Mowers Reviews

I wanted this item! And I wish Amazon can do better packaging and listen to the customer. The first shipment has a cracked wheel, amazon acknowledged the warning, and was asked to do better packaging. The 2nd shippment was no improvement on packaging; the wheel broke off! So I decided to refund it... Maybe it's not for me :) I'll pick different one up locally....

I put this together in a few minutes with a 1 year old strapped to my back. I was very impressed with the mechanism-it seems that it would be impossible to hurt someone with it, with the back roller and front guard. My 13 year old was able to carry it up and down our steep hill to our flat yard. Easy to manuever, easily adjusted blades (golf course lengths easily done), no more trips to the gas station.

This lawn mower is AMAZING! My husband is a merchant marine with the US Coast Guard and is away for months at a time, leaving me with the task of lawn mowing. This is way better than our noisy old gas guzzler. Without the combustion motor, it is light and easy to push, doesnt require gas (which is at an all time high price right now), and doesnt let off emissions. The scissor like blades cut the grass into such small pieces that I dont use a catcher. Leaving the clippings behind is the best because they go back into the soil, producing organic fertilizer! I've been getting them and giving them as gifts to all my friends and family from sunlawn.com.

For lack of a nail the war was lost! This mower has all the makings of a great product but is now sold only at Amazon.
Probably because of poor quality control.
I built a ramp to unload it from the truck and saved the extra shipping costs (thanks to a reviewer). The first three times I tried to use it the top belt slipped off then broke. Since I don't have a way to get it to a shop I checked it myself and found that the pulleys
on the motor shaft were never bolted on!!!! The factory sent me the parts and it's been working fine for three weeks. If your good with tools, Buy it. It's fun to use.

Right off the bat had problems with the delivery agent. They did not have a lift-gate truck and requested help for the driver to unload. The mower arrived in a full tractor-trailer with no ramp or way to get the wood framed crate off the trailer. The driver and I muscled it off using a ladder and plywood as a ramp. The "free" delivery was crap. Also after uncrating and trying to start it the battery was dead. I was unable to charge it to any level which would turn over the engine. I had to purchase another battery which fixed that problem. The cut seems even and the mower is much more maneuverable than my previous tractor-type mower. But the vacumn ability of the cutting deck is not as good, it doesn't pick up everything you go over. It may be due to the design of the deck/bagger which is an integrated unit under the seat, also the chute is fairly narrow which will clog easily in heavy/wet leaves or clippings. This design does make for a narrower unit as there is no external chute connecting to the side of the deck which takes up space and creates clearance problems when trying to cut up close to something on that side. Overall I feel it works best as a mulcher/side discharge mower. Don't expect to pick up huge amounts of leaves or clippings as the bagger fills up too fast and will require many trips to empty.

I have used my yardbug for one season and have enjoyed it thouroughly. It is very easy to use and cuts great. So far I have had no problems with it and I am looking forward to another year of mowing.

I got this item sooner than expected. There was an item, that corresponds to self propell the lawn-mower, broke during the shipping process. But I got it fixed by the Lawn-Boy authorized service center under the warrenty coverage. I like the product much.

This is my 3rd Lawn-boy. The first two had problems with the drive system, corrosion of the aluminum deck, electric starter system failures, noise, lack of power, poor bag attachment design, and fair to poor operation of the drive and blade controls. Consequently, I was not set on buying another Lawn-boy. My son-in-law did some thorough research on lawnmowers and finally settled on a 2005 Lawn-boy model. I was impressed with the features and easy of use. After viewing and studying literature on the 10686 model, I decided to purchase this electric start model. The mower arrived at my house in three business days. What could be better than that? There was some minor shipping damage to a plastic drive lever on the left of the handle. I ordered the part from Lawn-boy for $1.35 and installed it myself. After adding oil and charging the battery, the mower sprang to life after just a touch of the electric starter. I have used the mower three times so far and can honestly say that the problems and issues I had with the two previous Lawn-boys and other mowers are all solved with this unit. The electric starter works very well each time without flaw. The drive system and blade control could not be easier. The bail on the handle to allow the mower to start and shut the engine off has just the right spring tension so as not to tire the hands. The drive system is flawless and effortless from a very, very slow crawl to a 4 MPH jogging pace. The engine is quiet and checking and changing oil is a breeze. The engine has plenty of power for thick grass. The bagging system is the simplest I have seen. Why did it take so long to come up with this simple approach? The mower has great suction in either the mulch mode or bag mode. I welcomed the steel deck. No more corrosion from the acid in the grass. (I had to replace the aluminum deck on my first Lawn-boy after 2.5 years because it corroded a hole through the deck on the top.) Finally, the handle storage system works slick and the switch-over from mulch, to bag, to side discharge could not be easier unless you have your wife do it for you.

