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F250 guy

Push mower choice.

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I'm just curious what mowers or engine choices you guys have and like. Me personally Briggs and Kohler are NOT what they used to be, and don't get me going on the 450-550e series briggs, I have an HRX217HYA. Love it, I accidentally deleted the first picture so I got a screenshot. Bought it almost a year ago 4/28/20, and it does very well especially the GCV200 engine. Hydrostatic transmission blade stop, Nexite deck. I'm the envy of the neighborhood. 800.00 but worth it.

 

My mom got a mower for free, troy built 21in last year, and that thing is a steamy turd, I work on it more than I use it. Can't get it started for one thing without fighting it for 20 minutes a putt and stall at a time, gotta drill out the rediculosly small jet to let more fuel in, just haven't done it yet. Been using the good one. 

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Edited by F250 guy

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The Kawasaki FS691V 23hp on my 54" Hustler Fastrak has been a good one.  I passed 1000 hours last summer on it.  I bought it in 2013.  I've done nothing to it except change the oil.

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Edited by slowindown

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22 minutes ago, slowindown said:

The Kawasaki FS691V 23hp on my 54" Hustler Fastrak has been a good one.  I passed 1000 hours last summer on it.  I bought it in 2013.  I've done nothing to it except change the oil.

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Should've said push mower choice but hey if it works use it lol. I heard those are good engines. Never ran em.

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My briggs 725ex 190cc 21" self propelled TB230 troybilt has been hands down the best push mower i have ever used. Had it for 9 years. Changed the oil and sharpened the blade. It has auto choke so it has always started first pull since the very first start-up. It is still running on the original plug. I use no fuel additive and by the grace of god it starts first pull every year after sitting all winter long. Deck is finally starting to chip and surface rust so probably i will pull the motor and re-paint it before this next year of mowing. Also the front wheels have had zero tread since year 7. But honestly i couldnt ask for more reliability.

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Honda makes great stuff -----  I have a Honda mower , originally bought it to pick up leaves at the house I am at now  , this mower  is 11 years old and is kept outside and not covered and it usually starts every time I try it ----I had one before this one that Katrina flooded ,  cleaned it out and it ran for  another 5 years and gave that one away when I moved , at that house it was all cut by mower , so it got a lot of use , great mower , very little went wrong with either one I have had , had to replace the bag once and one wheel 

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13 hours ago, SlammedRanger said:

My briggs 725ex 190cc 21" self propelled TB230 troybilt has been hands down the best push mower i have ever used. Had it for 9 years. Changed the oil and sharpened the blade. It has auto choke so it has always started first pull since the very first start-up. It is still running on the original plug. I use no fuel additive and by the grace of god it starts first pull every year after sitting all winter long. Deck is finally starting to chip and surface rust so probably i will pull the motor and re-paint it before this next year of mowing. Also the front wheels have had zero tread since year 7. But honestly i couldnt ask for more reliability.

I have had nothin but issues with Briggs, only good one we have is an old 80s I think 8hp flathead water pump engine, sat forever drained the tank put good fuel in, pulled it over a few times to prime, fourth time, fired right off. Again sat for who knows how long. 

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I’ve got a Briggs motor in my 21” Poulan Pro from Home Depot. I’ve run it for 6 years now. I just change oil, clean filter, check plug once a year & good to go. 

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1 hour ago, Wheeler said:

I’ve got a Briggs motor in my 21” Poulan Pro from Home Depot. I’ve run it for 6 years now. I just change oil, clean filter, check plug once a year & good to go. 

Guess I'm more partial to the older ones, newer ones to me and in my research aren't built right, but hey guess I'm in a time warp lol.

Edited by F250 guy
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In my experiance its not the motor that is to be worried about. 99.9% of the time it is a carb problem. And the carb problems are caused by lack of use. Generally someone doesnt give away a mower they use alot so it did alot of sitting around with gas in it. I would bet the starting issue you are having is in direct relation to that. Dont get me wrong the honda motor is a better motor than a briggs. But being i paid less than half the price for it new and its lasted me coming up on 10 years problem free i will be going to buy a new one when/if this one completely dies and spending less than half. At this rate for the 800 dollar one to be worth it for me it would have to last 30+ years. And at that point we will probably have a hovering mower and it will be remote controlled lol. My .02

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Good point @SlammedRanger I do put fuel stabilizer each fall in the tank. Run it thru carb.. I as well dump some sea foam once in a while in too. 

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4 minutes ago, Wheeler said:

Good point @SlammedRanger I do put fuel stabilizer each fall in the tank. Run it thru carb.. I as well dump some sea foam once in a while in too. 

Haha i do none of that to mine. Honestly i dont treat my push mower right at all. But she keeps on running perfect and starting first pull. 

