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I am in the market for a new self propelled mower. I checked out Craftsman and really liked the feature but wary of the name. I know Toro is extremely reliable. So any advice out there? Had a Honda and it died on me. So, all you Honda owners - shhh.

dont worry to much about the name thing,if you are not going to run the mower all day long and run in to everything, either one will work fine.Sears (in my area) has a very good mobile( home service)van that does repairs if they need to be.i've had good luck with sears as well as toro.

Never had a Toro, they seem a little too proud of their mowers (price wise). I've had two Craftsman mowers over the years, both with Briggs and Stratton engines, and both were great. The last one I had was self propelled front wheel drive. It just wouldn't quit, it took a beating in the 12 years I had it and my only complaint about it was the front wheel drive was very hard to keep going straight in a bumpy yard. It was fine in the smooth yard of the house we lived in when I bought it. We moved to a house that had a bumpy yard, mostly due to tree roots, and it was a constant fight to keep the mower in line. After I broke my shoulder and had to cut our big yard with it one armed, fighting to keep it going straight, I decided to get a rider. I recently got rid of the Craftsman, which was still running strong, in favor of a lightweight push mower to use as a trim mower and on new grass that the rider might tear up. If you have a bumpy yard, you may consider a rear wheel drive model if you aren't already.

I agree with LandN.

Don't sweat the name thing. When it comes to push mowerrs, any of them will do you right if you do them right.

(as much as I love my Snappers........still gotta agree with him)

Hey there! WELCOME to LawnMowerForum! :biggrin:

I moved your thread to the Mower Buying & Pricing Forum. You'll get a better response there.
:thumbsup:

We invite you to see what sets the Toro self-propelled wpm apart from others. See it at YouTube - Toro Walk-Behind Mower Features

I guess I always bought the mid or low grade Craftsman and then would find that replacement parts had been discontinued or were very expensive. I haven't had my Toro very long, but I love the personal pace drive. Yes they like them, but it has a 5 year warrenty and the local dealer I bought from has done well by me in the past on an older Troy Bilt tiller and repairs to various equipments after a fire in my garage; that's worth something too. The Sears in my area, and I live a mile from the local repair center, are not very competent.

Grass ala Mowed said:

I guess I always bought the mid or low grade Craftsman and then would find that replacement parts had been discontinued or were very expensive. I haven't had my Toro very long, but I love the personal pace drive. Yes they like them, but it has a 5 year warrenty and the local dealer I bought from has done well by me in the past on an older Troy Bilt tiller and repairs to various equipments after a fire in my garage; that's worth something too. The Sears in my area, and I live a mile from the local repair center, are not very competent.

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You make a valid point. Sometimes I too will pay more for something to get it from someone I know will be there if I need service. I've just been lucky with lawnmowers I guess. I've never had any warranty issues with a mower and all the mowers I've had or used lasted at least 12 years and were still working, though a few were on their last legs by the time they were close to 20 years old. My dad had a Craftsman mower that he bought when he and mom lived in Dallas, TX when he worked for Texas Instruments in the early 60's, we were still using it in the late 70's when I took over cutting the grass as one of my household chores as a kid. The Sears service center that we used to be close to was terrible also. I never had mower issues, but had problems with other Sears stuff.

I don't think of any Honda, Toro, or Craftsman as inherently better by brand, but in my opinion, Toro's "Personal Pace" self-propulsion system cannot be beat. Push the handle hard, mower goes fast. Push lightly, mower goes slow, and there are infinite degrees between the two. Frankly, I'm surprised any other system is still selling, and I'm not getting paid by Toro to say that.

Actually I find I don't push the handle on my personal pace. I just hold my elbows at my sides and walk. If I walk faster, it goes faster, if I slow down, it slows down. Very intuitive; I let my girlfriend try it and she just started mowing with no problems. I can't believe there is anything else either.

Toro is the definant choice its more reliable and makes a nicer cut

The self propelled mower that I have goes too fast I need to look into the Toro.
I do not want to bag or recycle can I just remove the bag and let it blow out on the lawn.
What I'm asking is does it have a side discharge.

At least the Toro I bought is a "3-way," I think most of them are. It has a chute you place on the side port that holds the door open and helps "spray" the clippings. I think I've lost my Toro, my hip was sore and the girlfriend mowed the yard. I should have suspected something last year at my Mother's; the girlfriend got on the John Deere 277 and I didn't see her again until it ran out of gas (4 acres). :laughing: I prefer to mulch, it looks neater and I paid for the fertilizer, etc., I'm leaving it on the lawn. However, once in a while it rains for many days, etc. and I need to discharge and in the fall I like to mulch/bag the leaves with the mower and dump them in the flower beds.