This is the best push mower I have owned. It runs so smoothly it almost feels unreal. Its like the cadillac of push mowers. Made the yard look better then ever and in half the time. Another thing is that alot of the newer mowers look ridiculous. This one is very stylus and aesthetically pleasing.

Lawn-Boy has been around for ever so its a name you can trust. I had one back in the 80's and im glad to have one again.

Have used for 4 gas tankloads so feel my review is valid.
1. Engine is fine, 9 hp Briggs-Stratton industry standard: good match.

2. Electrical connections came loose underdeck, difficult to reconnect.

3. Wheel Engagement cable housing was poorly connected where it attaches to handle. It came loose and had to be doctored up for a temp fix. It allowed the drive wheels contunue rolling after I let go of the safty release. I.E. machine kept propelling itself-I plan on writing MFR.

4. Generally the Engine, Deck, Blade work fine, but many parts connecting it all together are Poorly/Under Engineered.

OK......I bought this monster a month or so ago and have run about 4 tanks of fuel through it.

To begin with, the free shipping to my residential address was great. It came on a lift gate truck and was set right where I wanted it. It is easy to uncrate and assemble. Basically you just have to put on the gear shift lever and handle. Maybe a half dozen bolts or so.

Once filled with oil and gas it was a quick start. Been a one or two pull every time since then.

The only problems after 6-7 hours has been the handle came loose (which I installed remember) and a gear shift nut (one I did NOT install) came loose. I retightened all and used loc tite 242 for assurance.

As for operation...........don't be fooled thinking this is gonna be easy!!!! Now, in all fairness, my woods (swamp) is REALLY thick and I have to thin the big stuff with a chain saw first. But it WILL run down anything as advertised, about 1.5" and maybe bigger.

If the ground is uneven and you are mowing down lots of standing trees this thing will man handle you if you are not careful. I am 6'3" and 200 lbs and it can fling me around if the wheels get caught just the right way and I can not let go of the drive release fast enough. For best (mulching) results you need to make multiple passes over fallen brush. Often, going in the opposite direction will get anything missed the first time.

There is an art to using one of these and it does not take long to figure out. Common sense goes along way!!!!!

Overall, I am more than pleased. It is hugely rugged and durable, easy to use considering it is a big piece of equipment, starts great and really performs.

Can't imagine the other brands (2x as $$) can do a whole lot better. And.........the other brands look way bigger which would just be more weight to have to handle. The Swisher is just the right size to handle for about 2 hours between breaks.

I purchased the Swisher brush mower several months ago to clear out the land and cut some trails near our place in West Virginia. I had been looking for a brush mower for some time, and had looked at the DR, Troy-Built and Billy Goat brands as well. For the money, the Swisher is by far superior (the others cost twice as much, and with Amazon, you get free shipping). It has been able to cut everything I've asked it to: heavy grass and weeds, small bushes and pine saplings up to about 1 inch in diameter and thorny thickets. In fact, I would guess that if you can push it under the brush mower, it will cut it.

With four forward speeds and reverse, you can use it at a slow crawl for the thick stuff to a brisk walk for grass and weeds. The machine is a beast (probably close to 300 pounds), however, and maneuvering it around obstacles can be difficult - it is not for the weak of heart! Note also that this is a rough-cut mower: it will not make your field into a nice even manicured plot, but will cut down the waist or head high weeds and bushes and give your field a decent looking appearance.

