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Hi there, as the title states I'm in the market for a new push mower to use this upcoming spring.

Its main purpose is to be used in my small lawn-care business. At the moment I have about 6 yards to mow, in addition to my own, and working at another job part-time so I definitely stay busy. For the past couple years, I have been using Craigslist mowers basically haha. But they have been doing the job well enough, Id just like something with a bit more power, and maybe some features.

The mower I use the most now is a 5HP B&S, with a side-discharge 22in cut. No frills. No self-propulsion.


Most of my yards get cut every 2 weeks, definitely not how I like it, but I understand that people don't want to shell out the money every week. Grass here in Missouri grows quickly, and when the humidity arrives around late April-early May, the grass can and does stay wet all day long.

Another caveat is that the mower needs to be light enough to be lifted frequently. I haul my equipment in the back of a Jeep Cherokee that I turn into a 2-seater every spring/summer. Before anyone suggests it, pulling a trailer is not an option, so it needs to be under 100 pounds or so.

I few features I would like are:
High quality wheels, like a ball-bearing style, something that will roll easily and track straight.

A bigger engine than my 5HP, because its currently not big enough, and slows me down quite frequently in the longer grass, especially if its wet, and it almost always is.

The ability to switch quickly and easily between mulching and side-discharge would be a nice feature. I stick with side discharge most of the time (see long, wet grass above). But there are times when I could get by with mulching, and it certainly does look better. I will never bag.

I honestly have never used a self propelled mower, but am not opposed to it, as long as it wont slow me down. I tend to walk pretty darn fast while cutting, and Im around 6' 1" so I do have a pretty good stride. Plus the self-propelled is just more weight and more to go wrong, so Im on the fence with that. Im leaning more toward not having it though.

Id like to get a little bigger cut than 22in, but seems no one makes one, in fact, I barely even see any 22in mowers now. Not that going down to a 21 in will be noticeable. But if there is a bigger cut out there, that I can still get good power with, bring it on.

Final thing, and probably the hardest feature to accommodate is that Id like to keep it under 300 bucks.


Sorry for the long post, I just don't know what all is out there anymore, and who makes a decent mower, etc, etc.

Not that I'm biased, but, sounds like it hits most of your wants except price. My self propelled one is a beast. Going to be hard to find more than ~ 5 hp and ball bearing wheels for $300 though.

Toro | 21" Heavy Duty

Yeah I was looking at various models on Toro's website.

The ball-bearing wheels would be nice. My other mowers just have the cheap plastic wheels, and granted, I havent lost one yet, but they wobble while rolling a bit, and they just dont feel solid ya know? I could probably live with cheaper wheels for some extra power.

That Toro certainly looks nice, but unless my eyes deceive me it doesnt have a side-discharge option?

I will be using side-discharge I would say about 75% of the time, mulching 25% and bagging -100% of the time

You're right; it's a 2 in 1, mulch or bag. Mine is a 3 in 1, although I have sucessfully cut 50%; nearly 6 inches down to ~ 3 inches in one pass while mulching after 2 weeks of rain ended. (There were a few clumps your customers may not like.) Like I said, it's a beast. Love the ball bearing wheels; my mower is rear drive and at the end of a row when I lift the front wheels to turn they keep spinning (straight, not wobbly) for a few seconds.

In our area, we pay less for the mowers than the MSRP on the Honda website, so you maybe be able to afford a Honda HRS: http://powerequipment.honda.com/lawn-mowers/hrs-series-lawn-mowers. You can discharge or mulch, and it has a Honda engine, which is always good. Since you probably already got a mower, what did you decide??

here you go look at this mower Metro 26 - YouTube

scott47429 said:

here you go look at this mower Metro 26 - YouTube

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I demo-ed that mower. It is just OK. They say it is as maneuverable as a 21 in. mower, but I disagree. It is REALLY HEAVY and hard to turn. They should have put front caster tires on it. But the good thing about that is that is built tough. It wouldn't be a bad mower to buy. When I got the demo there was something wrong with the wheels that it was impossible to push when the engine was off and it wanted to always turn to the left. They fixed it and I demo-ed it again, and it was OK. That would be a good mower to look at, but I like the maneuverability of a 21 in. mower.

I like the Toro Timemaster 30" Walk Mower check it out

slammed said:

I like the Toro Timemaster 30" Walk Mower check it out

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Yeah I was looking at that, also. It seems like a good machine!!

lawn mower fanatic said:

Yeah I was looking at that, also. It seems like a good machine!!

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If you like littler then look at this one Toro Commercial Proline 21" (53 cm) Recycler/Rear Bagger Zone Start

I like the postive oil flow and that it has a filter.

slammed said:

If you like littler then look at this one Toro Commercial Proline 21" (53 cm) Recycler/Rear Bagger Zone Start

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slammed said:

I like the postive oil flow and that it has a filter.

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It looks like a tank! :laughing: But that is good!

thats why i like the Exmark Metro 26 it is a tank the dealer i use had a used one I'm looking at

scott47429 said:

thats why i like the Exmark Metro 26 it is a tank the dealer i use had a used one I'm looking at

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How much do they run?

slammed said:

How much do they run?

