Anyone have these lawnmowers?

512detail

512detail

New member
I`m looking at lawnmowers in the $300 range.

Wondering if anyone has any of these specific mowers and any feedback good or bad?

I was going to go electric but the eGO one I want is significantly out of my price range.

I`m a little concerned that these will be not powerful enough. I was using a 190 cc 6.75 hp briggs and Stratton but I think I finally broke it (actually it hasn`t ran for years and I am possibly the worlds worst small engine mechanic). I`m gonna try one more attempt at playing youtube mechanic but previous attempts have been futile and I`m really tired of relying on a lawn service.


They`re all from Lowes (I have a gift card to there so I`m trying to stay with Lowes to save my out of pocket cost)

Troy-Bilt TB130 XP 160-cc 21-in Push Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$239.00
Or

Troy-Bilt TB230 163-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Briggs & Stratton Engine
$279.00
or
Husqvarna 7021P 160-cc 21-in Push Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$299.00


on the higher end I could splurge for one of these self propelled but I really would rather not go over my budget.

Husqvarna LC221RH 160-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$349.00
or
Husqvarna LC221A 163-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Briggs & Stratton Engine $339.00


Thanks in advance
 
First off, I don’t have any of the mowers listed. I have however repaired small engines/equipment for over 30 years, my Dad had a small engine business and needed the help, as an Auto Tech it wasn’t a stretch to fix a mower. I mean no offense but am going to ask you a serious question here. Are you looking at these lawnmowers as a consumable or as an investment in a tool that will serve you well with minimal repairs over the next decade? If you are looking at these mowers as a consumable, three to four year life span buy one of the Huskies and stay away from the MTD (Troy-Built) made mowers. Troy-Built sold out years ago and one of the finest names in yard care products became the equivelant of a Craftsman/Yardman/MTD/Most Store Brand mowers. If buying with the consumable mindset any of these will do and while I often recommend the commercial line of Honda Engines, the Honda Engines on the mowers listed in your OP are only shadows of the great Honda name.

I tried a bit of an experiment about 4 years ago. I purchased one of the B&S engines like the one you have listed in the bottom of your post and installed it on a Snapper Commercial Deck that I’ve had since 1995, that’s right, now 23 years old. This mower has all the bells and whistles, steel wheels, ball bearing wheels, HiLift cutting blade, 10” rear, 8” inch front wheels, commercial bag. These commercial Snappers are investment grade, you replace worn parts, the decks, handle bars, mounts etc. never wear out they just keep going. I have 3 commercial Snapper mowers, 2 with commercial Honda engines on them. The mower of which I’m speaking is one that my son used as a teenager with a lawn care business, he’d cut 20 - 25 lawns a week. It was used hard and is now on it’s 4th engine.

I ususally put commercial Honda engines on these Snapper decks if they ever need an engine replaced, great combination and they just flat live. This B&S engine that I gave a shot is now on it’s 5th season, the mower is still used hard. It pushes the spring tooth attachment in the spring when thatching the lawn. Nothing is harder on an engine than this routine. It runs like a Swiss watch, never needs more than 2 pulls regardless of temperature and other than having to remove the pull starter for a clean and lube has never missed a beat. It has a bit more torque than my commercial Honda’s as well. Moral of this experiment, Commercial Honda engine over $400, Commercial Briggs engine that I installed was less than $200 at the time. This engine has only been out about 6 or 7 years and in my opinion is better than any of the other B&S overhead valve engines. Hear this, not all Honda engines are created equally, they make a cheap line of engines that end up on store branded mowers that help sell mowers because of the name. They aren’t the engines that made Honda’s good name.

Long story made short, I think that particular Briggs engine will run circles around the Honda’s pictured. Don’t get me wrong, Honda makes some really top notch engines but those aren’t it.
 
I have a Husqavarna out in the shed with a Briggs & Straton, it’s eleven years old, been through a few moves, and sits a season periodically. Ive only ever had to do regular maintenance, replace one of the cables due to a move, and just use it. For a homeowner with an average subrban yard, it’s fine. My only complaint is with the height adjusters for the rear wheels, over time they have become a bit bendy, then again, the lawn mower is eleven years old and has been through multiple moves.
 
512detail said:
I`m looking at lawnmowers in the $300 range.