The brush mower starts easily - no more than two pulls every time I've used it - and is very solidly built. With all the power you need at a very reasonable price, I have not found anything to dislike about the Swisher brush mower. I would highly recommend it for anyone desiring to clear out a decent-sized plot of land or to cut a trail through the woods.

I purchased a similar 16" reel mower by Great States because I have a very small lawn and didn't want the hassle, cost, noise and environmental problems from the gas mowers I grew up with.

It took about 30 minutes to put together, with some detergent to slip the handlebars on and some elbow grease to get the nuts and bolts fastened.

When I started cutting with my mower for the first time, my neighbor saw what I was doing and rushed over saying, "you'll rip the blades of grass with that thing. You can borrow mine (big, gas-powered rear-bagger) until you can afford a REAL lawn mower."

I politely declined as he went into the house shaking his head, thinking I was nuts.

The mower cut pretty good - I had to do a few spots over again, because the cut was uneven, and it does a poor job of edging. I cut the tall grass around the tree in front of my house and edged around the sidewalk and my garden with a pair of hand shears. That took about 15 minutes.

When I was finished, I hung the mower up in my garage.

Using the reel mower was an adjustment after growing up with a big gas mower at my parents' 1960s suburban home, but my lawn is small, and I hate the hassle, noise and cost of the gas mowers (not to mention the environmental issues), I'm planning on keeping the reeel mower, but I would also recommend a good weed whacker and some grass shears.

I have a small patch of lawn for a front yard, and a large patch for a backyard. I just HATED dragging out the big noisy gas mower for the front.

I am still a bit taken aback at the price on reel mowers... but after using it, I understand.

This is no flimsy hunk of aluminum and plastic. This is a nice heavy chunk of metal. The blades will stay sharp for years. It made short work of my lawn and was NOT tedious to push around. The reel spins smoothly and is pleasant to listen to... compare it to the din of gas mowers.
I've already had a neighbor ask me where I got it.

I gave this mower only 4 stars instead of 5 because:
1. The T handle was difficult to attach to the reel. I had to whack at it with a hammer to get it into the correct position on the reel.
2. It does NOT work well on taller grass. Anything too tall just gets rolled over. (Incentive to keep the lawn in check.)
But these negatives do not outwiegh the positives.

Overall, I'm glad I got it!

I have used conventional, gas-powered, walk-behind rotary mowers my whole life. Having just recently moved to a townhouse with a smallish lawn that is in relatively good condition, I decided to experiment with a reel-type mower.

I was not expecting much, but was EXTREMELY pleased with the results. I believe this type of mower can give you a BETTER cut than you can get with your common gas mower.

On my lawn, at the 2 1/2 inch height setting, pushing the mower takes little effort. The sound this machine makes is sweet and satisfying: a sharp, whispery, snickering sound. Cutting with this instrument feels more PRECISE than with the common gas mower. You are manicuring your grass, not just ripping it to a shorter height.

The other benefits are just gravy: it costs next to nothing, it hangs in your shed, it is very light, it is safer, it takes no gas, requires no starting, and you could mow at night were you so inclined.

There is a certain simple sophistication about this kind of mower. If you have the right kind of lawn situation, getting this machine is a no-brainer.

So I've been dealing with an inadequate lawn mower over the past couple of years. First of all, it was a push mower, not that I mind a push mower. Secondly, the bagging system was severly flawed. The lawnmower constantly got cloged full of grasss in the bagging chute and I would have turn it off, tip it, and mannually de-clog it.

Well I have to say that after running this lawn mower and getting used to the Personal Pace, it was great. It mowed great, it has 4-way independent wheel hieght adjustments, the different modes, (bagging, mulching, and side discharge) are easy to handle. Cleanup is a sinch. The Toro lawn mower starts on the first pull.

