Toro, Lawn-Boy, Ariens, Honda - which one?

16 years ago

I am looking to get a new mower in the next few weeks. I made the trip to the local lawn mower dealers and narrowed it down to the following five. Wanted to get some input from people that have used these machines.

Toro - 20056 (Super Recycler w/ 6.5 HP B&S LHV)

Toro - 20057 (Super Recycler w/ 6.75 HP B&S OHV)

Lawn-Boy - 10797 (Insight Platinum w/ 5.5 HP Honda)

Ariens - LM21S (w/6 HP Kawasaki)

Honda - HRX217HXA (w/6.5 HP Honda)

They all have some differences... price, blade stop, deck material, drive system, engine brand, engine type, engine hp, etc.

I want a mower that will...

- Last for 10 years or more

- Parts... like bags and things for the mower... not as worried about getting parts for the engine

- Mulch... has to mulch well

- Leaves... has to take care of leaves well as I bag a ton of leaves in the fall... 10 big brown paper yard waste bags each week

- Bag changes... needs to be easy to remove the bag, empty the bag, and put the bag back on... as messing with the bag during a battle with the leaves is a real pain.

- Sturdiness... has to be built well... my old mower seemed to be weak in the handle and attachment to the mower base... handle was always loosey/goosey.

Those of you that have the following on your mower... what's your user experience?

- blade stop

- xenoy/plastic deck

- aluminum deck

- personal pace drive system

- sens-a-speed

Side note... I have a Ariens Snow Blower... 926 Pro... with a Tecumseh Snow King... great snow blower... best I have owned... built like a tank... nothing fancy... but easy to operate and work on... lots of heavy duty metal parts... not plastic ones that break off.

Thanks in advance for the input and feedback.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

bill_kapaun
16 years ago
I don't own any of the above mowers, but I have started my 19th season with my Honda Masters. A few spark plugs, a couple blades & air filters and yearly oil changes is all its needed.

For leaves, the Honda Versa mow is pretty highly touted-

"The system also offers a setting for leaf shredding where leaves are recirculated until they are small enough to pass through the Versamow opening and into the bag. All this can take place without a conventional mulch plug and the labor-intensive conversion associated with most mowers."
johnboytoo
16 years ago
Have posted my opinion of the Toro Personal Pace with electric start as a part time trimming mower only....

lasted 1 year and locked up from hard starts.... never again :)