Wondering if anyone has any of these specific mowers and any feedback good or bad?

I was going to go electric but the eGO one I want is significantly out of my price range.

I`m a little concerned that these will be not powerful enough. I was using a 190 cc 6.75 hp briggs and Stratton but I think I finally broke it (actually it hasn`t ran for years and I am possibly the worlds worst small engine mechanic). I`m gonna try one more attempt at playing youtube mechanic but previous attempts have been futile and I`m really tired of relying on a lawn service.


They`re all from Lowes (I have a gift card to there so I`m trying to stay with Lowes to save my out of pocket cost)

Troy-Bilt TB130 XP 160-cc 21-in Push Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$239.00
Or

Troy-Bilt TB230 163-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Briggs & Stratton Engine
$279.00
or
Husqvarna 7021P 160-cc 21-in Push Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$299.00


on the higher end I could splurge for one of these self propelled but I really would rather not go over my budget.

Husqvarna LC221RH 160-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Honda Engine
$349.00
or
Husqvarna LC221A 163-cc 21-in Self-propelled Gas Lawn Mower with Briggs & Stratton Engine $339.00


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I`ve got the second one. The one for 279. It`s a stud. Our doesn`t like super thick tall grass, but it absolutely runs like a champ. One of the best mowers I`ve ever owned

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Self propelled with a honda engine. You will thank yourself in the coming summers. Spend a bit more now because in two years you will gladly pay the difference.

KM
 
Brandt, I got the Husquavna 21” self-propelled and it going on 5 years. I cannot complain, starts on first pull every time. I do have it serviced every year with my local Husquavna center.

Personal, as I am replacing my equipment it’s been with the Husquavna brand, gas leaf blower and snow blower last fall.

Good luck with your decision.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
GearHead_1 said:
I mean no offense but am going to ask you a serious question here. Are you looking at these lawnmowers as a consumable or as an investment in a tool that will serve you will with minimal repairs over the next decade?
Click to expand...

mostly consumable at this point. I realize a $300 lawnmower is probably not going to last me 10 years, but I can`t afford the investment side of this equipment right now.
I`m also debating waiting until I can get a "longer lasting one" but I really wouldn`t even know what type of mower that would be.

I definitely need one that has easy maintenance. I would prefer to wait and buy a higher quality one, but then there`s the whole I have to store it in my garage thing which has kept me from buying another lawnmower since this one stopped working.
 
512detail said:
mostly consumable at this point. I realize a $300 lawnmower is probably not going to last me 10 years, but I can`t afford the investment side of this equipment right now.
I`m also debating waiting until I can get a "longer lasting one" but I really wouldn`t even know what type of mower that would be.

I definitely need one that has easy maintenance. I would prefer to wait and buy a higher quality one, but then there`s the whole I have to store it in my garage thing which has kept me from buying another lawnmower since this one stopped working.
Click to expand...

Given this, I’d point you towards the Husky with the B&S engine at the bottom of your post. I wouldn’t be seduced by the Honda name on this level of mower (refer to my previous post). Change the oil at the first of the season and once in the middle, drain the gas out come winter time, keep your cables lubed, assuming these wheels are gear drive keep some grease in there, you’ll be happy with it.
 
I`m not going to say which one I think is best. I may once again be OCD. On small engines without oil filters, I change the oil after the first or second use( depends on how big the yard is). I look at it as all the metal from break in is floating around in the oil. After that I change it twice a season. Again it`s not as though the oil is being filtered. The other is gas, I put gas stabilizer in the gas can each time I fill the can up. I use half the amount it says on the bottle. It usually takes me a month to go through all the gas in the can. Pulse sta-bil has extra cleaning properties. I every season don`t have problems with the engine in my power equipment since adopting this system over a decade ago.
 
512. How much grass are you cutting are you going to be bagging the grass. It looks like the last 2 aren’t capable of throwing grass to the side. Aggrob said he has had good luck with the Troybuilt, I would probably go with that one. Whatever you do don’t get one with a tecumseh motor
 
Fishroes said:
512. How much grass are you cutting are you going to be bagging the grass. It looks like the last 2 aren’t capable of throwing grass to the side. Aggrob said he has had good luck with the Troybuilt, I would probably go with that one. Whatever you do don’t get one with a tecumseh motor
Click to expand...

