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Seeking advice on lawnmower purchase

#1

A

Armand

Hello,I would be very grateful for advice/opinions in choosing between the following two push mowers: Toro Recycler-model#20371, 6.75 Kohler OHV engine,149cc, 22"cut, 2yr.full warranty, $299.00---vs---Husqvarna-lc121p-model#961350002, 7.25 Briggs and Stratton engine,163cc, no prime/no choke(just add oil-no change) 21"cut, 3yr limited warranty, $249.00. The Toro is self propelled but that is not an issue for me. Yard is half acre and I exclusively mulch. It seems with the Husqvarna I'd get a more powerful engine for $50.00 less, however I don't know if the B&S is as good as the Kohler. Also concerned that several reviewers of the Husq. complained clipping spewing from the side and back door seals. Other than that, they both average about 3.8 of 5 stars from reviewers with various complaints and praises. Thanks very much!


#2

Ric

Ric

Armand said:
Hello,I would be very grateful for advice/opinions in choosing between the following two push mowers: Toro Recycler-model#20371, 6.75 Kohler OHV engine,149cc, 22"cut, 2yr.full warranty, $299.00---vs---Husqvarna-lc121p-model#961350002, 7.25 Briggs and Stratton engine,163cc, no prime/no choke(just add oil-no change) 21"cut, 3yr limited warranty, $249.00. The Toro is self propelled but that is not an issue for me. Yard is half acre and I exclusively mulch. It seems with the Husqvarna I'd get a more powerful engine for $50.00 less, however I don't know if the B&S is as good as the Kohler. Also concerned that several reviewers of the Husq. complained clipping spewing from the side and back door seals. Other than that, they both average about 3.8 of 5 stars from reviewers with various complaints and praises. Thanks very much!
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I'd go with the Toro Recycler-model for $299 It would be the better of the two mowers IMO. The Husqvarna with a more powerful engine for $50.00 less :confused: sounds good but ask yourself this question, why is it 50$ cheaper. Buy your Toro from a dealer and get there backing. I'd check on the warranty and see what is covered in the limited warranty. If I were in the market for a residential mower I' buy Honda. You can get it from Home Depot for $399 with the GCV 160 and a 3yr top to bottom warranty.


#3

A

Armand

Ric said:
I'd go with the Toro Recycler-model for $299 It would be the better of the two mowers IMO. The Husqvarna with a more powerful engine for $50.00 less :confused: sounds good but ask yourself this question, why is it 50$ cheaper. Buy your Toro from a dealer and get there backing. I'd check on the warranty and see what is covered in the limited warranty. If I were in the market for a residential mower I' buy Honda. You can get it from Home Depot for $399 with the GCV 160 and a 3yr top to bottom warranty.
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Thanks Ric, my guess was that the Toro cost more because it is self-propelled(a feature that I don't care about). The reason I'm looking at these two mowers particularly is because I'm trying to stay within a limited price range.


#4

A

Armand

Ric said:
I'd go with the Toro Recycler-model for $299 It would be the better of the two mowers IMO. The Husqvarna with a more powerful engine for $50.00 less :confused: sounds good but ask yourself this question, why is it 50$ cheaper. Buy your Toro from a dealer and get there backing. I'd check on the warranty and see what is covered in the limited warranty. If I were in the market for a residential mower I' buy Honda. You can get it from Home Depot for $399 with the GCV 160 and a 3yr top to bottom warranty.
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I now see a Husqvarna 7021p for $299.00--this one has Honda GVC160 engine--would this engine be less powerful than the 7.25/163cc Briggs that is in the Husqvarna lc121p?


