DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:
After owning junk mowers for the last 20 years, I am going to now pick
up a top of the line mowers. Looking for opinions.

Have regular, slightly largish, suburban lot with a number of large
mounds (about 8 foot elevation, which leads to lots of slope mowing.
(not bad enough to need 2-stroke though)

My wife wants something she can start easilly, and use when I am being
lazy.

Self Propelled is a must, as on the mounds it is tough to get around
with human powered.

I hate self propelled where I have to alter my pace to match mower, I
think toro has "personal pace", anyone have that? Does it really match
my pace?

I know Honda has reputation for dependablity, am willing to go higher
on price if it is really worth it.

"Quiet" would be nice, as I like to listen to radio while mowing.

Mulching and Bagging is necessary, as I would use mulching most of th
time, but would use bagging for fall leaves (I have lots of those)

Do some mowers have power rake blades/attachments? (that actually
work-- I have seen aftermarket ones, but have never seen one that
works)

Based on my desire for top of line with all of above, am leaning
towards Toro of Honda, however that is due to reputation only, I have
not done any real research. Would love to hear from owners.

Also strategy for best price, anyone know when they go on sale?
Rebates? Is there a viable on-line source?

I have one of the Toro Recycler mowers w/ Personal Pace. Yes, it really does
match your pace (in the forward direction), unless you're a really fast walker.
At normal speeds, or when mowing around objects, it's like the mower is an
extension of your arm -- very cool, and a big improvement over the usual power
drive mowers. If you're backing up, you're own your own again, 'tho. After
3 years, it still starts on the first or second pull, even after the winter
storage. My wife (who usually does the mowing) doesn't complain about it nearly
as much as the old Crapsman mower it replaced. Picked it up for a reasonable
price when the local Homebase went belly up...up until then I hadn't seen much
in the way of discounts.