good luck on your decision...
Related Discussions
Toro 20066 vs 20073 vs LawnBoy 10685 - help decide
Q
Comments (7)
If history is going to repeat itself i have to say go with the TORO, they are tied with Honda for most reliable according to consumer reports. thay're also known as the best mulchers on the block. i know the lawn boy and the toro's are made in the same facility nowadays(i think) but still the toro's come with a better reputation. i own several lawnmowers, toro, craftsmen, weedeater and have owned even more over the years, snapper, ariens. i bought my toro (20016) almost 4 years ago and have been trying to kill it ever since...and can't. i'll never buy anything else, it has the tecumseh lv195ea 6.5 hp. hope this helps.
...See More
Toro vs Lawn-Boy (mulch vs bag)
Q
Comments (8)
'Very similar mowers' Actually, not. The Platinum has the hi-dome deck, unique to the LB 'Insight' Series. The steel version on my LB 10684 has been a great mulcher. The LB uses a Tecumseh and the Toro a B&S with the same 6.75 torque rating. They both have 'Personal Pace' (LB calls it 'Sensa Speed'). Neither mower has a 'transmission' per se - the constantly-slipping drive belt and control mechanism is the 'transmission'. The box on the axle is a gear reduction and turns the axis of rotation to the axle, like the 'rear end' of a vehicle. The LB does use a different box than the Toro, and it doesn't have the greasable clutch housings at the rear wheels (these do not grease the wheels). In their advertising they claim it is a new-designed unit, so maybe it does eliminate the pull-back problems with Personal Pace. The hose port on the Toro is a gimmick. On mowers without it, you just direct the hose stream under the deck and it does the same thing. You have to tie down the bail to let it run while you hose it in either case unless you want to stand right behind it and get wet. I can't comment on the Toro's abilities, never having used one. Good luck on making your choice between these two fine premium mowers!
...See More
Self-propelled Toro, Lawn Boy, Honda, or JD?
Q
Comments (13)
What about Snapper, they have 2 different walk behind mower lines now. Their top of the line seems nearly identical to mowers they were making decades ago. Everything seems old time heavy duty. Which leads to a few big positives. Reliable proven design, dependable, and when yo do need a part chances are it will be available. (A problem I had with a 10 yr old Murray, sure those generic parts are available at big retailers, as well as some parts for more recent models, but they like to keep you buying new equipment every few years.) Plus they are mostly sold at dealers who are also service shops. When you need your mower serviced, the big retailer wont be the one you bring it to. Look at many of the mowers they have discounted in their discount area. Usually the ones returned for one reason or another often with the sticker of the local repair shop that serviced the machine. Snappers other line is new and designed and priced to compete with mowers sold at the big retailers. Im not sure about the dependability, but if you are using them with different teen operators and on Camp sized property with hills and such with enough area needed mow that two mowers would be needed to cut it quickly then it may be wise to purchase from an authorized service / dealer like Snapper. And the prices online at Snapper are suggested list only. When I got my new Snapper I had moved from a flat 7000 sq ft lawn to a sloped 20,000 sq ft lawn. Considering I had 3 times the amount of lawn, I definetly wanted self propelled, mulching, and a high quality motor. So I picked the old style Snapper mulching deck with the 6hp Kawasaki engine that is used on many commercial models for $599 , $100 under list without bargaining. If I had gone with the standard B&S engine it probably would have been closer to the price of the Deere yout mentioning since the mulch only B&S Snapper is listed at $499 and your planning to get two so you could probably get a nice deal. Ariens also makes a nice mower I was considering, but the Ariens dealer wasnt as close as my local Snapper dealer. Also considering the other equpiment you have it would be even more of a reason for me to buy from a Dealer / Service shop as opposed to a big retailer.
...See More
Comparison between Honda & Toro/Lawn-Boy
Q
Comments (17)
People in Gardenland are very nice until you need service!!!! I don't have any recommendation on other dealers. I bought my back pack blower from MMI in Sunnyvale since. But no experience on service. I am planning to fix everything myself. I made the mistake of letting Gardenland took care of the trimmer thinking it is under warrantee. I know it is the carburetor already, figure why fix it if it is under warrantee. The mading thing is even after paying $85, the trimmer never got fixed. I have to end up doing it after all!!! Gardenland make a lot of fuzz about old gas, they make you watch a video about old gas before letting you go after buying stuff. And when they know I am a home owner, they just don't even borther to listen anymore and came back claiming old gas. They did get very rude when I started arguing. I am actually consider buying online if the price is a lot cheaper and maintaining it myself. Mower do cut grass, cheap or fancy!!! That is the reason I make two suggestion, one of them is buy cheap and use it as dispossable. My TroyBilt is MTD which I believe make Craftsman and Cub. The deck is very thin, you hit something, you bend the deck!!!. YOu can try the Toro lower model in Home Depot. It all depend on whether you just want to mow the lawn or you want to get a fancy mower. I want a fancy mower so I am going for the commercial one, if you are not, save the pain of dealing with the dealer service and get dispossible one. 3 of the $229 mower only add up to one decent mower, you are not going to get 7 to 8 years on one mower without any service. That would be $150 on top of the mower!! I like fancy and I am handy, so I have the commercial option. Trouble free for years is over rated. With cheap mower, have trouble, buy a new one, still come out ahead. A lot of LCO use cheaper mower also, I don't think anyone can argue about 5 Craftsman out last one of the best commercial mower and much cheaper before you consider the maintenance. If you worry about warrantee, go to Sears and Lowes, they might sell extended warrantee. I bet they do honor the extended warrantee much better than dealers. I have a lot of experience using extended warrantee from big stores and I found them all very very good. They have to, they are in consummer market, they can't get away what the dealers can. If you want commercial stuff, you have to get it from the dealer or online.
...See More
easternupstate
Original Author
16 years ago
johnboytoo:

What model Toro Personal Pace did you have?

