Lawn Mower Advice

[craftsman47]

anyone have experience with the CRAFTSMAN PRO LINE?

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-pro-...p-07139760000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I've got a cub cadet with a Honda gcv160. Awesome mower. It sat in my dry lean to all through a Canadian winter, and literally started on the first pull this spring. And that was with last year's gas.

 

[craftsman47]

I pulled the trigger on it.

I hope there is some quality to it.

 

[craftsman47]

The craftsman Pro lawn mower arrived. 2 days. $365.65 free shipping with points coming back to me.
light assembly.
poured oil in, pour gas in, first pull, fired right up. Will test out real soon on the Lawn.

 

[jd_1138]

The craftsman Pro lawn mower arrived. 2 days. $365.65 free shipping with points coming back to me.
light assembly.
poured oil in, pour gas in, first pull, fired right up. Will test out real soon on the Lawn.

Looks like a nice machine. I had a Craftsman that lasted 10 years and would still be working had I not been lazy (I never cleaned the wet grass from the deck so it rusted).

I did maintain its B&S engine, and it still ran great after 10 years.

I never saw a yellow mower before. Maybe put a DeWalt sticker on it.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

The craftsman Pro lawn mower arrived. 2 days. $365.65 free shipping with points coming back to me.
light assembly.
poured oil in, pour gas in, first pull, fired right up. Will test out real soon on the Lawn.

Whoever built my cub cadet, also built that craftsman, I'd put money on it. My cub cadet has the exact same colour deck, same bag with the metal yellow handle to mount it, and same angled handle with the 2 yellow drive levers.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

Looks like a nice machine. I had a Craftsman that lasted 10 years and would still be working had I not been lazy (I never cleaned the wet grass from the deck so it rusted).

I did maintain its B&S engine, and it still ran great after 10 years.

I never saw a yellow mower before. Maybe put a DeWalt sticker on it.

I'm a dewalt fanatic, my wife accused me of buying the yellow and black cub cadet just so it matched my power tools.

 

[ambenz]

... Do you was and wax your mower?

Yes, every time I over haul it...about every 6 years!

 

[usdemt]

So I just bought a Honda HRX.

I bought it from the local yard supply place that all the pros use. The guy who sold it used to work for Home Depot. What he told me is that the Honda mowers where exactly the same when he worked at HD but they sold them unassembled without setting the RPM. He said the Honda's are picky about how fast they run and that they see many of the HD mowers come in with starting issues because the RPM's where never adjusted.

I know the big box stores do sell budget models, but looking through this thread it pretty much explains everyone's issues with the Honda's.

The hydrostatic drive on mine....top notch. I love it. Plus the fact I can bag part of the clippings and mulch the others it a huge selling point for me.

 

[Skin]

Engine speeds are bench tested and set from the factory. Honda doesn't require an out of the box adjustment nor does anything else unless there is shipping damage (or poor QC). Sounds like a salesman doing his job and spinning tales for you.

I pulled the trigger on it.

I hope there is some quality to it.

MTD made. Engine should be decent as its semi-commercial grade. Drive system is the week link in the long haul. Doesn't take many seasons to kill the axle bearings.

 

[usdemt]

Engine speeds are bench tested and set from the factory. Honda doesn't require an out of the box adjustment nor does anything else unless there is shipping damage (or poor QC). Sounds like a salesman doing his job and spinning tales for you.

But not for altitude on a carb motor. It is not an electric motor, there are huge differences in a motor running at sea level and one here in the midwest, not to mention higher altitudes. The pro place also carried an extra 2 year warranty and the same price as HD. I dont know why he would try to "up sell" me for a better deal on the same product.

 

[craftsman47]

Whoever built my cub cadet, also built that craftsman, I'd put money on it. My cub cadet has the exact same colour deck, same bag with the metal yellow handle to mount it, and same angled handle with the 2 yellow drive levers.

ha, I see that now! interesting!

http://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/cubcadet/walk-behind-mowers/push-lawn-mowers/features

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-pro-...=IEx20160429SRSSTDDCFTransSRSShipDeliveryConf

I needed a mower, as I left my other craftsman mower at my mothers, so I can cut her lawn.

