The Lawnmower Thread

[Supe]

and get a bunch of blue tarps.  everyone has blue tarps. 

Got to keep it dry.  You know, for when you're "gonna get around to it."

 

[knight1fox3]

Having woods for a back yard is killing my Yard Machine mower.  The other day I hit a root and the whole thing came to an immediately stop in a cloud of black smoke.  I flipped it up on end and the tip of the middle blade had folded over.  Finish mower underneath to get the grass, hydraulics to be able to add a loader to have something to pull up stumps as the yard (slowly) gets cleared, and a 3-point hitch on the back for a proper bush hog to get all the crap.

That's because you should be mowing the lawn, not mowing the woods.  LOL

 

[Dleg]

Maybe what he needs is a hydro ax:

 

[Supe]

Also looking at this Honda:

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Honda-HRX217VKA-Lawn-Mower/p7830.html

$100 more than the Ariens, but more powerful, and 6 years worth of warranty, with lifetime on some of the parts.  Not to mention Honda reliability, which is more than can be said for any Briggs these days.

 

[MA_PE]

speaking of Briggs, my neighbor was tossing a Craftsman 2-stage snowblower because he said he couldn't keep it running.  It's got a Briggs motor on it.  Most of the good snowblowers were all running Tecumsehs.  I trashwed picked the machine from my neighbor as the body is in great shape and all-round looke dlike  decent machine.  I believe it's a 2005 and looks like it's always been stored indoors.

The damn Briggs does not have a throttle, it's run to centrifugal governor.  a web search says a LOT of folks had an identical problem with this machine and it ooks like they did a carb redesign.  I think for $50 I can put a new carb on it and it should be good to go.  Why they make these yard machine with no throttle is beyond me.  It's a royal PITA.  My Craftsman lawnmower with a Briggs motor also just has an on/off switch.  Dolts!

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Also looking at this Honda:

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Honda-HRX217VKA-Lawn-Mower/p7830.html

$100 more than the Ariens, but more powerful, and 6 years worth of warranty, with lifetime on some of the parts.  Not to mention Honda reliability, which is more than can be said for any Briggs these days.

I bought that exact mower last year.  I like it.

 

[P-E]

I bought that exact mower last year.  I like it.

I have a Honda similar to that.  It's a good mower.  I hit a root like Jeb, the blade got mangled but the mower survived.

I ended up getting a powerful Stihl weed trimmer to go around the rooted areas. 

 

[jeb6294]

Also looking at this Honda:

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Honda-HRX217VKA-Lawn-Mower/p7830.html

$100 more than the Ariens, but more powerful, and 6 years worth of warranty, with lifetime on some of the parts.  Not to mention Honda reliability, which is more than can be said for any Briggs these days.

I'm not sure if they still sell them, but I got my "Honda" mower from Wally-World for just over $100.  It is a Yardman or Yard Machine or something like that, but whatever it is it's got a Honda motor.  Thing sat for close to three years while I was deployed and gets abused regularly (see my previous post about the crappy back yard) and it keeps going.  It's not self-propelled but it does have a bagger.

 

[jeb6294]

Maybe what he needs is a hydro ax:

If there was a way to rent one, I probably would.  There are still plenty of actual trees in the back that could stand to be cleared out, but a lot of the stuff that needs to go is all the brush crap.  It's brush and scrubby stuff that's probably an inch diameter...a giant PITA to go through and do with the chainsaw, but too much for a run-of-the-mill riding mower.  Most of the 3-point bush hogs say their good for saplings up to a 2" diameter.

 

[Supe]

I bought that exact mower last year.  I like it.

Now my coworker (who is the type that fundamentally doesn't believe you should buy anything if it isn't the best) is convincing me to go with the Honda, but the next model up that has the shaft-driven hydraulic transmission in it.  

 

[Dleg]

I bet you can rent one, but with an operator, too. Those aren't exactly the kinds of things you'd want to rent out for casual homeowner use. A little dangerous, to say the least.  (last time I was around one, I was standing at least 75 yards away and a 4-inch branch fragment landed very close to me)

 

[MA_PE]

I bet you can rent one, but with an operator, too. Those aren't exactly the kinds of things you'd want to rent out for casual homeowner use. A little dangerous, to say the least.  (last time I was around one, I was standing at least 75 yards away and a 4-inch branch fragment landed very close to me)

that's all the more reason to drive it yourself.  It's safer on top.

 

[jeb6294]

It's all fun and games until the neighbors start wondering where their mail boxes are. 

 

[Supe]

Pulled the trigger on a Honda HRX217HYA w/blade brake and hydrostatic transmission.

 

[kevo_55]

 

[NJmike PE]

That much slope I wouldn't get a mexican

fixt

 

[Dleg]

I ended up buying a Honda mower, but the lowest level push-type.  It seems solid and mowed the lawn just fine :dunno:  .  I was a good citizen and bought it from a real, local dealer, too.  Not a box store.  Although I paid more, they tested it in front of me, sent me home with a free tank of gas and a free coil of weed whacker string, and an extra year on the warranty, which they service themselves.  It felt like buying a propane grill from Hank Hill.

 

[Supe]

I ordered through Mowers Direct.  Extra warranty, free shipping, no tax, and $120 lower than the local place BEFORE tax.

 

[Wolverine]

I ended up buying a Honda mower, but the lowest level push-type.  It seems solid and mowed the lawn just fine :dunno:  .  I was a good citizen and bought it from a real, local dealer, too.  Not a box store.  Although I paid more, they tested it in front of me, sent me home with a free tank of gas and a free coil of weed whacker string, and an extra year on the warranty, which they service themselves.  It felt like buying a propane grill from Hank Hill.

A free coil of weed?  Geez, have we lost Alaska to the pot-smoking hippies too?  You may need to buy a Cartman Hippie Borer next.

The throttle cable on my Unbreakable Murray Tecumseh (purchased at Service Merchandise in Atlanta in 1994, still going) has broken.  I'm going to replace the cable, fire it up, and go shred some weeds myself.

Note the irony that the Unbreakable Murray Tecumseh outlived the store it came from. (in Atlanta)

 

[Dleg]

^Yes, recreational pot was legalized in Alaska last year.  There's a bar/smokehouse whaever just a block from my office called "The Higher Calling".

But that doesn't apply to me - I use, I lose my job.