My gas mower is on its last legs, an old Craftsman self propelled I bought used 5 years ago.

Decided against an electric one, the decent rated ones are just out of my price range right now. Budget is $300 to $350. I see that Lowe’s carries Craftsman gas mowers with Briggs & Stratton engines and within my budget. Are the new ones any good? Could I do better elsewhere with another brand? I like Lowe’s since they give me 10% off for being a Veteran each time I go.

My specs are:

- 21”
- Self Propelled (I have a decent sized yard and got spoiled on the current one being self propelled)
- Mulching capable

As much as I’d love to have a fancy Honda, I just don’t have 900 bucks to spend on a mower right now.

Thanks!

I picked up a residential Honda from the local mower shop for $400. Assembled and ready to go.

Honda.

Get the Honda. You’ll thank me later. You can also get the veterans discount at Home Depot.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ho...-HRR216VKA/308769340

Dude, the Honda I got at home depot meets that and was 399.99

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Get the Honda. You’ll thank me later. You can also get the veterans discount at Home Depot.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ho...-HRR216VKA/308769340

They only do a veterans discount like 2 times a year.

Lowe’s gives me one every time I go there.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Get the Honda. You’ll thank me later. You can also get the veterans discount at Home Depot.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ho...-HRR216VKA/308769340

They only do a veterans discount like 2 times a year.

Lowe’s gives me one every time I go there.

The HD here does it every time.

$349 gets you a Honda motor on a Jonsered chassis

Link

.

Buy a Honda, add gas, mow.

The Honda recommendations are good, but don't forget to check Craigslist for the guy who bought one with the intent of doing his yard, and after one or two attempts, gave up and hired someone to do it. You can pick up these mistake purchases for 50% of retail for an essentially 'new' mower.

https://cnj.craigslist.org/grd...ower/6874182898.html

Evidence that there are good used Honda in PA, although this is suspiciously close to NYC.

Find your local Husqvarna dealer and take a look at the HU700F model. Honda engine, self propelled, 22” cut. $349 MSRP.

There is a reason you see a lot of these on the landscapers trailers. They are made to last.

Brings and Stratton make a really good engine. I have a Craftsman riding mower that is 17 years old and started up every time. But Honda is better...

I am curious as to why your old mower is dying at 5 years old. It should have lasted a lot longer than that. What is wrong with the old one? Can a trip for servicing fix it?

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
Find your local Husqvarna dealer and take a look at the HU700F model. Honda engine, self propelled, 22” cut. $349 MSRP.

There is a reason you see a lot of these on the landscapers trailers. They are made to last.

This. I have one of these that has run flawlessly for about 5 years now.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Evidence that there are good used Honda in PA, although this is suspiciously close to NYC.

The Honda hrx 217 is a good lawnmower.
But if you want new... I'm sure the Husqvarna with the Honda engine would be good too.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDFW:

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
Find your local Husqvarna dealer and take a look at the HU700F model. Honda engine, self propelled, 22” cut. $349 MSRP.

There is a reason you see a lot of these on the landscapers trailers. They are made to last.

This. I have one of these that has run flawlessly for about 5 years now.

Another +1 for a Husqvarna. I bought a (non self propeledj Husqvarna at Lowes about 4-5 years ago that just runs. I paided just under $300.00 for it.

I just bought a used Honda locally. We don't have very much lawn, about 1600 ft2 in back and 1000 in front. My wife insisted that we buy a reel-type push mower and said she would cut the lawn. She didn’t and I hated that mower. This Honda was owned by a young guy who had a lawn service company. He worked it hard for a season and came to realize that he wanted a 30” commercial mower, that the 21” Honda was too small. It’s got some nicks on it, but it started with one pull, the oil was clean and the blade was sharp. I got it for $220 and think I’ll be a whole lot happier than a $300 Murray or Troy Bilt. BTW, our home is on a small acreage, the rest is native grass and I have a John Deere X-Series to take care of it.

The $269 Toro at HD is not really a bad mower. 21", B&S engine, self-propelled. It can be configured as a side-ejection, bagger, or mulcher.

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?

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?

Since Oregon puts crap in their fuel, gas mowers and pressure washers are a royal pain to use. It gums up the system. I had a real old hand-me-down pressure washer with a B&S motor on it that lasted 10 years without ever having to do anything but put gas in it and prime the system.

I gave it away and bought a Troy-Built Ever-start(?) and it lasted two seasons before I got frustrated with it and kicked it down the driveway. I just moved into a new house and we just landscaped the backyard last year. My neighbor didn't need his mower anymore so he gave me his and it took me a couple of hours to tear it apart, clean the carb, and get it running.

This year, I had to clean it out again and it had jelly in the carb. I cleaned it out and got it running. One week later. Won't start. I'm done with modern mowers. The old stuff was the way to go. The new stuff is CRAP!

I gave up on gas-anything here and have gone strictly electric. The modern day gas stuff is CRAP! I never had problems with old Snappers OR B&S's, but that was in a different state that doesn't put junk in their gas.

We just got a 16" Ryobi corded mower ($110 from Home Depot). I decided against a battery powered simply because I don't want to be ready to use the mower, then find out the battery was dead. Our yard is somewhat small and a 50' cord is long enough to get me anywhere in my yard (just barely). Plug it in and go! Next payday I'm getting an electric pressure washer.

(rant off...)