I have a Troy built mower with a Honda engine, but its not power drive. Runs great, but I dont feel like pushing the mower at this house with a bigger yard. Might sell that one.

 

[jallyn]

I live in a subdivision and my lot is about 10,000 square feet (less than 1/4 acre). Last year when I was mower shopping a ran across a Honda on Craigslist for $150. He had bought it from a big box store for $300 or $350 and had cut grass with it only two times. He was selling it since it was so hard to start. I got there as quick as I could. He started it for me...after 20+ pulls... clearly struggling and getting tired. I took it home and it starts for me first pull every time. He did not know how to set the choke.

This is the one I have, advertised at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Honda-21-in-Single-Speed-Self-Propelled-Mower-HRS216SKA/100670172

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I live in a subdivision and my lot is about 10,000 square feet (less than 1/4 acre). Last year when I was mower shopping a ran across a Honda on Craigslist for $150. He had bought it from a big box store for $300 or $350 and had cut grass with it only two times. He was selling it since it was so hard to start. I got there as quick as I could. He started it for me...after 20+ pulls... clearly struggling and getting tired. I took it home and it starts for me first pull every time. He did not know how to set the choke.

This is the one I have, advertised at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Honda-21-in-Single-Speed-Self-Propelled-Mower-HRS216SKA/100670172

When I was a kid my well to do uncle gave my dad his commercial grade honda mower since it wouldn't start and he decided to hire a landscaping company. My dad turned the gas petcock to the on position and pulled the handle. Lasted another 15 years.

 

[justme-]

We have never done out of the box adjustments or settings on any Honda anything for a customer... Maybe for a high altitude there would be something needed but I've yet to see a service bulletin on that. All new Honda mowers have automatic choke and almost every other brand will follow suit in short order per EPA.

Fwiw there are really only a handful of major manufacturers in lawn and garden stuff. American Yard Products (Electrolux Corp/Husqvarna), Murray (Briggs and Stratton/snapper), and MTD are most brands OEM production.

A Honda not starting with a manual choke is likely a bad carb. With auto choke could be choke related, carb, or even ign module.

 

[Wamsutta]

All new Honda mowers have automatic choke and almost every other brand will follow suit in short order per EPA.

What's next after that? Electronic fuel injection with a full on OBD-II engine management system? The EPA should stay out of small engines.

 

[nikerret]

I had a bit of a Kubota addiction

Where did you find a Kubota walk behind? I have never seen one. Do they still make them? I want one!!!! It seems all my tools are turning orange.



I have the Cub Cadet, with casters, from 2010. It isn't what the preceding model was, but it has held up well, considering it is the one piece of equipment I neglect. This spring, I had to "fix it". There was a spring wire that came loose from the auto-choke system.

What I like:
-Casters-Awesome!!!!!!!!
-Rear wheel drive
-A tank of fuel lasts a long time
-Strong, tough motor (I did the first oil change, last year, after five years of mowing. Still on the same air filter, just sprayed out, with air, a few times. Still on original spark plug). This was one of their first "in-house" motors.


What I don't like:
-Plastic on the rear side of the deck, flexed enough to get hit by the blade, shortly after buying, that the bottom broke out. Stupid design.
-The tab that holds the rear height adjustment broke, after a few years.
-The drive belt, around the blade shaft, which drives the rear wheels, comes off, randomly, no matter how tight I get the cable. My friend's Husqvarna has a tab to stop the belt from coming off the pulley.
-Supposed to be variable speed, it's stop or go.