Just my residence. I have a standard sized front yard but the back is pretty large. On second thought I might want to splurge for the self propelled as that function sure came in handy when I used to cut the grass.
 
If you`re not in a hurry to purchase, the Ego mower will drop to $350 or less a few times a year ($300 is the lowest I`ve seen, but that was last November I believe).

A couple of years ago I had a self-propelled Husqvarna with the Honda engine and I had no complaints. The only reason I no longer have it is because I moved. I currently have a Honda mower that`s serving me well so far. As for storage, some mowers have the collapsible handle and there`s even a brand that can be stored vertically, although I don`t recall which brand it was.
 
GearHead_1 said:
Given this, I’d point you towards the Husky with the B&S engine at the bottom of your post. I wouldn’t be seduced by the Honda name on this level of mower (refer to my previous post). Change the oil at the first of the season and once in the middle, drain the gas out come winter time, keep your cables lubed, assuming these wheels are gear drive keep some grease in there, you’ll be happy with it.
Click to expand...

thanks. What about power loss going from the 190 b&s I had to a 160 o r 163. Is that going to be significant?
 
Fishroes said:
512. How much grass are you cutting are you going to be bagging the grass. It looks like the last 2 aren’t capable of throwing grass to the side...
Click to expand...
That’s actually a very good point. That said, do people still use a side discharge with all of the great mulching blades/mowers out there? Seriously though, I haven’t used a side discharge mower with the exception an old mower (Snapper 4 HP 2/Cycle) relinquished to the status of a dedicated brush cutter in 40 years. Actually forgot about it until I read this post, still have it sitting in the back of the shed. Those old 2 cycles were little tanks. Heck, still have a commercial Toro 6 HP, 2 Cycle that’s in great shape in the shed too. These were highly sought after in their day. They actually weighed in at about 100 lbs.
 
512detail said:
thanks. What about power loss going from the 190 b&s I had to a 160 o r 163. Is that going to be significant?
Click to expand...
You’d never know the difference unless you had like models standing side by side. As a side note, a number of years back a couple of companies, B&S being one of them got hammered for advertising HP ratings that just weren’t reality, every year it had another 1/4 HP. As a result of this you now see engine ratings advertising CC’s and Torque. Most won’t state HP ratings until you get up into lawn tractors and zero turns many with 20 plus HP. For decades these engines were always rated by their HP but they were lying to us. My guess is that most of these eninges are between 5 and 6 HP.

As I said previously my “experimental” Briggs as near as I can tell pulls a bit harder than my commercial Honda’s. I have no explanation for this because the Honda engines have very heavy flywheels on them, shouldn’t be able to stop this mass. The Honda engine probably weighs half again as much as this Briggs. This kind of stuff usually bothers me because I can’t wrap my head around it, just doesn’t make sense. In the end the only way I could justify this to my self was thinking that overall the mower was lighter and pulled itself better with the spring tooth on it. If you’ve never used one of these spring tooth attachments you’ve never seen how hard these little motors can work, they’re all simply amazing. With the drive wheels not engaged and the spring tooth’s height properly adjusted I literally can’t push the mower through the lawn.

Here’s another by the way, I think light mowers rock. The really heavy mowers are great for large yards without a lot of corners and turns but man handling 100 lb. mower isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time.
 
Coleroad said:
I`m not going to say which one I think is best. I may once again be OCD. On small engines without oil filters, I change the oil after the first or second use( depends on how big the yard is). I look at it as all the metal from break in is floating around in the oil. After that I change it twice a season.
Click to expand...

This just brought another thought into my head. I have an across the street neighbor buy a consumer grade Snapper (complete junk in my opinion) last year. It has a B&S engine on it. I think he actually went this route because I told him I like commercial grade Toro and Snapper mowers. He’s seen me at my father’s shop (also across the street) for years and knows I have an opinon on mowers and I recommended those brands. I was embarrassed because it didn’t have the traditional deck or drive system that Snapper uses on it’s better machines but what can I say? It has to be something that Snapper has farmed out to MTD, Other than the color of the paint and emblems nothing on this mower is traditional Snapper.