#5

B

bryan4141

Armand said:
Hello,I would be very grateful for advice/opinions in choosing between the following two push mowers: Toro Recycler-model#20371, 6.75 Kohler OHV engine,149cc, 22"cut, 2yr.full warranty, $299.00---vs---Husqvarna-lc121p-model#961350002, 7.25 Briggs and Stratton engine,163cc, no prime/no choke(just add oil-no change) 21"cut, 3yr limited warranty, $249.00. The Toro is self propelled but that is not an issue for me. Yard is half acre and I exclusively mulch. It seems with the Husqvarna I'd get a more powerful engine for $50.00 less, however I don't know if the B&S is as good as the Kohler. Also concerned that several reviewers of the Husq. complained clipping spewing from the side and back door seals. Other than that, they both average about 3.8 of 5 stars from reviewers with various complaints and praises. Thanks very much!
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the husqvarnas are no good.are you looking for a tractor or zero turn.and kohler is having problems with there coils right now.


#6

B

bryan4141

bryan4141 said:
the husqvarnas are no good.are you looking for a tractor or zero turn.and kohler is having problems with there coils right now.
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buy a mower at a dealer not at a department store.if you buy a john deer at a department store.a john deer dealer will not do repairs on it.plus the dealer will not work on mowers if you bought it from another dealer.so what ever dealer you buy the mower from you will haft to take it there for repaires.


#7

R

Rivets

If you are just mulching, go with the Toro hands down. Huskies are some of the worst mulchers.


#8

P

possum

Rivets is correct. Husqvarna mowers are poor mulchers. They just make grass piles and goo. My neighbor is so disgusted with his he went back to using his old disk drive Snapper.


#9

Ric

Ric

Armand said:
Thanks Ric, my guess was that the Toro cost more because it is self-propelled(a feature that I don't care about). The reason I'm looking at these two mowers particularly is because I'm trying to stay within a limited price range.
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Armand said:
I now see a Husqvarna 7021p for $299.00--this one has Honda GVC160 engine--would this engine be less powerful than the 7.25/163cc Briggs that is in the Husqvarna lc121p?
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Well the thing to remember when your talking about cost is you get what you pay for. If your looking to stay within a limited price range you'll probably have a hard time finding a mower to do the job you want and have the longevity your looking for.
The Honda GCV 160 would be the most reliable between it and the Briggs and equal too if not a little better in power between the two. If your looking to exclusively mulch as you say than the Honda with there Twin Blade MicroCut System are probably the best to use as far as the push type mowers go, the Husqvarna like the others stated are not good mulching mowers. If I can ask what type of grass are you cutting?


#10

A

Armand

Ric said:
Well the thing to remember when your talking about cost is you get what you pay for. If your looking to stay within a limited price range you'll probably have a hard time finding a mower to do the job you want and have the longevity your looking for.
The Honda GCV 160 would be the most reliable between it and the Briggs and equal too if not a little better in power between the two. If your looking to exclusively mulch as you say than the Honda with there Twin Blade MicroCut System are probably the best to use as far as the push type mowers go, the Husqvarna like the others stated are not good mulching mowers. If I can ask what type of grass are you cutting?
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Sorry for the late response Ric and thanks to you and everyone else for your input. I am an ignoramus when it comes to grass. My neighbor says what we have is not really grass like a true lawn--it's just green. I ended up getting the Toro 22" recycler 20371 and want to return it because I never had a mower that bogged down like it does. I understand if I ram a mower through tall grass this will happen but right after cutting the grass at the middle height setting I wanted to go one notch lower and the mower would not allow me to more than a couple of feet before bogging down-- I never experienced this with the other mowers I had in the past. The Toro has the 6.75/149cc Kohler OHV engine. I am wondering if is because this engine is not powerful enough and if the 7.25/163cc Briggs in the Husq. LC121P or the Honda GVC 160 in the Husq.7021P are better more powerful engines. Question: which indicates the power more-the 7.25 torque or the163cc ? and does the Honda GVC160 mean 160cc? If so would that not mean it has less power than the 7.25/163cc Briggs? That aside with you guys saying the Husqs. are not good mulching mowers I am wondering if I'd gain anything over the Toro in spite of the more powerful engines?


#11

R

Rivets

If you are trying to cut more than 1/3 the height of the grass at one time the engines are going to bog down. This is even more true if you are mulching. The bogging down is the result of trying to remove too much too fast.


