Please Recommend A Mower, Not Briggs & Strat.

[wallace]

I, too, have the Husky awd. My only regret is not knowing the Honda motor was an option when I bought it. Even with the Briggs, though, this mower has been a life changing experience for me. The awd and tall rear wheels have conquered my bumpy, hilly yard. Would buy another one in a minute!

 

[tuold]

I believe Honda lawnmowers are made in the US, at least the ones sold here. I could be wrong.

 

[nightrider]

+1 on Honda. Mine have lasted for many years and that was even with the abuse that I gave them

 

[gtrhtr]

+1 on a mower with a Honda engine. I've owned several as I've moved around the world, and I've never had an issue.

 

[pappymac]

When my Toro died I did the smart thing. Hired a lawn service.

 

[tbradsim1]

Pappy you're the smartest amongst us all.

 

[onestrangeone]

Go with the Honda motor if you can. The Kohler motors are also very reliable. Stabil is a decent product although I use a product called Ethanol Shield, one of these is a must use due to the low quality, trashy gas the gov makes us buy.

For my business all of my gas powered equipment is Honda powered, down time = $$$
My personal lawn equipment is a mixed bag, John Deere 42" (Kohler) Scat-Trac 60" Zero (Kohler) and a Troy-Built push mower (B&S) I've only had the TB about 5 yrs. but have not had any problems with it, it's never taken more than two pulls to start and that's only been the first start up of the season. Maybe you got a lemon, or need to start using the Ethanol Shield, it's worth it!
As a young teenager way way back in the day I bought my first mower from a garage sale, $5 and set out to make some money, I realized very quickly that mowing yards was a lot of work! so I put a $15 for sale sign on the mower and set it out by the street, it sat there for three days and no one even stopped to look at it, I raised the price to $25 and sold it within 15 min. I spent the next two years buying junk mowers at yard sales on the weekends, rebuilding and reselling them. This is how I paid my racing expenses (motocross) and my first truck.

 

[newbroom]

If the problem is that it won't start after a lay off, it's likely the gas line. Things get 'jelled' up these days because of the ethanol in combination with other materials I think.

Close tolerance engineering of engines is what has allowed for imports to overtake Detroit.

Perhaps the first was the VW. Although IT wasn't all THAT much more durable, it did make us more aware of other ways to put a car on the road.

Nowadays, everything is tied in with some sort of electronic digitization that prevents a lot of us from DIY repairs.

Who remembers greasing the front suspension and wheel bearings?

I think that Lawnboy and Snapper are pretty good mowers.

 

[iamn8]

I'd recommend a Juan. He's a hard worker and prices are very fair.

 

[mso489]

pappy, the lawn service is common sense. I've been wrestling with my little part of an acre so long, it's hard to give it up. I cleared the lot after Hurricane Fran with a bow saw and a rake (not smart, but distracted from the discomfort otherwise). But my determination to do my own yard work has left my yard looking like it's uninhabited. I will probably get a working mower and see out the summer. And then hire a lawn service. At some point, it makes sense. I do quite a bit of care-taking for my wife who has mobility limitations, though she does a lot of cooking, baking and other chores too. Likely, hiring the yard done, at least sometimes, would be sensible. Interesting how hard that is to give it up if you've been doing it for most of your life, even as a kid for my dad. Used to mow with a hand mower, until we were given an old reel mower from an estate; then I was pleased to rev that up. Now that was a Briggs and Stratton that worked just fine, like sixty years ago.

 

[pappymac]

mso489 - I fought giving it up for several years. Our house has the biggest lot in the subdivision we live in. When I used a push mower - even a self propelled one - it would take about 90 minutes just to do the back yard and that didn't count the time spent on weed eating and edging. Then I got smart and bought a Toro Lawn Tractor and that cut the mowing down to about 45 minutes. After 9 years it blowing blue smoke real bad despite all the routine maintenance I put into it. By then I hit 60 and said to hell with it and hired the lawn service guys I use. Now I can sit on the patio and smoke my pipe while watching them do all the work.

 

[zitotczito]

I have a Briggs-Stratton engine on my push mower and it started to really run rough and kinda in a cycle pattern. I had it serviced, carburetor service, etc and in a year it was running badly again. The guy at the garden store says the gas since it has ethanol in it, ruins the engine and makes it run badly. He told me to use a product called "Star-Tron" fuel treatment (comes in a little blue bottle) and since doing so, the engine has run great with zero problems and that was three years ago.

 

[beefeater33]

Briggs is on the right, that's Stratton on the left..... they work all day, low maintenance too, and very quiet!... ::

 

[mso489]

Goats are God's own lawnmowers. Also, as I'm sure beefeater33 knows, they can do amazing weed trimming, and especially love, and completely tolerate, poison ivy, which they devour by the bushel. They are natural lawnmowers and herbicides. And they are uncanny smart. Plus, the young kids are excruciatingly cute. One walked up to me at a restaurant door one time (it had wandered from its home nearby) and I had to pick it up and bounce it a little, which it very much liked. A billy can knock you for a loop, but mostly they are pretty even tempered, so far as I know (not so much that I know). These are beautiful goats. Goat cheese is some of the best. When I met the kid, I had on my "office" clothes, but he smelled fine, and he didn't shed.

 

[tbradsim1]

. I bought a John Deere but as you can see it was a Lemon. :laughat:

 

[mso489]

I think a John Deere would solve all of my problems in life, or make me forget any it didn't solve. You have some lemonade makings there ... ah!

 

[mcitinner1]

Ha Ha! Love the goats names.

 

[tinsel]

MSO,
Don't be so quick to blame the briggs engine. It's possible you got a clunker, but Briggs is pretty widely known for building rock solid engines.
Add some of this stuff to the fuel tank on all your small engine equipment a few times a year:
http://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NCB0116/
I'm an auto mechanic, so small engines aren't my exact specialty but I do know quite a bit about them. I also have a friend who runs a small engine shop. It's true that the ethanol in today's fuel is very problematic for small engines. The small carburetors tend to get gunked up. This isn't as much a problem for fuel injected engines which run much higher fuel pressures. But the very low fuel pressure and tiny passages in small engine carburetors get plugged very easily.
If you are completely determined to get away from B&S engines then Honda is probably your only other option. B&S engines are on just about everything. Murray, John Deere, Husqavarna ... the list goes on. And also, just because it doesn't say "Briggs & Stratton" on the top of the engine doesn't mean it wasn't built by them. Lots of times they are just re-badged by whoever buys them.
Good luck with your mower troubles.

 

[mso489]

It seems to me I've run some of my war horse B&S mowers after they started adding the the ethanol, but I know they jimmy the formulations all the time. I'll definitely check out the additive, either to try in this mower or in a Honda or other brand. I really loved those old mowers that cranked up every time. Maybe that's why this one is so frustrating, and why I'm still pulling that cord hoping to loosen it up.

 

[shaintiques]

I'm going to be in the market for a new mower soon too. Great info all around.