If he wants to spend the rest of his life with pain and agony just keep lifting mowers into his van. He needs to buy or fabricate a ramp for getting them in and out. 50 to 60 lbs is extremely light for any mower so I figure your weight estimate is wrong. I would avoid Honda mowers in general because the replacement parts are outrageous. Toro aluminum deck models with the better engines would be a good choice or a Snapper. Snapper Hi-Vac is probably the one I'd choose because of it's versatility. He may need a trailer for this job. Transporting gasoline (for the mowers) in a van is extremely dangerous too.

I am a huge fan of this brand of mowers. Used them for over 30 yrs and they have been a staple in our family. I do however have two questions re: repair that I have never done and hoped that someone could help me. 1) I have a 7086 that needs the recoil assy replaced. I can't figure out how to get it off! Also, can the spring be reused? If so, how would I do that? 2) I have a 10550 that I have stripped of all the bells and whistles (self-propel, speed controls, etc). They created too many problems. As a result, my starter cord is hanging out of the engine about 3 feet. I cut it and reattached the handle. I can start it, but it only has 12"-18" in length. How can I add more string. Also, can I attach a vintage carb. to this model that has the speed control just above the air filter. You know, the green ones with the white lever. I would appreciate any solutions or advice!

Saxman- Hey sir, I have to admit I am a little more exciterd about this mower, than I would be had a bought a $99 mower at Wal-Mart. I hope you forgive me. It is only natural however to not understand everyting you tell me perfectly. I can't make anybody on any forum help me, that would be silly. I would suggest this, if you don't want to share your knowledge and expriences on the subject that you obviously know and love, maybe you should find a different forum, or not post on one at all. Or...... in your case, pour yourself another Brandy Manhatten and verbally lash the new guys on the lawnmower forum on a sunday night! Kyle

I have mixed feelings about Toro's handling of L-B. To their credit, Toro kept building the F-series engine, developed a lower cost version of it (the V-series) for steel deck models (and even installed this engine on steel deck Toro Recyclers), and invested the time and money required to develop a 2-cycle mower engine that was Phase I compliant. Moreover, they gave this Phase I compliant engine some improvements over the F, such as ball bearings for the crankshaft main bearings, a better air cleaner design (fully enclosed with a separate intake tube), and a removable cylinder head. An unfortunate consequence of the Phase I compliance was lean carburetor jetting that created surging and other issues, but Toro can't be blamed for this---it was forced upon them by the EPA's hydrocarbon emission standards under Phase I. On the other hand, when they found out how much it was going to cost to develop a Phase II compliant 2-cycle mower engine, I think that Toro's commitment to L-B weakened. They've essentially turned the L-B brand into a mass-market replacement for the Toro Recycler. While it's true that the Recycler is still being produced, it's not needed anymore---the L-B Insight and L-B Insight Gold units are an improvement over the low end Toro due to their better bagging system and more comfortable handlebar. Thus, all that Lawn-Boy is now is Toro's mass market low end residential brand, while Toro is the company's commercial and high end residential brand. Because of Toro's weakened commitment to L-B, I'm not sure how long the company will continue to provide parts support for traditional (i.e., 2-cycle) L-Bs still in service, and this worries me. I enjoy using my 2-cycle Lawn-Boys and would like to keep them around for many more years, but I won't be able to if Toro's parts support dries up.