He’s a Dr., I thought he’d buy a better mower. I felt like telling him to take it back but he’s proud of it. Of course I can’t keep my mouth shut and I’m telling him what I would do to keep it running well and what has always worked for me, including my recommendation on oil changes. He hands me a piece of paper from the packaging kit that was part of the owners manual. I about fell over, no recommended oil change interval, add only as needed.

Never seen that recommendation before, could’t quite believe it but I assume it is to the point that these things are being made like microwaves, virtually no one spends the money to fix a microwave, if they break you replace them. This price range lawnmower is being manufactured with planned obsolescence in mind. That’s all fine and dandy as long as people know what they’re getting into. I suspect many do not.

I just realized how pathetic it is that I have this much to say about lawnmowers. I’ll go away now.
 
That`s crazy the little less than a quart of oil for life, Just top off. That`s like the for life transmission fluid, and lots of people think that one quart of gear oil in the differential is for life. People seem to want maintenance free, so manufacturers play along. That`s how unscrupulous people taut ceramic coatings as maintenance free product. Thank goodness not everyone is that way, made very obvious by people on here.
 
Mowers and a lot of other stuff are made so cheap nowadays it is ridiculous unless you get a mower from a dealer and they still aren’t made to last as long as the outdoor power products that were made way back when. I have an acre or so to cut (my wife does the cutting because she enjoys it) and it gets cut with a craftsman ys4500. It was made around 07 or 08 b&s 24 intek 506 hrs The motor has been flawless. I have rebuilt the blade deck and a couple other minor things. Here’s a tidbit I hope will help somebody out one day. If you have a hydrostatic transmission that seems to be getting sluggish and the manufacturer says it is not serviceable, that’s not totally true. Last summer mine was getting a little weak. It doesn’t have a fluid drain bolt but it does have a fill plug. Had to take a few things off to get to it. Put a hose in the fill plug hole. Got out a little over half of the fluid. Put synthetic fluid back in. The transmission was so much more responsive it was like night and day. Just barely push on the pedal and it jumps. I till my garden with a early 1970’s troybilt horse tiller. Still uses points and starts 1st or 2nd pull every time Have a 1986 wheelhorse 414-8 has the plow blade on it to push snow, gravel and other stuff. It does have its limits though. They just don’t make stuff to last anymore. Sorry for the long post. Edit. Gear head I would’ve fell over too. One good thing though they have started probably a few years ago putting fuel injection on some of the higher end stuff. Don’t know whether the govt is involved in that though.
 
Brandt -
I bought a Snapper Rear Bag Self Propelled 21" Mower with the B&Stratton engine, 5hp, in 2002, and 16 years later, it still works great !
Have always used Snapper mowers because they vacuum the lawn so much better than other mowers in my experiences..
This old dog has the traditional metal drive wheel attached to the engine and on top is a hard rubber driven wheel which turns the rear wheels. It has I believe 10 speeds.. I never use them all..
In all these years, I have only replaced the bag twice because it wore out around the front of the brace that connects to the mower body, and the hard rubber driven wheel wore down in 2015 so I replace that at the same time..
It has worn down 2 sets of wheels in all this time and of course I replaced those..
I change the oil once a year with Synthetic 5w-30, and the darn thing never uses oil at all !!! Never smokes, etc...

What I love about Snapper mowers of this vintage is that they absolutely pick up everything and leave you a nice, even, flat, perfect lawn every time..

The other thing about this particular mower is that whenever I cut the lawns, I always cut them in 2 directions, so you can say it has had about twice as much use as a mower that only cuts one direction..

I use the 2 different blades - Hi Lift and the Mulch blade at different times, and have only replaced the Hi Lift Blade once because I sharpened it too many times, because, well, I like a nicely cut even lawn.. I get this little OCD from going out with my Dad when I was a kid, lugging that huge heavy golf bag for him, and watching the guys mowing the greens ahead of us..

They always mowed in 2 directions and of course the greens were table top perfect because of this, and they used Reel Mowers, which of course are superior in their cutting perfectly flat and not damaging the Bentgrass.. But we wont go into Reel Mowers....:)

Totally agree with El Gear-Heado above, the New Snapper Mowers are absolutely from another planet or something.. The drive system of old that I have is all gone and its some kind of fidgety drive system that I just hate.. My dear Mother had one of those newer ones and it was a chore to use it...

Good luck with your research ! Thanks to all the great feedback on here ! Love it !!
Dan F
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top