Reviews Written by Harihararaman

First Timer

Pros: Everything

Cons: Little difficult during uphill

I am a first time home owner and I have about 0.25 acres of lawn. I talked to friends and neighbors about buying a lawn mower and most people recommended a self propelled one as I have a hilly slope when I go from the front to back yard. Also, they said Honda engines are meant to last longer.

So, I went to Lowes and bought a Troy-built self propelled Honda Engine mower for 369+ taxes. The mower was not all that bad, but mulching was a pain. It left clump of grass all the time. So, I ended up bagging. Also, the rear wheel was too big and I found that very difficult to maneuver. Sometimes I had to pull the recoil 3 or 4 times to start the engine. The worst was the speed. It had 3 speed setups, but the first one was too fast and the others were kind of same as the first one. I was not sure if that unit had the problem or was it a problem in the system. Nevertheless, my lawn mowing experience was bad and I decided to return the mower. Lowes was very understanding and they took it back without a question and gave me full refund. They held up with their 30 day money back guarantee.

Now I was careful and read many reviews. I narrowed it down to two options. The Honda HRR series or the Toro SR. My budget was less than 500. The reviews said, both Honda and the Toro are good ones. Honda had a little better review on the engine, but lot of bad reviews on the thumb control and drive train problem. So I decided to go for the Toro SR4 20092 model. I mowed it only once, so only time can say how long the mower would last. But, the performance vow…..I started it 4 times until now, and I gave very less force and it started the first time all the time. I was speechless after I saw the mulching. My neighbors from both sides came to me and asked if I bagged. I couldn’t see any clippings whatsoever. It was a miracle technique. Personal pace is awesome. I walk slow around corners and fast when I do straight mowing. So, no lever or options to choose; just push and walk at your pace. I did feel a little bit of difficulty when I walked uphill. But, it was nothing. I just had to give it a little bit more pressure than doing it on a flat bed. But, I don’t see it as a problem at all. Its very light weight even my wife can handle it without any difficulty. The noise was soo much less than my previous mower I mentioned. It took me 35 min to mow my lawn compared to 1.5 hours with my previous mower, when I bagged the clippings. I don’t have to worry about bagging now, and disposing 7 heavy bags of grass.

Cleaning was a cake walk. Just get the hose, plug it on top of the deck and let the engine run for 5 min. most of the clippings come out and its clean. I still cleaned it additionally with my hose on the outside of the deck and put it back in my garage. I spent about 15 min for cleaning and I did not have to do much. Overall I give it a 5 rating. The extra 140 dollars I spent to upgrade to the Toro SR series is the best decision I made on a lawn mower. Plus, I get 5 years warranty if I maintain the mower properly and guaranteed 1 or 2 pull start for 5 years. How can you go wrong with that? Overall, I am very happy with my lawn mower and I am waiting for my grass to grow so that I can mow again. ...