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If possible I will replace any small gas engine with a Predator from Harbor Freight.  My old Troy Built rototiller Kohler engine gave it up a few years ago and bolted a Predator in.  Starts first pull even after sitting all winter, have heard nothing but good for them.  Yea they are a Honda clone and I know how some feel about the cheaper clones but this one seems to be a winner......Bet many push mowers would have a Predator to replace the original engine, not sure who sells them in Canada tho...

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All good points, I'm just more partial to quality. But yea I'm a guy that wishes things were like back in the 40s and 50s. Well built and simple. 

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i wanted to post... but i don't have a push mower..... but if i was going to purchase one, it would be a snapper with a briggs plant.... been a fan of briggs engines for years from go karts to water pumps ... and grain gravity flow auger wagons, square bail hay elevators. small gen sets .. etc.... not a single issue, just depends on how well it's take care of, IMO. my 35 ton splitter has a Kohlar ... not a single issue ever cold, or hot., same goes for my mantis honda powered tiller .. @SamUK , was one of the reasons i jumped on that wood splitter, he's a big fan of the Kohler engines, after a couple years .. i see more and more people going with kohler engines .. even some of the new snappers have moved from briggs to kohler. 

Edited by _Wilson_™

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I had a Koehler engine in my Husqvarna

ride on. It was awesome as well. 

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4 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

i wanted to post... but i don't have a push mower..... but if i was going to purchase one, it would be a snapper with a briggs plant.... been a fan of briggs engines for years from go karts to water pumps ... and grain gravity flow auger wagons, square bail hay elevators. small gen sets .. etc.... not a single issue, just depends on how well it's take care of, IMO. my 35 ton splitter has a Kohlar ... not a single issue ever cold, or hot., same goes for my mantis honda powered tiller .. @SamUK , was one of the reasons i jumped on that wood splitter, he's a big fan of the Kohler engines, after a couple years .. i see more and more people going with kohler engines .. even some of the new snappers have moved from briggs to kohler. 

Kohler for me would be the K, Magnum, and command series. Briggs for me, opposed twin, and 5-8HP flathead. Just me. Hey don't matter if ya don't have one just wanted to see opinions and thoughts. 

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the command pro  is what my splitter has .. as for briggs .. I've  never had the v-twin ... never heard anything about them. good, or bad. 

Edited by _Wilson_™

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Kohler has been around a long time , they had the  K-Series , Magnum , Command Pro , Confident and Courage are a few of the models ---- both my Husqvarna zero swings have 25hp  Kohlers , the old one is a 2006 and ran till 2018 , lost compression on one cylinder 

 

Them Predator clones are alright by me , I have a 13hp and a 6 hp on both my air compressors , starts right up , never had any problems with either , when the Briggs 10hp on my big compressor , they wanted $850 for a new one and it was going to take some modifactions to fit as the old model was by the way side , after a coupon , I paid under $200 for that 13 hp clone , it is about 2 years old now and been great 

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17 hours ago, F250 guy said:

Guess I'm more partial to the older ones, newer ones to me and in my research aren't built right, but hey guess I'm in a time warp lol.

i dont know your definition of push mower. if ya push an pull by hand, i had a sears aluminum frame, 3.25 motor, briggs an stratten, 20" inch blade. it would also cut the loose tree limbs on the ground, up to 3/4. it got to 3/4 limbs, it was a problem.

the weed wacker i got now, trims the tree branches up to 1/2 inch., just using string, .095...

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Even with the rock I highly doubt the mower has enough traction to pull the wagon.....lol

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5 hours ago, TBRider said:

Even with the rock I highly doubt the mower has enough traction to pull the wagon.....lol

You'll guys are observant , I never even notice the rock till you'll said something , I was trying to figure out if  her bra was on backwards 

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I bounced from Craftsman to Craftsman years ago. Gave up on them when they switched to 'Craftsman' branded engines.

 

Believer in Briggs...but in 2010 the EPA forced them to put catalytic convertors on their small engines. 

 

I have a Toro Personal Pace mower I bought for a 100 bucks from an old guy. Don't know the year...but it predates 2010. Thing runs great. So far, no issues. The deck is aluminum and parts are readily available for anything on it. Every winter I run the tank dry.  Became a firm believer in it when we pulled a tiller and a 80s pushmower out of my wife's grandpas barn after they both passed. Both fired up with gas in the tanks both were run dry. It was amazing.

 

Anyway, that's my experience. I'm sure Honda's are nice...but I still use the old briggs. I have a new briggs on a walk behind weedeater thing by Husqvarna. Runs like crap but it may just be the fact it needs fixed up....not sure. It belches smoke til it warms up...then runs great...but randomly stalls. I bought it from a drug addict in a bad part of town who said it wouldnt' run. I checked it out, put gas in it...and it fired up and ran 'good enough'....so have never messed more with it.

Edited by 87Iroc
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