Grass ala Mowed said:

At least the Toro I bought is a "3-way," I think most of them are. It has a chute you place on the side port that holds the door open and helps "spray" the clippings. I think I've lost my Toro, my hip was sore and the girlfriend mowed the yard. I should have suspected something last year at my Mother's; the girlfriend got on the John Deere 277 and I didn't see her again until it ran out of gas (4 acres). :laughing: I prefer to mulch, it looks neater and I paid for the fertilizer, etc., I'm leaving it on the lawn. However, once in a while it rains for many days, etc. and I need to discharge and in the fall I like to mulch/bag the leaves with the mower and dump them in the flower beds.

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All I would do with it is cut a few small areas that I can't get my rider into.
A mulcher is not good for me I don't mow every other day.

My neighbor bought a mulcher but rarely gets to use it because every time he try's it plugs up and he has to use his other mower.

Even the dealer told me not to buy a mulcher unless I was going to mow every time it grows an inch and that is not going to happen.

I bought a Toro Personal Pace 6.5hp, 21" mower 10 years ago and love it. It can bag, mulch or side discharge. My wife likes it too. I have a rider but the little Toro still gets a lot of use. I don't even maintain it all that well and it just works all the time. Starts easy and cuts nice. The personal pace really does work well. Like someone else said, you just hold your hands on the bar as normal and walk. Whatever pace you walk at, the mower just goes that speed automatically. I did run with it the other day to get in out of a sudden downpour and it didn't want to keep up with my full sprint but that's not exactly normal mowing. I would buy another one if this one ever dies but it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. I've never had a Craftsman last that long without giving me all kinds of trouble after 5 ears or so. Honda commercial mowers are great but cost $800. Honda home owner models are probably no better than anything else in that price range.

I don't mow every other day either, usually less than once a week. I don't know what Toro did to the blade and deck and I'm sure not all Kohler engines are the same quality, but this mower has never clogged, clumped or even breathed hard. It is my primary mower and the surveyer listed my lot at .49 acres (less house, flower beds and driveway) so I appreciate the ease.

I am looking at a new mower. I currently have a Craftsman 6.75 eager that is approximately 13 years old and still running. The only issue I have with this one is the side discharge closure kept coming open until I secured it shut as I never use it. It does mulch well and the one point wheel adjustment is fantastic.

Now because it is 13 years old I have been looking around for a new mower. Price wise feature for feature, the Craftsman and the Toro are somewhat close with the Toro being higher in every case. Like others, I also noticed the straight blade Toro compared to the traditional curved blade like the Craftsman so I am concerned about how well the Toro mower mulches. The option of one point adjustment for height is only available on the Craftsman. The Toro wheel adjustments has to be done at all four wheels and looks a little cheap to me. The both have variable drive control at the handle but the Toro looks a little more user friendly as it adjust to your walking speed compared to the Craftsman where the harder you squeeze the dirve lever, the fast it goes. The Toro also has what appears to be an easier switch from mulching to bagging. The both have a deck wash system, no prime battery powered electric start and hey both use Briggs engines so no diff there.

To me the main issues that are making it hard for me to choose are - 1 the height adjustment, the Craftsman model I am looking at has Toro beat with the easy one point adjustment. The 2nd is the ease of use as I am trying to get my 13 year old daughter to start helping with the lawn. The Toro appears to have the easier drive system. And finally the mulching performance. I almost always mulch my lawn. I don't like to bag unless the grass gets too long to mulch without leaving clumps behind. I was leaning towards the Toro but the 4 point wheel adjustment just bugs me on a lawn mower at this price. If it doesn't mulch as well as the Craftsman my mind is made up. Please post more views on the mulching performance.

Thanks

Nick

I don't know much about the Craftsman but the 4 separate wheel adjusters on my Toro aren't cheap as far as holding up over the years. It is a minor pain to adjust them but I do that almost never so it's not an issue for me. Don't assume the engines are the same because they are both Briggs. They might be the same engine but Briggs makes several levels of engines so it may be worth while finding out exactly which model Briggs engines they have before you say no difference. That said, it may not matter a ton on a small walk behind mower as long as you maintain them well. I'd say get whichever one functions easier if you want your kids using it. You can always set the wheel height for them and let them go at it. I can say that he Toro Personal Pace is very easy to use for my 13 year old daughter.

Good luck!

I also rarely adjust my height, maybe twice a year; cut a little lower in the spring and fall and one notch higher in the heat. My adjusters seem real sturdy, my old mower had single point and would slip lower over bumps, etc. My Toro mulches well. I've noticed no clumping or dumping when I stop to move lawn furniture, etc. The personal pace is like driving a car. I've started to develop arthritis in my hands, so squeezing a lever harder to go faster was not a good choice for me. We'll see over the years, but the Toro may be the best thing I've bought in years as for doing what I want and need.