Reviews
As an Outdoor Power Equipment repair man, I frequently come across equipment such as mowers and trimmers that have very cool and even practical designs. There are times however, when I say to myself ”What went wrong when they were designing this machine!” It occurred to me that I should post some pro’s and con’s about different equipment, as I come across them. My point is not to slam the companies who designed the equipment, but simply to bring to the buyers attention…and maybe to the companies… some designs that work and some that need some more designing.
Troy Bilt Bronco 42″
Pros:
- 20hp single cylinder Kohler
- Has a quick release deck makes it easy to remove
- Has a cool style (relative of course)
- Hydrostatic drive
Con’s:
- Going from the hydrostatic drive to the brake is a little difficult if you had to stop on a dime.
- The machine runs two belt for the drive and one really big belt for the deck. More belts can mean more hassle
- The deck belt always falls off the outside pulleys. This is because of a couple of reasons. The first is, the belt has to bend against its design to accommodate different height in pulleys. One pulley might me 5″ tall while the next in line is a 2″ pulley. The belt has to contort itself on its side in order to make the lower pulley. This runs a much higher problem for the belt to fall of and even wear out. The second reason is MTD ( Troy Bilt) runs a 109″ belt. This belt has a lot slack in it, which invariably cause it to fall off.
Some things we did to try and fix the problem are listed. Please not however that these solutions may or may not void the warranty. The one I fixed did not have a warranty! The first thing I did was shorten the belt to the point where it wouldn’t stay engaged, but to where it wouldn’t have as much slack either. The second thing I did, was bend steel rod that would be bolted to the outside of the deck next to the pulleys. This rod would be adjusted so as to not rub the belt, but yet not allow the belt to fall off pulleys.
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Honda HRX217K2HMA Push-mower …minus the push!
Pro’s:
- Nice Electric start feature
- Variable self propel speed
- Move lever to switch between mulching and bagging, or anywhere in between.
- Relatively quiet
- Blade engages and disengage without shutting the engine off
Cons
- It seems, from working on them, that the carburetors are prone to get clogged, due to the very small ports in the high speed jets. So don’t let gas sit to long in these things! Also, make sure that grass doesn’t get into the gas tank when refilling, since this will find its way into the carburetor.
- When I used this mower, one thing that I found a bit difficult was keeping your hands on the blade engage lever (see photo below). It seems to curve away from the handle too far, which means you have to hold the center of the handlebar while pushing the push mower, or wrap your thumbs around the lever while holding the handlebar toward the outsides. This really wears your hands out!
- There is no drain plug on this push mower, which means you have to tip it on its side to drain the oil.
- The prices, to some people is another con. Starting at around $800 its not the cheapest push mower. For a couple hundred dollars more you could buy a riding mower.
Toro Recycler Personal Pace 22″ Push
Pros
- Super fast self-propelled system
- Engine is plenty powerful
-No choking required to start
-Blade disengage leaves the the engine running while stopping the blade
-Rear wheel drive gives good traction
-Personal Pace is very comfortable to use ( Metal In Motion personally loved the personal pace feature)
-Mulching to Bagging feature allows you to adjust from one to the other and anywhere in between
Cons
- Noisy
- Pull start could be easier
-Though Metal In Motion has not experienced this, other consumers say there are issues involving the reliability of the transmission.
-Also others says that the mulching option tends to leave behind a row of un-mulched clippings.
-Other consumers have complained about the discharge opening for the bagger. They say its located at the bottom of the bag, which causes the opening to be clogged before the bag fully fills up.
-Blade Cable housing is plastic and is (in Metal In Motions opinion) a very bad design. The torque it takes to depress the handle causes this plastic piece to bend, which eventually results in a break. Metal In Motion has replaced this piece at the expense of $20 for cable plus labor to instal it. A possible remedy (though not yet tried) might be to wrap the plastic piece with a rubber hose, using zip ties to hold it together. This will, in theory, add a little support and also keep the heat and sun from making the plastic brittle.
