The demise of the $100.00 lawn mower

[mister moose]

HA!...funny how you mentioned the auto Geoff. The top line John Deere tractor parked outside local HomeDepot's front entranceway is ~$250+/- below the price of my then-new 73' Toyota Corolla...~$3,400+/-....Given as sometimes chincy as store-brands often get, my (Sears)Craftsman push with bag(best to have)..with a drivetrain is going strong on its 7th year. Just a worn drivetrain belt in year ~5 but an easy order. Not crazy about the rather short cutting surfaces on the blades(~5") but never a problem.

The top of the line Deere mower at Home Depot is still stamped steel and belt drive. Go look at the ones at power equipment dealers. If you want shaft drive and a forged axle you'll spend close to what a Hyundai goes for new today. One big difference as well is the transmission, the better tractors move faster, you get a lot more done in less time. I bought a used Deere 425, and have no regrets. It's liquid cooled, 54" mower deck, shaft drive to the deck, hydrostatic transmission, 2 hydraulic circuits for attachments, and the mower deck is built out of heavy steel, good for the abuse that gets doled out around here. One minor disadvantage is that the tractor, even without the mower deck on it, is wider than 48", which means it won't fit in a pickup should I ever need to bring it in for service.

One thing that bugs me about my sister's self propelled Sears mower is how slow it is. It moves itself at the pace of a Lark scooter in a grocery store. You can't push it faster since the wheels are turning at a fixed plodding pace. Mowing with a lighter push mower that I can move at a regular walking pace is way faster. The reliability of the Sears mower has been dismal as well, especially in the self propel belt and related covers. Lots of stuff has just fallen off.

I bought a nearly new 20" MTD mower for trimming on ebay 15 miles away for cheap and it works fine. I suspect it will last 20 years if I change the oil when it gets dark, change/clean the air filter often, and keep the fuel stabilized over the winter.

The bag and/or mulch feature works fine if you mow every time it grows a half inch and mow when it's dry, and in the case of the bag, don't mind stopping every 5 minutes to empty it. None of that occurs around here. It's the chute baby. I would never buy a mower that had no chute option.

The included bag, auto stop deadman handle and liability premiums are likely responsible for the death of the $100 mower.

 

[hammer]

The top of the line Deere mower at Home Depot is still stamped steel and belt drive.

The top of the line Deere tractor at HD is the bottom of the line Deere tractor at a power equipment dealer.

When I bought my tractor I was told that they do a good job of mowing as long as you have a level yard. I have a sloped yard so I needed to upgrade to a tractor with a beefier tranny...I only went up one or two levels and the cost almost doubled.

My Sears self-propelled push mower has been pretty reliable...and I'm lazy about regular maintenance. Of course, it only gets used for cut in work.

 

[Geoff]

I showed up at the Sears Outlet in Fall River, Ma to buy the cheapo $119 Craftsman push mower that was on the Sears Outlet web site. They had never heard of it and sold me a Briggs & Stratton "Brute" with rear bagger, a bigger motor, and better wheels for the same price.

Update:

I pulled it out of the box, unfolded the handle, attached the side chute, put in oil and gas, and mowed my microscopic lawn. It started on the first pull. For $119.00 plus tax, it works just fine. I got my $100 lawn mower.