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New around $1,600 where I live.

there around 16 or 17 hundred here new I'm not sure what he's wanting for the used one yet since he wasn't at the shop today so ill find out monday

scott47429 said:

there around 16 or 17 hundred here new I'm not sure what he's wanting for the used one yet since he wasn't at the shop today so ill find out monday

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Exmark "self-propell" mowers are expensive! But they are very durable (built tough). The 21 in. mowers are around $1,100! :frown:

i need this mower like i need a another hole in the head but i like it cause its big like my Exmark ZTR i have the john deere i dearly love and it had most go the same features as the Exmark just not as big LOL

scott47429 said:

i need this mower like i need a another hole in the head but i like it cause its big like my Exmark ZTR i have the john deere i dearly love and it had most go the same features as the Exmark just not as big LOL

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Haha! Are you going to mow your whole 3 acres or whatever it is with your Exmark Metro 26 if you get it?? (And have another sore day afterwards!)

lol i might you never know about me but with the Exmark it wont take as long

scott47429 said:

lol i might you never know about me but with the Exmark it wont take as long

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Generally speaking...considering it is only 26 inches (5 inches bigger than your JD), and your Exmark Lazer Z is 72 inches!!

yes and i love mowing with it to but i could use the exercise

scott47429 said:

yes and i love mowing with it to but i could use the exercise

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One thing I don't like about the Metro 26 was that the levers for the drive and the blades are not covered with the softest material....they wear your hands down after gripping and turning with them a lot. But I did like the blade-brake clutch!

yeah i haven't tried it yet i haven't even heard it run i just seen it there once i found out the price will decide if i want to hear it and test it LOL

scott47429 said:

yeah i haven't tried it yet i haven't even heard it run i just seen it there once i found out the price will decide if i want to hear it and test it LOL

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Talking about "hearing it", sometimes when you engage the blades it sounds like it is going to die if you are cutting a lot of grass of, but overall the engine sounds pretty good (I thought).

yeah I'm sure it does its a Kawasaki i don't know how many horse it is but i love my little 5.5 horse Kawasaki on my John Deere 14 SB

scott47429 said:

yeah I'm sure it does its a Kawasaki i don't know how many horse it is but i love my little 5.5 horse Kawasaki on my John Deere 14 SB

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If you try it out and like it make sure you post some pics!

oh i will do that for sure

lawn mower fanatic said:

Exmark "self-propell" mowers are expensive! But they are very durable (built tough). The 21 in. mowers are around $1,100! :frown:

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And people think i'm crazy for buying a Ventrac.

slammed said:

And people think i'm crazy for buying a Ventrac.

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You are! haha Just kidding:laughing:. If I had the money I would buy one, also!!:biggrin:

lawn mower fanatic said:

You are! haha Just kidding:laughing:. If I had the money I would buy one, also!!:biggrin:

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Looks nice but almost $2G's:confused2: for a push mower. Get real:laughing:

Here are some pics of the Exmark Metro 26 that I had (the one is next to a Snapper mower). It's a beast!

how many horse was it

scott47429 said:

how many horse was it

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I'm not sure actually! :frown:

I looked it up and found out it is 6.5hp (http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=306148).

well thats only 1 horse more then my John Deere and 5 inches bigger mower 2 less speeds so if he wants alot for it then I'm thinking ill keep my 20 dollar John Deere

scott47429 said:

well thats only 1 horse more then my John Deere and 5 inches bigger mower 2 less speeds so if he wants alot for it then I'm thinking ill keep my 20 dollar John Deere

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Yeah, when I was looking at the comments on the Metro 26 when I was thinking about buying it some people said it was underpowered. I know that the mower was redone, though (due to bad reviews), so I don't know if the reviews about it being underpowered were before or after it was redesigned. It still might be a little underpowered, though.

well the one i looked at and the one you used have the same engine so ill see what he wants for it and go from there

scott47429 said:

well the one i looked at and the one you used have the same engine so ill see what he wants for it and go from there

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Yeah, that is the best thing to do. Would he let you demo it to see if you like it??

yeah they tried to get me to take it home and pay with it today

scott47429 said:

yeah they tried to get me to take it home and pay with it today

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Oh wow...well when do you think you will go there and possibly demo it because the grass isn't growing as much!

ill call him monday and see what he wants for it and its its not alot then ill stop by and pick it up monday after work and bring it home to play with the grass hasn't grown much but i have a hell of alot of leaves on there ground that will let me see how much power it has and who knows if its cheap enough and i get it i have a 18 horse B&S sitting here i could mount on it and a battery then I'm sure it will have plenty of power LOL

scott47429 said:

ill call him monday and see what he wants for it and its its not alot then ill stop by and pick it up monday after work and bring it home to play with the grass hasn't grown much but i have a hell of alot of leaves on there ground that will let me see how much power it has and who knows if its cheap enough and i get it i have a 18 horse B&S sitting here i could mount on it and a battery then I'm sure it will have plenty of power LOL

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Yeah, it would definitely have enough power then!!:tongue:

scott47429 said:

ill call him monday and see what he wants for it and its its not alot then ill stop by and pick it up monday after work and bring it home to play with the grass hasn't grown much but i have a hell of alot of leaves on there ground that will let me see how much power it has and who knows if its cheap enough and i get it i have a 18 horse B&S sitting here i could mount on it and a battery then I'm sure it will have plenty of power LOL

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That would be something to see.