 

[Skin]

Kubota offered them for only a few years back in the early 90s. They were quite pricey, and entirely made in Japan so were pretty rare. They offered a 21" which is W5021, and a 19" which is W5019, with and without self propel, then they had a commercial grade version which was the same with a few small updates like metal wheels. Kubota gas engine of around 140cc, magnesium alloy deck, shaft driven transmission. Also had a fan on top of the blade to aid in vacuuming up larger objects like sticks and wet leaves. Parts support is still available. They still offer essentially the same mower in Europe however the Kubota engine has been replaced by a Honda GXV160.

But not for altitude on a carb motor. It is not an electric motor, there are huge differences in a motor running at sea level and one here in the midwest, not to mention higher altitudes. The pro place also carried an extra 2 year warranty and the same price as HD. I dont know why he would try to "up sell" me for a better deal on the same product.

I don't disagree but you're confusing jetting with RPMs. A mower set to run at 3000RPM will attempt to do so at sea level or 10,000 feet, the difference is at 10,000 feet it will be running rich and the dealer should of swapped out the standard jet for a high altitude one. That statement makes a lot more sense if the big box stores neglect to do so. That said its a physical swap, small mower carburetors haven't had adjustable main jets in a long long long time.

What's next after that? Electronic fuel injection with a full on OBD-II engine management system? The EPA should stay out of small engines.

Already exists on certain engines over 20HP complete with ECM and a single O2 sensor.

 

[justme-]

What's next after that? Electronic fuel injection with a full on OBD-II engine management system? The EPA should stay out of small engines.

As said already out there...Kohler and Kawasaki the most notable. John Deere has had it in Kawi engines for garden tractors for several years, tho none is obd2. Injection is already in the works for 2 cycle engines too. Currently quite a few higher level chainsaws with computer controlled carbs, many 2 cycle engines not actually 2 cycle...some Stihl units have cams/rockers/valves but still use mix so no sump. Mtd/troybuilt have 4cycle trimers...all for reduced emissions.

EPA is involved is everything related to environment...its a good thing in many ways.

 

[TJJP77]

The original Troy-Bilt company never built anything except tillers.

I'm not sure if this "counts", but long before Troy-Bilt got sucked up by MTD, they acquired Bolens and their line of mowers (among other things). They made some changes and refinements to the Bolens design over the years, so one could argue that it became a "Troy-Bilt" mower over time.

I have one of these Bolens/Troy-Built mulching mowers that is going on 20 years old now. It has a cast-aluminum deck, one-handle height adjustment, multi-speed friction drive self-propel system (supposedly a weak point but mine still works fine) and a good 'ole Briggs engine with an actual choke. All of the control cables on it are braided like automotive cables and the quality of everything on it is top notch.

It was an insanely expensive mower ($500+ in 1997-ish) when new, but I got a deal on it when Sears was winding down their Troy-Bilt distributorship and blowing out the last few units. They had been using the 3 remaining units as loaners for people who brought their Craftsman mowers in for warranty repair and mine was the cleanest of the 3. Had they given me one of these Troy-Bilts as a loaner, I'm not sure I would have brought it back!

Nobody was more bummed than me when Troy-Bilt went belly up and got absorbed into MTD. Troy-Bilt had excellent parts support for older models and I thought I could look forward to a lifetime of service from the mower with no fear of not being able to keep it going. I do have some wear/failure prone parts stockpiled, but who knows?

 

[Slednut]

If I lived in California I'd buy this one.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/grd/5565314914.html

I've had an aluminum deck HR214 for over 30 years. Wife still uses it at her mom's every week. I finally had to replace the rings last year. Rest of the engine looked perfect.

 

[bsaint]

You obviously need the Hustler 104

https://www.hustlerturf.com/products/super-104

 

[Skin]

If I lived in California I'd buy this one.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/grd/5565314914.html

I've had an aluminum deck HR214 for over 30 years. Wife still uses it at her mom's every week. I finally had to replace the rings last year. Rest of the engine looked perfect.

Bullet proof motor and design. Not the best bagger or mulcher though. Probably better off starting at $400, $700 is a huge stretch. You can buy a new Super Recycler or HRX for that and it will cut better.