I’m going out today to buy a lawn mower. I’ve got about a half-acre to mow, most of which is on a little hill. I’m looking to get a self-propelled mower, probably. What’s a good one? Is a Lawn-Boy really all it’s cracked up to be? Or is a Cub Cadet/Craftsman/whatever just as good?
Dr. J
Try Sears. You’d want a field mower really. But ask at Sears & see what they have.
Lawn Boy is nice but I don’t know about doing meadows with them as I have a self prop Lawn boy
myself & it wouldn’t handle a meadow.
Just concreate over the lawn and paint it green.
egg <—embittered hayfever suffurer
In the OP I read, there was no mention of what type of land needed cutting. A lawn needs a lawn mower. Honda makes good ones. If, as handy aluded to, you are clearing a meadow, rent a “Billy Goat” field mower.
Buy what you can afford. Spend some time at www.gardenweb.com in the mower message board.
Let us know what you bought.
Booker is on the mark. Buy a Honda once. You’ll never buy another mower, if you take halfway decent care of it. And if you need one, buy a honda string trimmer. Last tools of their type you’ll likely ever need. If the lawn you have to mow is overgrown and you’re clearing it, rent something big, then keep it down with the Honda.
b.
Hire a forest service worker. They’ll burn it down for you. Just make sure you keep your house doused with water in case they don’t know what they are doing.
what he said about hondas is true. they are expensive but wonderfull. take care of a honda mower and somone will inherit it.
but as far as trimmers shindawa. i have a 12 year old one that outlived a weed eater that was 10 years younger and i still use it. this is being used 8 hours a day in a yard bussiness
I am a professional lawn guy, so this is the voice of experience.
Honda is excellent, so is John Deere. I use Deere exclusively, because it has the best parts & service departments in this town.
Craftsman is referred to as “Crapsman” in the lawn care industry.
Snapper sucks- I used to use Snappers but the wheel drive system is useless when wet. The parts scene was a nightmare. Parts would take a very long time to arrive and half the time the wrong part would arrive.
The Hondas are OK, although if you have tall grass or boggy areas, you might not want to get their mulching mower. Mine tends to bog down under those conditions unless I set the cutting deck to its highest level. It does start reliably, though.
Within the past ten years I have owned in order, Sears, Deere, and Honda mowers. All have been less than wonderful machines, even though I have taken reasonable care of them. The Sears is the worst and it lasted about 3 years. Cheaply built, old-style Briggs engine, and noisy. The Deere had the most power, was the quietest, and included some intelligent design, but it died after only 6 years. Service on Deeres can be a challenge if you live away from the authorized dealer. The Honda is pricey, and a bit overrated. The design is not all that user friendly either–for example, there is not an oil plug under the deck–one has to tilt the thing on its side to drain the old oil out of the filling hole–leaving the evil gunky stuff to remain in the mower. My Honda also died a premature death under warranty (under a year) and the repair technician noted that it was the third one that week with the same exact problem (I live in a small community). It was fixed and works great now, but I do not partake in the Honda religion.
If I had 1/2 acre of grass, I would buy a good rider, debt be damned. Bet you will need a string trimmer too. Echo rocks.