[Bluwolf]

I went looking here and was surprised there isn't a forum for lawn mowers. Looking to buy a new push mower. Is there a forum here that they would cover those? And if not, does anybody here have an opinion on a decent one? The one I have doesn't have the guts to cut my grass once a week. SW Florida during this time of the year it's brutal. I'm reduced to cutting half strips just to keep from stalling the mower. The one I have is a fairly new (year or two) Toro Recycler.

Sorry to bring this up here. But I'd rather ask the opinion of guys who's opinions I trust as opposed to a forum where I don't know who knows what they're talking about.

 

[LaSwamp]

I would try sharpening the blades. I was having the same issue with a Craftsman 22" with a 6hp engine. It was bogging down constantly. I pulled the blade off and gave it a sharp edge. It was duller than a ball. That's helped immensely. It has no problem with even tall grass now. If you're cutting once a week, you should not have tall grass. Certainly nothing tall enough to bog down a modern engine like that.

 

[drmerdp]

Warm season grass is tough stuff. Bagging or discharging instead of mulching helps with an underpowered engine.

You didn’t say what mower you have though? The new Honda HRX mowers have a 200cc engine, plenty of power for a 21” cut.

 

[Bluwolf]

I would try sharpening the blades. I have having the same issue with a Craftsman 22" with a 6hp engine. It was bogging down constantly. I pulled the blade off and gave it a sharp edge. It was duller than a ball. That's helped immensely. It has no problem with even tall grass now. If you're cutting once a week, you should not have tall grass. Certainly nothing tall enough to bog down a modern engine like that.

Thanks for that. I've been sharpening it every third cut. I do keep it fairly long but I have the mower set as high as it will go. So that should be a wash. I'm taking the same amount off every week.

Warm season grass is tough stuff. Bagging or discharging instead of mulching helps with an underpowered engine.

You didn’t say what mower you have though? The new Honda HRX mowers have a 200cc engine, plenty of power for a 21” cut.

Sorry, I hid it at the end of the paragraph. It's a Toro Recycler, 22". I saw that one but at $900, that was a bit more than I wanted to spend. The next Honda down, same 21" cut, same GCV200 engine is "only" $629. But again, I didn't want to spend that kind of money without knowing it was going to do the job.

 

[pipe]

Snapper 22 inch mower with a Kawasaki engine (comes with an oil filter too!) and a mulching blade with a Y-split at end, so 4 cutting blades --- have never seen St Augustine or Crabgrass or any vegetative weeds that did not submit.

 

[drmerdp]

Thanks for that. I've been sharpening it every third cut. I do keep it fairly long but I have the mower set as high as it will go. So that should be a wash. I'm taking the same amount off every week.



Sorry, I hid it at the end of the paragraph. It's a Toro Recycler, 22". I saw that one but at $900, that was a bit more than I wanted to spend. The next Honda down, same 21" cut, same GCV200 engine is "only" $629. But again, I didn't want to spend that kind of money without knowing it was going to do the job.

My bad, I missed it. You have a 163cc engine rated at 7.25ftlbs. Its a low powered engine. Any mower with a bigger engine should make the cut. I’ve used a lot of different mowers and you can’t go wrong with 200cc honda. Versatile and powerful. It mulches and bags like champ. 9.1ftlbs of torque.

 

[iowagold]

just remember a mulching mower is constantly chewing on the grass etc.....

so you have to watch the new feed when in tight hard grass....
we switch over to the non mulching blades for the times of the season when it is super heavy....

and bagging is best when it is like super heavy material....
just place the material in your compost pile for it to break down.

 

[ChenDirit]

****, I'm so fed up with all of this. I hate working in our yard. I hate mowing the lawn, planting flowers, cleaning leaves, and doing other things. My wife has new ideas every day, and after work, I just want to lie down and not work in the yard. I hired the guys from jscustomlandscaping.com to do all this, and I just paid for it. Therefore, I no longer have a lawnmower at home. I sold it. I think you can just search the internet for a good lawnmower and read reviews. When I buy something, I always read reviews. It helps me know very precisely about all the advantages and disadvantages of what I want to buy.