Two things I found suprisingly easy, and a delight to operate were:

#1 The Personal Pace self propell mechanism. This feature is so cool, the tension on the push bar was just right as I sped-up and slowed-down my walking pace, it mached my speed perfectly. Good for Toro, they nailed this just right.

#2 The bagging system was a sinch to empty. It has a large opening where it enters and emptys. My previous bagging mower had me shaking and plunging the bag up-and-down to get it empty and it usually took me a little while to get it empty. The Toro was very simple to empty. Just one plunge and it is empty.

After owning and operating this Toro 20017 mower, there have been only 2 tiny, nit picky, things that I noticed that bothered me. And in a fair review, if not for these tiny little things, my rating would have been a 5. That's not to say I don't love this mower. Its the best I've ever owned.

#1 The pull chord must be Spring assisted or something because it takes a moderatly hard initial tug to start. At least a noticable difference from my old mower. However, the good thing is that I've never had to pull more then once to start the Toro mower.

#2 The Bagging system has a flange that connects to a crossbar via 2 slots in the flange that hook over that crossbar. It's kind of tought to align the both of them easily. It takes a little bit of fussing to get the bag to set right on the mower. Never more then 20 seconds, but it is a little cumbersome.

Overall, I recommend this mower to anyone who wants a self-proppelled mower of good quality for both small and medium yards. A large yard might require a lawn tractor, unless you are a glutton for pain.

In closing, I would say that the consumer reports were right to rate this mower as high as they did (well they rated the mower with the electric start option, but that was a little more then I was willing to pay, so pull start it is for me).

I did not buy this model Toro mower from Amazon. However, I bought it from another site that is "like" Amazon. This mower is great! I was skeptical about buying it from an online auction. However, it turns out that the only thing I needed was a $15.00 blade., $5.00 air filter and it was ready to roll... It works very nicely! It is a far cry different than the older model Toro self-propelled units by far!... It's the Mercedes Benz version compared to the older versions... Most importantly, it's very easy to maintain... We love it!

I did not order this mower from Amazon, bought it locally, but I wanted to review it for others that might be interested. I was most worried about the personal pace system, and it performs BETTER than even I could have hoped. The more pressure on the handle, the faster the mower goes. My old self propelled mower went very slowly...the personal pace system goes as fast as you want it to go. Very nimble. Cut very well. Started on the first pull. I'm glad I chose this over single or 3 speed Honda models I was comparing it to.

Keeping it short and simple:

For a townhouse-sized lot, this electric mower will get the job done no problem. I see no difference in performance between this and a gas mower. Much quieter and you don't have to worry about gas and oil. Starts up quicker than a car. Kind of hard to get used to managing the cord, but if you have a small sized lot, it's worth the inconvenience.

Has a steel deck and compares favorably with the Black&Decker (Sears?) which has a 2-ply plastic deck which also does well. Has 4 individual wheel height adjusters with twice the positions as the B&D which has a nice single handle adjustment. Yard Machines' power cord guide which slides from one side to the other as you change mowing direction is an advantage over the B&D's fixed-position version. YM also has an easier and wider-ranging handle height adjustment. 2-step start function adds safety. Lightweight, no gas or oil mess, energy-conserving even considering power transmission loss from the power plant, quiet, and starts every time! Apparently is made in Hungary.

Before purchasing this electric mower I've only had experience with gasonline ones. I've noticed a lot of consumers had problems with the Black & Decker brand (not necessarily their mowers), so I decided to give YardMachines a chance despite lack of reviews. After owning it for two months I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone with a smaller yard (i.e. townhome). Build quality is excellent with the chasis made out of steel. The cord falls out of the cord minder feature but works if used with a twist tie. Height adjustment is extremely simple and a single pass is sufficient enough to trim/mulch the lawn most of the time because of the powerful 12 Amp motor. During operation it produces a loud whirling sound but is much more quieter than a gas mower, and no gas fumes to gag on either. Also the handles can be folded down for more compact storage, too. My only complaints are that the cord minder bar was difficult to install (the manual is vague on details and the bar seems not to fit initially) and the shipping packaging was lacking. Because the mower is placed in a fitted box without any styrofoam to secure it in place, the wheels arrived bent inwards somewhat but was easily fixed. The manual recommends a 12 gauge cord no longer than 50 feet.

