Husqvarna or Honda? My forever mower

I have never owned a new lawnmower.  When I bought my current house, I picked up an old Honda mower from the 80s at an auction sale for $9 with an aluminum deck.  The self-propel didn't work and it didn't have a bag, but it started and cut grass in a cloud of blue oil smoke for three years.

My neighbor moved out a few years ago and gave me his Toro.  I used it for a couple seasons and it was great, but the design of the chute constantly clogged with clippings.

I just picked up a monster Cub Cadet with the swivel front wheels for free that someone set out for trash.  It's a monster and it works great, but 2 things make me not like it; 1) the swivel wheels are big, and in my tiny yard, it is nearly impossible to get into corners, and 2) it doesn't have a bagging option.

So I'm planning on my first new (or slightly used) mower.  Jeez they're expensive when you consider the most I have spent on a mower in the last decade is $9

I really want an HRX217, but they are $600 new and $250 abused with a questionable hydrostat drive.  My cousin has a Husqvarna AWD that I like, and it is similarly priced.

I figure those are the cream of the crop.  Which one should I do?  (and I know I'll get recommendations for cordless electric, but that isn't what I want)

Why not both?

I have a box store Husqy RWD that is Honda powered.  It's 10 or 15 years old at this point and hasn't rusted out.  Starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull after sitting all winter and never needs more than normal maintenance.

It can bag (rear exit) or mulch (side exit).  I think I paid $300 new, and I'm sure you can find used ones cheaper.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Rider, or push mower?

Sorry... walk behind.  I only have 0.2 acres

Goat?

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I thought so, but I didn't know that hydrostat drive existed on those mowers. Sorry, I've not owned or used a push mower in years, but I have a general despise for everything B&S so my only advice would be to avoid them. 

And, truth be told, I don't really care what engine is on it.  I've owned several of all three, and used to work in small engine warranty repair.  They're all basically the same in terms of power and reliability.

The real thing I'm looking for is quality of the parts surrounding the engine.  The mower itself.

I had a Husqvarna mower that had a plastic deck and Briggs engine, and it was perfect. No rust problems, and the motor was a Briggs, so it just ran and ran. I bought it new from a Husqvarna dealer about 32 years ago, and then used it for 22 years. Passed it to our tenants, then to my son in law, who still has it. It's getting a bit smoky now, but the motor has never been apart. I'd buy one again in a heartbeat. The plastic deck lasted better than any steel deck I've ever seen.

I recently bought the Honda-engined Toro sold at one of the big box home improvement stores.  Bought it on a Saturday, mowed my yard once and returned it the following Saturday.   As you mention above, it wasn't the Honda engine, it was the parts around it. 

The mower has a little shield under the deck at the front which follows the curve of the blade and keeps grass clippings away from the front axle.   I hit one small rock and the whole mower shut down.  Turns out this shield is only held on with one bolt on each side and if you hit anything it bends, hitting the blade and stalling out the motor.   In the course of removing and straightening the shield, i noticed that the gear box for the self propelled is plastic and that one of the sealed bearings on the front axle has popped out of its housing and is halfway down the axle.  I pushed the bearing back into its housing, but clearly the whole thing was never more than finger tight.  

At this point all i can recommend is to look into the "commercial" mowers sold at a real mower or tractor place, or just go used.   I wouldn't buy a big box mower again.   

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Sorry... walk behind.  I only have 0.2 acres

Electric!!

I know you're looking at new or nearly new but I have one of the last of the 2 stroke Lawn Boys. It has an aluminum deck so super light and no rust. You get 2 stroke simplicity and 6.5hp. We only use it to trim around a few trees the zero turn won't fit between but it's been flawless.

I still see them being used by landscaping companies.

Grandparents bought a Husq. that had a Honda motor. Oddly it started acting up after only a few years. I'll second the electric suggestion. They have come very far in the last decade, require no maintenance, way easier on the ears, and they are just so tossable since they weigh next to nothing. No winterizing, no oil changes, no fuel and no fuel associated worries (shelf life, spilling(another rant against new fangled "green" gas cans))

Electric. I'm happy with my Ryobi. Neighbor is happy with his Greenworks. The only people I know who don't like them have been disappointed with the battery life, but add in another battery and you're good.