Was it a Super Recycler or a Recycler?

Was it a recently purchased Toro or one from a the past?

What kind of engine did it have on it?

Did Toro and/or the Toro dealer stand behind the warranty?

Thanks,

easternupstate

----------------------------------------------------------

* Posted by johnboytoo on Sun, Apr 8, 07 at 8:01

Have posted my opinion of the Toro Personal Pace with electric start as a part time trimming mower only....

lasted 1 year and locked up from hard starts.... never again :)

good luck on your decision...
colosilverado
16 years ago
Well, you mentioned heavy duty metal parts...and for that, I'd probably want the Ariens. I went with the Snapper Commercial for that reason. I looked at the height adjusters on the Toro, LawnBoy,etc. and thought they looked like they were made out of that metal that you band wood bundles together with. I think the Honda had some sort of metal for that Xenoy deck, even though the detents were plastic. My dad has a HRX217, and he likes it. I really wanted to like the LawnBoys, but I couldn't get past all of that plastic and the engine choices (refuse to go Briggs Quantum due to experience and discussions with shops). I realllly wanted the Kawasaki and I love power/idle of the engine. Tecumseh really impressed me a week ago, though, because my dad gave me his Yard Machine late last fall and I left it outside because I had no room and in the garage. We got hit with some snow that lasted months and it sat under a drift for at least 2 months, non-winterized and recently started after some priming and playing with it for 5 minutes or so.

I was down to either a Husky, Ariens or Snapper. For the money, I could get the best features on the Snapper Pro. I liked the controls better on it, and the bagging system was more ideal than the Ariens for me. Plus, you can add the casters to the Snapper Commercial, and the caster model of the Ariens just didn't appeal to me at all. The Husky had the aluminum deck, but I still liked the Snapper better for that price range. I'm hoping that it will last a long time and I love it so far.
Maybe all of the plastic and lighter metal on those other mowers is okay for what I would do with a mower. My dad broke the back wheel off of his Yard Machines a year or two ago, and that was the metal part.
easternupstate
Original Author
16 years ago
colosilverado

Which Snapper Pro did you go with?

The link below is to Snapper's latest info on their website
http://www.snapperpro.com/commercial_trim_mowers.php

When I was a kid... mid 80's my Dad always had a Snapper. When the B&S stock engine took a dump... the local mower shop put a Kawasaki on it... back in the late 80's. We dubbed it... the Kawasnapper.

I will have to take a look at Snapper's commercial mowers... just to have a look see and compare to the others I am looking at. Snapper residential mowers are pretty much junk from what I can tell... they seem to private label machines for just about everyone out there... JD, etc.

The more I think about it... the more I really want to have the blade stop feature. i.e. Have the mower stay running while changing the bag... but having the blade stop for safety. I do leaves a couple times a week in the fall for a couple hours at a crack... starting the mower up 20+ times is a real pain. I don't think any of the commercial grade mowers have the blade stop... as they probably don't want it for employee/safety reasons and they aren't bagging usually.

Thanks for the input.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snapper Pro Commercial
colosilverado
16 years ago
It is a CP216018KWV.
I assume that it is the model from the year before....
I asked the dealer about the BBC and he said that Snapper quit doing those because they had a lot of problems with them due to the complexity and fragile parts. I don't know if that is a load, or not...
I just love the idle of the Kawi! I know, that is pretty geeky, but it seems like it runs a lot slower/lower at idle than others. It just lopes along like a big cam V8.. ;)

Toro, Lawn-Boy, Ariens, Honda - which one?

Comments (6)

bill_kapaun

johnboytoo

Related Discussions

easternupstate
Original Author

colosilverado

easternupstate
Original Author

colosilverado

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Toro, Lawn-Boy, Ariens, Honda - which one?

Comments (6)

bill_kapaun

johnboytoo

Related Discussions

easternupstateOriginal Author

colosilverado

easternupstateOriginal Author

colosilverado

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

easternupstate
Original Author

easternupstate
Original Author