hi!
the description of the trail mower is vague and doesn't include information that the consumer needs before purchasing it. Buyers want to know such things as the type of hitch required to attach the mower to a vehicle, what gauge steel the deck is made of, is it a welded deck or stamped deck (indicates durability), access to repair parts ( we aren't dumb enough to believe that it won't break down), and maybe availability of mechanics to perform the repairs (some buyers are not mechanically inclined). I rated it a four star item solely because it has a Briggs and Stratton motor on it. Other than that, Swisher does make some good mowers, but it can be hard to find parts for it unless the manufacturer has an outlet store for the parts (such as the spindles for the blades).
Just keep'n it simple may not sell many mowers.

I just purchased this mower and it does a great job. It does a better job than my push mower. Starts on the first pull, and has plenty of power for thick, wet, or tall grass. Mowing time is greatly reduced due to the high rpm, tow speed, and power. I am also glad I didn't get the 60" since my lawn has some areas that would scalp with a larger deck. The adjustable hitch is nice and provide great flexiblity. The only thing that could improve this would be to have a front mount kit for ATVs which would give the user more control in stearing/navigating, but I knew this before I bought it.

I brought this mower about 2 summers ago. Works great use all the time.

I bought this lawn mower used, and it's terrific. Far better than any gas mower - quieter, easier to start, easier to use, doesn't pollute, not smelly, etc. The extension chord is the only real drawback, but it's not very difficult to deal with. Another review mentioned concern about the on/off mechanism - I agree it's slightly worrisome because it's rather flimsy plastic, but I doubt it will break.

Overall I'm thrilled with the mower. The height adjustment is a piece of cake, so is starting and stopping, and it really is just like using a vacuum. The first time I used it was on very tall grass/weeds (2-3 feet) and the mower had no problem. It's great!

After I couldn't acquire parts for my 19 year old Lawn-Boy mower, I decided to buy another. I did a lot of research before deciding to purchase this Insight model.

This Lawn-Boy is a fine machine despite some flaws. The engine usually starts on the first or second pull, but not always. Once it's running, it's a relatively quiet engine, and the pollution is far less than previous models. One of the best things about this mower is the way it looks. Fab design.

However, the biggest downfall of this mower is its ridiculous weight. I'd like to know why somebody at Lawn-Boy/Toro thought a 70 pound push mower was a good idea. Because it's not.

My old Lawn-Boy was a svelte 35 pounds, so I wrote to Lawn-Boy to ask why they did not make an aluminum mower this year.

Their customer service informed me that they used a steel deck instead of their older, better aluminum designs. They said the aluminum decks were not ready for the 2006 season, but provided me with hope that they will be available next year.

SO, if you can wait until next year, I suggest putting your money towards an aluminum mower. If not, this one will work fine, as long as you don't mind working a lot harder to push the darn thing.

I bought this mower for our house over a month ago. It's been used 5 times since then (once by my wife). Set-up out of the box was simple, it was ready to go, the toughest part was attaching the pull cord to the ring that holds it in place. A pair of pliers made quick work of that.
Once I added the gas and oil, it started on the second or third pull. Our lawn is less than a quarter acre with a slight incline but plenty of trees and fences to maneuver around. My wife and I have had no problems with missing any spots because we couldn't get the mower into tight quarters.
Possibly my favorite feature is how simple it is to put the bag on and take it off. The bar that forms the opening slides onto a little ledge. There's nothing to hold open and the bag fits through the opening of the handle bar, even when full.
I changed the oil after the second use as per the instructions and that went smoothly as well. I haven't fussed with the air filter or spark plug yet, but they seem to be pretty straight forward.
I grew up with my father's Lawn Boy and it worked fine for him for at least 10 years. I would be in heaven is this one also lasted that long.