Buying new budget push mower

[SirJohn]

I have a fairly small 1/6 acre lot and I am looking for a new push mower and can't spend more than $200. I don't really need self-propelled and it just adds extra weight and more complexity (more stuff to break) anyway. Currently have an old 8 year old Murray with a B&S quattro (they are now called 500 series). Seeing some rust under the deck and I'm tired of having to replace the carb diaphragm and also since I usually mulch, it gets bogged down easily when the grass gets thick. I've scoured the area for a few weeks for a used mower, but there just isn't much out there in my area that is better than what I have.
I've been looking at mowers and it seems my best choices for new for under $200 would be the Husqvarna 6021p Or several MTD variants such as this Troy Bilt or this Craftsman.

The husqvarna uses a Kohler XT-6 which is an OHV engine so it should still provide plenty of power and should be a little more efficient and quieter and also uses the cast iron cyliner liners, forged crankshaft, and bearings for the flywheel for durability unlike the B&S flatheads, the other china clones, and even the honda gcv series. The mower also has ball bearing wheels, but they are still plastic, and seems to have an all steel deck. The MTD mowers have plastic at the front and rear of the deck where the wheels mount and use B&S 675 series (the old Quantum). That is an old flat head engine and it should be easier to get fixed should it break, but tends to be louder and uses more gas.

Power on both should be in the same ballpark and an improvement over the B&S 500 and 550 series mowers like I have now. So is there anything on deck design or other design features that I should be looking at? The husqvarna is recommended by consumer reports and scored decently on mulching. Is there a model I am missing? It seems like just about everything in the under $200 range is built by MTD (yardman, yardmachines, Troy-bilt, craftsman, huskee, bolens) or Husqvarna (weedeater, poulan). Please don't suggest the cheaper mowers with the B&S 300, 450, 500, 550 series motors as that is what I want to move on from.

As I mentioned in some other posts, I have been leaning towards the Husqvarna, but thought I would seek some more input to see if anyone else has an opinion

 

[SirJohn]

I ended up buying the Husqvarna. I hit a very narrow sale window via Sears online and picked it up for $162.Couldn't resist at that price. I have to wait a week for delivery. I really want to try something different than a B&S flathead so I though I'd give the Kohler a shot. Hopefully the wheels hold up as what was holding me back on the Husqvarna are that those large rear wheels don't seem like they'd be able to take too much strain and they aren't cheap to replace given the price of the mower. I wonder if there is a way to reinforce them. structurally.

 

[noma]

Hi Sirjohn


Hope you enjoy your new mower,give a report on how you like it after a few times around the lawn. Thanks :biggrin:

 

[Green Kombucha]

I'm in more or less the same boat, in that I don't want to spend more than $300 or so for my size lawn. Would like to hear more about OP's experience with this purchase.

I'm currently considering a 21' Craftsman from Sears for $220. It seems like a lot of these lower end mowers share the same engine though: the Briggs and Stratton 190cc.

 

[SirJohn]

Got my mower and did a brief test. First off, both Husvarna and Kohler have made some changes for the 2011 model year based on pictures and literature I've seen on previous model year product. Husqvarna found another corner to cut by getting rid of the ball bearings on the front wheels. They are still there on the back, but no longer on the front. Mower still seems easy to push though, but it is slightly disappointing. Kohler revamped the XT line from its original intro slightly. Cosmetically, the valve covers now have OHV stamped on them and there is a slight difference on the plastic engine cover. More significant is that they tweaked the engine performance. Prior to the 2011 model year, the XT-6 had an 8.3:1 compression ratio, and was rated at 5.9 torque at 2600 rpm and 3.5hp at 3600rpm. For 2011, the compression ratio's been increased to 9.2:1. Power has been upped to 6.3 torque at 2800rpm and 3.8hp at 3600rpm. The Xt-7 also received a power boost but without an increase in compression which leads me to believe there were other tweaks as well as both engines also indicate a change in their performance curve as well. One possible negative, while the literature for the older version really played up the forged steel crankshaft, the literature for the 2011 model has removed any mention of a forged steel crankshaft at all. I would think that this means it is no longer a feature. They probably went back to a cast steel crankshaft. The cast iron cylinder liner and flywheel bearing are still prominently mentioned and you can see the flywheel bearing on the exploded parts view list.