#12

B

bertsmobile1

Mowers will only mulch properly over a very finite height range and that range will depend upon the airflow characteristics of the deck & blade system.
In the USA this is made even harder as swing back blades on discs are considered too dangerious so you are relying on a 2" wide strip of steel to suck the grass up so it can be cut then twirl the clippings around, recutting them several times before depositing them back between the stems of the remaining grass, It is a real tall order. Take all the blades off your cars fan bar 2 and see how much air it shifts.
Despite the fact they put 6 to 10 height settings on mulching mowers, most will only mulch properly on the top few settings.
Then within the mulching height range of your mower, there will only be a couple of settings that will work with your particular grass type & density.
On top of that, the chopped up grass has to have somewhere to go thus the 1/3rd rule and in reality 1/4 would be closer to the mark if you want the clippings to vanish without trace.
Mulching requires a lot more energy than just cutting which is why the mulch only mowers usually have the largest engines.
It is a problem I get presented with almost daily but people just can not seem to understand mulched grass has to be cut no lower than 2.5".
If you want it lower than than then you need to get a reel mower and mow daily like they do on golf courses and bowling greens ( do you have lawn bowls in the USA ?)


#13

BlazNT

BlazNT

Im sure a few do lawn bowls but not many.


#14

A

Armand

Rivets said:
If you are just mulching, go with the Toro hands down. Huskies are some of the worst mulchers.
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What is it that makes the mower a good mulcher? is it the power of the motor? the type of blades? The particular Toro model I mention (20371) has a 6.75/149cc Kohler which apparently is not as powerful as the 7.25/163cc Briggs or the Honda GVC160 that is in the two Husqs. that I mentioned---would the Toro with the less powerful motor still much better than those two Husqs.?


#15

A

Armand

Armand said:
What is it that makes the mower a good mulcher? is it the power of the motor? the type of blades? The particular Toro model I mention (20371) has a 6.75/149cc Kohler which apparently is not as powerful as the 7.25/163cc Briggs and Stratton or the Honda GVC160 that is in the two Husqvarnas that I mentioned---would the Toro with the less powerful motor still mulch better than those two Husqvarnas?
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#16

A

Armand

Armand said:
Armand said:
What is it that makes the mower a good mulcher? is it the power of the motor? the type of blades? The particular Toro model I mention (20371) has a 6.75/149cc Kohler which apparently is not as powerful as the 7.25/163cc Briggs and Stratton or the Honda GVC160 that is in the two Husqvarnas that I mentioned---would the Toro with the less powerful motor still mulch better than those two Husqvarnas?
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Sorry for the double post--I tried to edit a spelling error and somehow screwed it up.
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#17

B

bertsmobile1

It is a complicated mixture of deck shape, deck height above the blades, shake of the blades that controls the airflow under the deck.
This is why dedicated mulching decks always mulch better than the universal decks that are universally poor at catching, poor at mulching , poor at throwing and poor at windrowing.

It is made even harder with bar blades because the blade is only at one 2" wide spot at any one time so you are relying on the momentum of the air where the blade was to carry n the process till the blade gets back there again.

Because you are double or trebble cutting the grass you need a bigger motor to mow at the same walking speed mulching as you do strait cutting.
Two strokes seem to work a lot better than 4 strokes.
We used to get a 19" mulch / catch fitted with a 6.25Hp 2 stroke power torque, or a CV 160 5.5Hp Honda or a 6.25 Hp briggs.
The honda choked so bad it got replaced with the CV 190 rated at 6.5 Hp and it was still way underpowered.
Yet the exact same motor will rip through 2' tall grass on a 22" wide self propelled mower and the smaller 160 will rip through 22" when fitted to a plain push mower.
The briggs engine was a joke and chokes on anything more than a 1/2" cut.
I lend out the 2 strokes while I repair customers 4 strokes and few are in a big hurry to get their old mower back again.
The chassis & blades are identical only the engines were different.

Then you need to consider the type of grass.
Broad leaved grasses that are quite heavy will behave differently in the air flow to fine tubular leaved grasses


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