Buying Used Lawnmower, Snowblower?

[vavet]

I have a riding mower I bought for about 2/3 of the new price because it had 2 hours on it. It's a whole long story, but it was used. The guy was a straight shooter. I checked it out. I thought his price was fair, but I had no way to take it home. I offered to pay his asking price if he could deliver it to me, about 10 miles from his house. We shook hands on the deal and he delivered a couple hours later. He didn't even count the cash I handed him in an envelope.
I have a ~15 year old Honda walk-behind I bought new. My previous mower was fine, but it was a very basic mower. I wanted to upgrade to something self-propelled (new house had a big hill in the front yard) and a bagger/mulcher capable mower. I sold off my old one in perfectly serviceable condition.
I bought my backpack blower used. I replaced the carb on it a few years ago with one of the $15 amazon or ebay carbs. It ran better with that carb straight out of the box than the original carb ever did since I'd owned it.

If you want to buy used, you want to buy because someone upgraded to a self-propelled or rider, because they're selling the house to move south, or an older person who passed away, can't physically do it anymore, or is moving to live with an adult child or senior living center. How do you find those people? I don't know, but that would be the ideal.

My grandmother lived independently until she was 88 years old and cut her own grass. She paid a ridiculous amount of money to have the local JD dealer service the riding mower. That would've been a great one to get.

There is a person around here who posts a lot of lawn mower ads on CL. I think this person buys them cheap or maybe not running, gets them going, and then resells them. Maybe it's a business. Maybe it's a retired guy who does it for something to do. I've thought about trying to get my son involved in something like that.

If I was buying a new walk behind today, I'd look real hard at a battery powered unit. Not sure if snowblowers are offered on a battery platform or how good they are.

There are times to spend money to get what you want/need/what will last, and there are times to try to get by inexpensively. I've learned with small engine to avoid the cheapest brands - no Poulan or Troy-bilt. Echo has been good to me for 2 cycle engines. Honda was been wonderful.

I've ordered parts from jacks small engines and ereplacementparts.com. Both have been fine.

 

[nbpt100]

If I was buying a new walk behind today, I'd look real hard at a battery powered unit. Not sure if snowblowers are offered on a battery platform or how good they are.

There are times to spend money to get what you want/need/what will last, and there are times to try to get by inexpensively. I've learned with small engine to avoid the cheapest brands - no Poulan or Troy-bilt. Echo has been good to me for 2 cycle engines. Honda was been wonderful.

I've ordered parts from jacks small engines and ereplacementparts.com. Both have been fine.

I think Battery makes sense for the homeowner with a small yard. I would throw in there hand held stuff as well for larger properties. 2 cycles are getting harder to find but still out there. Echo makes a nice product. I agree on the cheaper brands but only in hand held stuff. I have no problem with a Poulan(Husqvarna) or Troy Bilt(MtD) walk behind mower if in decent condition and the price is right. Yes, they are not as robust. However, you can still have good luck with one if you store it in a garage and don't abuse it. The Engines and other parts are often the same as what you will get on a more expensive mower. The Decks are a lighter guage and the wheels/adjusters are cheaper.

Jacks's has been bought by Northern Tool and since has had higher pricing and slower deliveries. In my experience anyway. Maybe they will get that smoothed out over time. When just buying only one item, I often find eBay to be relatively fast and adaquate price wise. Or support you local dealer for OEM quality and rapid delivery.

 

[racer8432955]

I'm a cheapskate on a lot of things. I prefer to stick any extra money into my racing toys. But now days I buy lawn and snow equipment new, maintain it, and forget about it. I'm on year 12 with purchased new big box store mower and blower.
I use to go with used on the lawn and snow equipment. I had some luck, did some successful repairs, and also struck out. Eventually I got tired of having to occasionally repair something just to accomplish the job (i.e. - the snow is accumulating while i'm fixing the blower).
So now I buy new as my time is more valuable than anything in the world and I prefer to spend it tinkering with the fun stuff.
Good luck in whichever way you go.