Just some quick comments for those of you wondering how long your shiny new mower is going to be with you on this planet.
About me: I recently had to ditch my nice commercial machine and big yard, for a 1/8 acre and "consumer grade" mower. Ended up with a Toro I got from the local dealer. Not bad. The engine specs out to be a 4.5 hp, but running at 2,800 rpm yields a net of 3.5 hp. Adequate for a normal yard. Not adequate to mow hay however.
I've been working on, fixing, rebuilding small equipment for years, mainly as a hobby.
So.. I was interested in how my little mower was built and how long it might last.
Quick notes:
- Many of the engines are made in China -- long gone are the Briggs stuff with "VacuJet" carbs you could service in 5 minutes. (I'm dating myself.) But the engine is not the #1 enemy here, it's more the deck rusting out, handle bar breaking, and if you have a self-propelled, the drive train (belt, cable, bearings, gears).
- You know the hype of "just add oil never change it?" Forget that. Change the oil once per year and maybe the plug and air filter too. Run the oil the thing came with for 3-5 hours then replace with full synth oil, like 10-30. And again, replace the oil once per year.
If you do all things right, be nice to your mower, change oil, don't bend the handle bar, don't leave it out in the rain, do clean the underside, do sharpen the blade -- what's the life expectancy? I say about 200 hours. More than that, you've got a keeper.
My machine (and your's probably) has a tranny build by General Transmissions. The little tranny (a helical gear set) has a synth housing (plastic) and metal gears, fully lubricated, no maintenance required, belt drive from engine to tranny. Assume sleeve bushings and who knows how good the gear metal is. This is your weak link. Again, engine s/b fine, but not the drive system. So I emailed these tranny guys asking about MTBF. Here's the response:
"I’m going to give you as good of an answer as I can. First, you have a residential unit made for approx. 30 hours of usage per season. We bench test the units up to 150 hours but they last longer. We can say with our testing and usage a good 2 years as a guarantee and most likely 5 years. We have had some not needing repair after 10 years of usage. It all depends on how it is handled and taken care of. They are a sealed unit and no service is needed but cleaning around it as well as the mower are of course recommended.
I hope this helps. My minimal answer would be yes, 2years/5years."
Right now you can buy replacement trannys for about $60... add a few hours of watching a YouTube and sticking it in there, you've got a new tranny. But that's now. What about 200 hours from now, maybe 10 years in my case? Nope, not me. I'll add it to all the stuff you see in FB Marketplace, "Great mower, self-propelled no workie, but it's a good push mower, and I only want $200 for it." Right.
So there you have your "consumer" use it and chuck it mentality. This really hasn't changed much in 30 years though. I remember the crappy friction drive mowers - you know, with the cogs in the wheels? This has got to be better.
Could I have bought a Honda with hydro? Yeah sure, but then it's still a little mower and for 3X the price. IMO there's a hole in the market. Take my new Toro, add a cast gear housing with tapered roller bearings and a heavier deck, and maybe $100 more, and you'd get 4X the life, or maybe a 20 year machine. Maybe a bigger engine so once it begins to lose compression, could still perform okay.
So there you have it. Moral of the story is, don't be cheap. Personally, if I ever have even a 3/4 acre, it's going to be a $4k low end ZTR. And instead of spending 1:15 walking, I'll spend 20 minutes riding -- and be the envy of the neighborhood and not boring the crap out of myself walking 5 miles each time I cut the grass. But that's just me
About me: I recently had to ditch my nice commercial machine and big yard, for a 1/8 acre and "consumer grade" mower. Ended up with a Toro I got from the local dealer. Not bad. The engine specs out to be a 4.5 hp, but running at 2,800 rpm yields a net of 3.5 hp. Adequate for a normal yard. Not adequate to mow hay however.
I've been working on, fixing, rebuilding small equipment for years, mainly as a hobby.
So.. I was interested in how my little mower was built and how long it might last.
Quick notes:
- Many of the engines are made in China -- long gone are the Briggs stuff with "VacuJet" carbs you could service in 5 minutes. (I'm dating myself.) But the engine is not the #1 enemy here, it's more the deck rusting out, handle bar breaking, and if you have a self-propelled, the drive train (belt, cable, bearings, gears).
- You know the hype of "just add oil never change it?" Forget that. Change the oil once per year and maybe the plug and air filter too. Run the oil the thing came with for 3-5 hours then replace with full synth oil, like 10-30. And again, replace the oil once per year.
If you do all things right, be nice to your mower, change oil, don't bend the handle bar, don't leave it out in the rain, do clean the underside, do sharpen the blade -- what's the life expectancy? I say about 200 hours. More than that, you've got a keeper.
My machine (and your's probably) has a tranny build by General Transmissions. The little tranny (a helical gear set) has a synth housing (plastic) and metal gears, fully lubricated, no maintenance required, belt drive from engine to tranny. Assume sleeve bushings and who knows how good the gear metal is. This is your weak link. Again, engine s/b fine, but not the drive system. So I emailed these tranny guys asking about MTBF. Here's the response:
"I’m going to give you as good of an answer as I can. First, you have a residential unit made for approx. 30 hours of usage per season. We bench test the units up to 150 hours but they last longer. We can say with our testing and usage a good 2 years as a guarantee and most likely 5 years. We have had some not needing repair after 10 years of usage. It all depends on how it is handled and taken care of. They are a sealed unit and no service is needed but cleaning around it as well as the mower are of course recommended.
I hope this helps. My minimal answer would be yes, 2years/5years."
Right now you can buy replacement trannys for about $60... add a few hours of watching a YouTube and sticking it in there, you've got a new tranny. But that's now. What about 200 hours from now, maybe 10 years in my case? Nope, not me. I'll add it to all the stuff you see in FB Marketplace, "Great mower, self-propelled no workie, but it's a good push mower, and I only want $200 for it." Right.
So there you have your "consumer" use it and chuck it mentality. This really hasn't changed much in 30 years though. I remember the crappy friction drive mowers - you know, with the cogs in the wheels? This has got to be better.
Could I have bought a Honda with hydro? Yeah sure, but then it's still a little mower and for 3X the price. IMO there's a hole in the market. Take my new Toro, add a cast gear housing with tapered roller bearings and a heavier deck, and maybe $100 more, and you'd get 4X the life, or maybe a 20 year machine. Maybe a bigger engine so once it begins to lose compression, could still perform okay.
So there you have it. Moral of the story is, don't be cheap. Personally, if I ever have even a 3/4 acre, it's going to be a $4k low end ZTR. And instead of spending 1:15 walking, I'll spend 20 minutes riding -- and be the envy of the neighborhood and not boring the crap out of myself walking 5 miles each time I cut the grass. But that's just me