mulches so no clippings to handle.

 

[Cobra9777]

We have 2.2 acres with about 150 trees, so I mainly use a Ferris 48" zero-turn that I've had since 2005. It has a 21hp Kawasaki engine. Takes me about 1.5 hours (2 podcasts) to mow front and back.

I still own a 1992 Craftsman push mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine. I use it for a few areas that the z-turn can't get to. Before the z-turn, it was our main mower at the old house. Great little mower. At 27 years old, it still starts on the first pull. But it sees very light usage at the new house.

Before that, I had one other push mower. I bought it used from an old guy in the neighborhood for $60 in 1981, when DW and I got our first house. His hobby was buying old lawnmowers at garage sales, salvaging parts, fixing them up, and selling them. The engine was not original to the deck and all 4 wheels were different. It wasn't pretty but it ran reliably for 11 years.

My only experience with a self-propelled mower was helping DD several times at her new house. Somebody gave her the mower and my job was to show her how to use it. The mower was very heavy, hard to maneuver, and really annoying to use. Probably just my lack of experience with the self-propelled controls. But even after I figured it out, it was still annoying. It was RWD. She mowed for a while but now uses a lawn service.

I've never once bagged grass clippings. I always use mulching blades and mow regularly to avoid too much clippings.

 

[aaronc879]

You might also have a look at the Ryobi Electric Riding mower. It's on my list of possibilities if my Honda finally gives out or I can no longer walk the one mile around the yard.

The Ryobi electric rider is the mower I would choose if money were not an issue.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Thanks for that. I've been tempted by the 30" twin-blade Toro Timecutter self-propelled mower. It's pricey (about $1000!) but I'm skilled at rationalizing such things ("If I keep it 10 years, that's 300 mowing sessions. If the wider cut saves me 30 minutes from my 1.5 hour regular session, that's 150 hours saved in mowing. This mower is $800 more than a regular 21" pusher, so that time savings will cost me $5/hour. Bargain!"). Still, I wondered if the self-pacing walk speed contraption was troublesome (apparently it works okay). It's still a very heavy mower, though, and the turns/short back-and-forth bits under the low tree boughs, etc wouldn't be fun.
My best use of time would be to fix the layout of the yard to reduce the troublesome little hard-to-mow areas.

I've owned a Troy-Bilt Wide-Cut 33-inch self-propelled mower since about 1992, from Troy-Bilt's glory days. It is a beast, but it's a heavy beast. and my 2-1/2 acre yard is quite hilly. It's a real upper-body workout maneuvering it around.

One feature I love is the swivel front wheels. I also have a light 22-inch RWD mower with swivel front wheels -- it really helps trim along obstructions like trees and bushes, although hillsides can get tricky. A spring-loaded device on the front wheel mounts can lock them in place directionally.

 

[eytonxav]

It's a shame the builders sod or plant with Bermuda grass. It grows fast, and makes it easy for them to establish a yard. Too bad they don't use Zoysia which doesn't require cutting half as often. This is especially important in our retirement years. We sprayed Roundup on our Bermuda and came back with Zoysia sod.

+1 It also does better in shade than bermuda.

 

[papaof2]

Having been a homeowner for almost 50 years, I've had the opportunity to use many walk-behind mowers (push and self-propelled; reel, corded electric and gas). My current choice for a walk-behind is a self-propelled, electric-start Honda mower. The electric start is a concession to age but most of the time I use the recoil starter as it's rare that the engine needs more than one pull to start it. It cuts well, pulls the slight hills in two directions, the self-propelled speed can be adjusted from the handle and my wife thinks it's the best mower in a long line that's included Craftsman and Toro mowers.

My doctor's cautions after a spell of afib (and the EMT's comment of "I hope we get you to the hospital in time.") mean that my wife usually does the walk-behind for the edges of the lot and around the trees and shrubs and I do the majority of the lot with the 15+year-old 42" riding mower - but in multiple short segments with a cooling break and some electrolyte beverage between segments.

 

[Dash man]

I’ve decided paying someone else to cut my grass is much better that cutting it myself. They also do grass trimming and prune the trees and shrubs when needed. Life is good!

 

[Jerry1]

I’ve decided paying someone else to cut my grass is much better that cutting it myself. They also do grass trimming and prune the trees and shrubs when needed. Life is good!

I've encouraged my dad to hire it out, but he, like many I hear from, find it hard to get reliable workers. From not showing up to whacking desirable plants and trees with their weed trimmer, I've not heard much good about it. I agree, I had a friend mow my lawn when I was working and it was great. However, it has its downfalls.

 

[Dash man]

I've encouraged my dad to hire it out, but he, like many I hear from, find it hard to get reliable workers. From not showing up to whacking desirable plants and trees with their weed trimmer, I've not heard much good about it. I agree, I had a friend mow my lawn when I was working and it was great. However, it has its downfalls.

It took me two changes, but the third time was the charm. We also use a service for our beach home and got lucky with the first choice.

 

[statsman]

I’ve decided paying someone else to cut my grass is much better that cutting it myself. They also do grass trimming and prune the trees and shrubs when needed. Life is good!

I'm pretty much heading in that direction. It would be my wife's preference, between the hot summer weather here in central Texas, and the fact that I have a mild-to-moderate allergy to grass when it is mowed. I would usually shower right after mowing to minimize any effect.

I ended up with a non-propelled gas mower (Troy-Bilt with a Honda engine and high rear wheels) because of the amount of obstacles to get around (trees, shrubs, lawn right up to the sides of the house, fence line, etc.). Great little mower. The Honda 160cc engine is probably the nicest I've had on a lawn mower, and a bit quieter than the Briggs & Stratton engines I usually went with. Even with the grass a bit overgrown, the mower mulched the lawn rather easily.

That said, there is far more lawn to mow than we ever had in California, where we've dealt with drought landscaping at our homes for over 30 years. We also didn't sod our lawns right next to the house like they do with these new house builds. Assuming the HOA will allow us, I think a far amount of lawn will be removed over time and replaced with shrubs, especially after the properties on each side of us have houses built.

For those occasional times I will need to mow the lawn myself, the Troy-Bilt will do the trick. But I think I am okay if I never have to mow a lawn again. I would rather spend any garden time on shrubs (and keeping the landscapers away from them).

 

[kannon]

Bought our first Honda mower after our second Toro died. Spent about $50 more but best decision. RWD, takes hills very easily. Started first pull every time. Honda has a good product. HD had it on sale, 5 yrs warranty. No brainer.