Most Briggs engines are made in USA and most Honda engines are now made in China if that matters to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Wishbone:
Most Briggs engines are made in USA and most Honda engines are now made in China if that matters to you.

Honda engines sold here are made in the US, Japan or Thailand. https://engines.honda.com/oem-...ufacturing-locations

What about the Honda with the Nexite deck ?

I still use my 12 year old craftsman with a 6.5 Briggs every week. Just a plain old push mower that starts on the first or second pull. The mower deck is rusting out though despite being garage kept but it still has some life left in it.

The only recommendation I can make is to get one with magnesium/aluminum deck. That should give it a fighting chance of lasting a couple of decades.

I have a honda engine on my pressure washer and briggs and stratton engines on my lawwn mower and generator and I would highly recommend both of them.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
I have a honda engine on my pressure washer and briggs and stratton engines on my lawwn mower and generator and I would highly recommend both of them.

I've had extremely bad luck with B&S stuff. Two Craftsman mowers that died in under 5 years. Why I bought the exact same model the second time, I don't know? Had an ATS for a B&S generator catch fire, at the owner of the company that I worked for just a few months after I installed it.

No B&S for me please. I do love my Honda mower though.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Craigslist search for Toro Super Recycler (not the cheaper, regular Toro recycler). Best mower you can find at any price. I’ve owned/sold at least 50 of them. I bought them used for $5 to $125 and flipped them for profit after washing them and tuning them up.

Way better than any Honda or Husquvarna or big box store mower. These are honest to god 30 year mowers, so an 8 year old used Super Recycler at $100 still has 20 plus years of life on it and STILL will outlast a big box store mower by a factor of 2 to 1.

I can’t stress enough how good these mowers are compared to everything else out there.

Knowing what I know now I would never ever buy a new $300 mower again. Why pay more for an inferior mower?

This is exactly what I was going to post.

10 years ago my wife found a toro recycler at a garage sale for $50. I've used it ever since. It's never failed to start within 3 pulls and usually in one and all I've ever done is change the sparkplug. I'd definitely buy one again.

I'm in the market as well so this is a timely thread for me.

However, I have to say the el cheapo Yard Machines mower I currently have has started reliably in one or two pulls for over 15 years now. Briggs & Stratton btw.

Its self propelled feature broke at the handle end years ago, and the wheels are wobbly, but the bugger starts so I'll probably keep it as back up when I get a new mower.

Is it true that big box stores like Lowe's and HD get more cheaply made models of lawnmowers made just for them than are sold elsewhere?

Like with how TV's are made just for Best Buy or Costco?

Like say Lowe's Craftsman Model ABC1 is made with a lot more plastic parts and cheaper/more flimsy than a Craftsman Model ABC available at Sears or some other place?

Just picked up the Husqvarna LC221AH at Lowes. Got $70 off because it was an 'extra floor model' and then got my 10% military discount! Woot!

Looking at two very similar ones, really the only difference is that one has a 140cc B&S engine and the other has a 160cc Honda engine.

My yard is really 4 sections; front, side, main rear and upper rear and about 3,000 sq feet total.

Is a 160cc better than a 140cc?

I want to mulch grass, not interested in bagging or side discharging. Would the 160cc be better for that?

Honda 21 in. 3-in-1 Variable Speed Gas Walk Behind Self Propelled Lawn Mower with Auto Choke at Home Depot on sale for $379 this week.

Model HRR216VKA
Store SKU 404997

Dude. Listen. Take a chance. Trust me.

I dont know what part of PA you find yourself in...

https://harrisburg.craigslist....lled/6874642376.html

https://baltimore.craigslist.o...lawn/6860364775.html

https://lancaster.craigslist.o...cler/6840249014.html

The listed prices above are a little high for this area, I would offer 60-70% of what they are asking.

This mower here... this is the OLD style Toro recycler. VERY heavy duty, aluminum deck, super durable 3 speed transmission (when is the last time you saw a push mower with a 3 speed transmission?). To buy a mower of this quality today would cost $1100 to $1300. And thats not a misprint. Used, they want $75. Even if you put a brand new engine on it ($120) and rebuilt the drive and small components ($50), you would have an honest to god $1300 mower, for under $300.

https://reading.craigslist.org...er-2/6850957324.html

Find something like this, take a chance on it, and STOP buying big box store mowers!! Its $75. Try it for a few weeks, if you hate it or its a piece of junk, throw it back on Craiglist for $100 and get your money back. Win win.

Whats good about these Super Recylers is that they are fully rebuildable. If something wears out, the parts are readily available, and easy to change. If you are handy and have a few tools in your garage, you can literally keep one of these things running for 50 years or longer. Pass it on to the grand kids, it will still be running. These are not throw away big box mowers that disintegrate after 5 years.

Or just contract it out. I do not miss cutting my lawn. Sold my Toro super recyclers for a good price to the guys who painted the exterior of my home. Yeah, contracted that out as well. Sometimes you get to a point in life where you value your time more than money.

The Hondas have a dual blade system with a high rolled deck so it rolls the grass clippings over onto the blades so it does a really good job mulching it.

Not sure if the other brands that use the Honda motor use this set up.

We've had our for 9 years now and have had zero issues with it.

I will vouch for the 3 speed transmission Bubbatime was talking about. I have it on my LawnBoy and love it. If you want to mix oil and gas I was going to recommend a 2 stroke LawnBoy, used of course. If not, take a look at those Toro's that he linked to. In essence, the same mower only a different motor.

I have a Craftsman in my garage, I can't wait until it dies. I bought it because I could easily get replacement parts: blade, air filter, drive wheels, etc. It even came with a card listing each part number. Then Sears changed all the parts numbers, then Sears went bye bye. I can still get parts online but it's a PITA. Next time a Husky or a Honda from a place where I can get parts to fix it.

It would also be nice to have a motor with a drain plug, Turning the mower upside down to drain the oil sucks. Yeah, I know, first world problems but I live in the first world.

I had been a die hard Toro fan but several years ago bought a Honda, and am so glad I did. I ordered it from Jack’s Small Engines. Great price, nice folks, and have ordered several things from them. It came in a big box, minimal assembly, and ready to mow - mulch or cut, and it came with a bag. I finally quit using ethanol fuel, too. After fighting with carb issues on all my small engines for years, I now make an almost two hour round trip to get non ethanol fuel. Hard to find it around here. I fill up half a dozen gerry cans for the season. Also I keep a stock of VP fuel in case I run out of gasoline. So far the riding mower, walk behind mower, and string trimmer have had absolutely NO ethanol in them, and all have been running 3-5 seasons with no issues whatsoever. I learned my lesson on crap fuel.

quote:

I finally quit using ethanol fuel, too.

Same here. I also have to travel for it. It's illegal to sell no-ethanol in the St. Louis metro area. But every time I go to the Lake (mid-Mo) I fill a can or two with 93 octane no-ethanol fuel. I then add an ounce/gallon of Sea-foam.

PASig, lot's of good advice here. Different opinions of course, but all good.
Let us know what you do.