Things I've noticed. As I've seen mentioned elsewhere, the Husky deck is a little on the thin side. I noticed that unlike other push mower decks I've had in the past, the lower edge is not curved back up with a lip to the inside. The good part of this is that less clippings will get stuck under the deck. The downside is that the lack of the curved lip seems to reduce its rigidity which makes it seem flimsier than it is. There have been complaints that clippings blow up on the deck through the gap between the motor and deck. I can confirm that this happens...a lot.The handle mount design that allows the handle to fold easy does allow a bit too much wiggle for my taste. I actually had to take the handle off and rebend it slightly because on my sample, if you put pressure on the handle a certain way, it would pop out of guide as if it was trying to go to the folded position. Problem is fixed now. The Kohler engine did not seem any smoother and quieter than the 158cc B&S flathead on my old mower. I only ran it it for a few minutes so perhaps it will smooth out with a bit more time. I also haven't compared the two back to back so maybe there is a bit of difference. The Kohler did seem to have a throatier tone. On the subject of the Kohler, it really is an enormous engine for only 149cc. I really have to do a double take on it, wondering if its not really the 173cc XT-7. It dominates the deck. It makes the mower look like a complete beast. the 158cc B&S looks like a toy next to it. From my shopping around in stores, I have to think even the similar design 160cc Honda has a smaller footprint. That said, despite its size, it does not seem particularly heavy as the mower is quite easy to push and to pivot.

Once I do a bit more mowing with it, I'll be able to comment on actual performance. My brief impression was that it had more than enough power for mulching and notably more than my old B&S, which is labled as 4.0hp but is actually identical as the 500 series with 5.0 torque. Simple math tells me that there is no way the 4.0hp label is accurate with only 5.0 torque given that the rpms on lawn mower engines are generally fixed somewhere around 3000. It sucks that B&S won't actually release any real performance data on their push mower engines. I guess if they did, they would have to admit how much they lie on their ratings.

 

[SirJohn]

I have now done a reasonable amount of mowing with the Husqvarna. I can only compare to past mowers I've had, including the old Murray that was my previous mower. Power is sufficieint for most mowing and is noticeably stronger than the Murray. It mulches very well. Only when in very tall, heavy grass do I notice clumps of clippings. Clippings never built up enough to clog the mower, but I haven't tried it in wet grass yet. Vacuum also seems very good. Which is good for dealing with leaves, clippings, but also creates an instant dust cloud whenever you hit a dry or dead spot. The Kohler motor runs much smoother than the old flathead and seems to be a bit quieter. However, the deck of the mower does emit a lot more noise and the whoosh of the blade is much more noticeable on this mower than the Murray so overall sound output is as loud, if not slightly louder. The Kohler auto choke had no problem with hot starting. It started just fine after 25 minutes of run time with no waiting for it to cool. When hot, it does start initially at a low rpm and then ramps right up to speed within 2-3 seconds, which make sense given the way the auto choke systems work. Starting the engine in general is very easy. Starts on first pull without issue and takes very litte effort to pull the cord and still have the engine start. The motor emits much less fumes than the B&S flatheads as well. I only stink of sweat and grass when I'm done instead of sweat, grass, and gas/exhaust. Maneuverabililty is good and it is easy to push. One of my concerns with this mower was the long term durability of the big rear wheels. From use, my concerns are still there because you do see some flexing and wobble. We'll have to see if those ball bearing sleeves prevent the plastic from prematurely cracking or not. The plastic rear skirt also gets folded under the mower too easily when pulling the mower backwards which I do quite a lot of given the number of obstacles in my yard. I'll have to see if there is something I can figure out to help prevent this.

Overall, it mows very well and the Kohler engine is a noticeable upgrade to the B&S flatheads I've used in the past (although I have not used the flatheads in the 190cc size). It is also very easy to use. However, I do have concerns of the long term durability of the deck and wheels. Also, its a little annoying having the clippings blowing out the gap in the deck under the engine, but if you clean your mower after every use as you should, you aren't really expending that much additional effort to clear them off.

One strange thing I need to report that really isn't an operational issue. The parts list for the engine in the owners manual are labeled as being for the XT-6 spec number xt149-0311. While the illustrations are correct, the actual part numbers listed are actually for an XT-7, spec number xt173-0311. I discovered this because I was googling part numbers online for future reference and I kept getting the parts lists for the XT-7 and never for an XT-6. I then went to kohler's website and used their service technician parts lookup tool and looked up both the xt173 and xt149 versions and discovered the problem. I also went to the Searspartsdirect website and noted that they are using the same incorrect parts list as the manual. Hopefully, it gets corrected, but that's a big whoops if anyone decides to do engine repair work themselves if its a part that the xt-7 and xt-6 do not share.

 

[Ariena]

As far as wobbly wheels are concerned, I can tell you from experience they are a real frustration. I have a Craftsman 190cc walk behind with the cheapest wheels ever imported from China. Before mowing the first time, I removed the wheels and added an O-ring on the wheel spindle. This takes up any slack and removes the annoying noise when free wheeling. It makes the wheel somewhat shock absorbing as well.
I hope this will help you.