I think if I were doing it today, I'd go with either Stihl or Bauer (Harbor Freight). 

Yard bug

I second husqvarna with a honda engine or electric ryobi.

Only thing I've had to do to my husq was replace the drive cable in 15ish years I've had it. My mom has a 40v ryobi self propelled that she really likes using.

Sorry, guys.  You will not convert me to electric.  As someone who worked in warranty repair for lawnmowers for many years, I have been inside of their guts and dealt with the irate customers. 

Will
not
do
it
period.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Then I'd roll with Honda. All of the local landscapers use yellow ride-on and Honda walk-behind. Plus there are plenty of speed parts for the Honda based mower engines. You could get more compression and a hot cam, which wouldn't let you mow faster but you'd get a cool sounding idle. 

I think I've posted about this recently.  I have a Honda, non-self-propelled.  Same thought process as you - "I'll buy a premium one and never buy a mower again".  Wrong move.  Honda mowers aren't worth the (substantial) premium.  Would not buy again. I had to upgrade the front wheels to the ball bearing wheels used on the rear just to get it to roll.  It also gets clogged easily in heavy wet grass.  It does, however, start easily and run flawlessly.  Honda does a great job on engines, but the rest of the mower is mid pack at best.

For 0.2 AC (minus house and driveway footprint), if I didn't want a battery mower (which I totally would want for 0.2 acres), and if I had to buy new, I'd buy the cheapest, simplest 21" gas mower I could get at Lowes Depot.  Change the oil and sharpen the blade once a season, and replace the air filter and spark plug every few years (or not).  You should totally get 15 years out of it.  My previous mower was one of those; I inherited it from my grandfather in 1991 (it was newish then), and finally gave up on it in 2016.  It was still sort of running, but I had to be careful to not clean the underside, because the dried grass plugged the holes in the deck. 

barefootskater said:

Grandparents bought a Husq. that had a Honda motor. Oddly it started acting up after only a few years. I'll second the electric suggestion. They have come very far in the last decade, require no maintenance, way easier on the ears, and they are just so tossable since they weigh next to nothing. No winterizing, no oil changes, no fuel and no fuel associated worries (shelf life, spilling(another rant against new fangled "green" gas cans))

I have a Husq. with a Honda engine. It too started acting up on me after a couple years. I got it all straightened out now the deck is starting to crack

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Sorry, guys.  You will not convert me to electric.  As someone who worked in warranty repair for lawnmowers for many years, I have been inside of their guts and dealt with the irate customers. 

Will
not
do
it
period.

Why not? Genuinely curious, not trying to convince you as you’re obviously more familiar with them. 

Find an old Japanese made Honda.  Sometime around the turn of the century, they started building them in the US, and the Walmart think took a bunch of quality out of them.

I bought a used 19" one in about 1992.  It needs a new blade now.

Husqvarna with Honda engine. They are the best. 

0.2 acres?

If you have some objection to a goat (how could you?) then I would offer that this is the Husqvarna for you:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PGBSGXQ?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

I have a basic Honda mower. The engine is still 100% after like 15 years, I have one rust spot on the deck. Never clean or maintain it.

My rambling thoughts on mowers...

I also have a small lawn (entire property is 40'W x 100'D). My lawn has a lot of undulations in the ground (voles? chipmunks? who knows...) so I like mowers with large rear wheels to roll over the bumps easier.  I buy the cheapest mower from Lowes Depot that meets this requirement. I do absolutely zero maintenance on it, other than maybe cleaning the carb if E10 gas gunks it up every few years. Once in awhile I might check the oil.  When the mower dies, I put it to the curb and buy a new one.  I don't really see the point in spending more money on a "forever mower" as I don't want to invest the time into making it last forever since I have limited time and other projects I'd rather work on.  A mower to me is just another appliance.

I will say for the past number of years the mower has been an amazingly reliable appliance. Winter storage prep? Nope. But every spring I drag it out of the shed, top off the gas (I put Stabil in the can when I fill it every year or so), yank on the cord a few times and it starts. If I mow every week or two, it'll usually start on the first pull. 

I have too many engines in my life and don't want another one to maintain. My next mower will be battery powered.  But as my current mower still does the job, and battery mowers get better every year, I'll wait to buy one until I have to. As mentioned above, that may be tomorrow or years from now.