LawnBoy Push Mower. Which one the best?

[Duncan IN]

I am in need of a small pushmower and i want to go with a lawn boy. Any Ideas wich one is the best for commercial use?

[VLM]

Been through about 5 LB self propell over the years. Go with the Silver Series. Dont get the Tecumsa. Go with the 6.5 Briggs. They may be using the Intek now but thats ok. Run you about $400 with bagger. They also make a commercial mower but it's almost a thousand bucks and the only real difference I saw was the steel deck and bigger gas tank.

[Duncan IN]

Thanks VLM. I currently have a new snapper mower and I am very unhappy with it. I used a customers LB on his yard and I hated it at first because of the wheel sticking out. But I really like the LB's now.

[TLS]

I have a Lawn-Boy Commercial 6.5hp 2 cycle, Aluminum deck, staggered wheel push mower $600. Its a 1998 model and it replaced a 1983 of exactly the same model only they were only 4hp then $400. The 1983 is still running great, my Dad bought it off of me in 1998. The staggered wheel has some disadvantages, but all I use it as is a trim mower and inside one small gate. Its relatively light, I can lift it over my trailer no problem. It is built like a tank and has the grease fittings on the wheels. Make sure you get the engine rpms up high enough, as it was delivered, it didn't rev very high, and the cut wasn't that good. I cranked her up to 3650 and it cuts great! Only thing that I have ever done to both is to clean the muffler and ports, and replace the spark plug every year or two!

[Duncan IN]

What are the disadvantages to the wheel sticking out? Would you stick with lawnboys or another brand? Any really good brands out there other than lawn boy?

[TLS]

Staggered wheel LB's wheel sticks out and can catch on obstructions. They are available as a reg wheel but you are limited to rear bagging, or a funny rear discharge chute attachment. With the staggered wheel, you can trim close to the front of the deck, and the grass discharge goes straight out the side with no obstructions. I buy them for the good wheels, good cast alum deck, very large gas tank, good maintenance free engines, quieter than most mowers, light weight, and at $600, a pretty good trim mower deal!

[bob]

I use a JD 21 mower. But as a back-up mower I have a Lawnboy Silver series mower. It really light compared to the JD. I don't even use the self propelled feature on it.

[Edited by bob on 03-24-2001 at 10:45 PM]

[Evan528]

Lawnboys are not what they used to be! Up untill the 90's lawnboys used to be a great professional duty push mower. They were extremly light and has a great quality of cut! I bought a new silver series self propelled lawnboy in 95. I used it maybe a hour a week tops (recent years maybe 20 minutes a week) and i have had problems with it from the begining. It didnt cut well, hard to start..... My neigbor has a lawnboy that is 25 years old and still starts on the first pull.... my 5 year old lawnboy that i trashed last week took 10 pulls to start (yes i maintained it). Most landscapers i see have a old lawnboy on the trailer rather then a new one because there much better! If i were you id look for a old lawnboy nd buy it cheap.... even if you have to put 100 bucks into it, it will probly outlast a brand new lawnboy, be feather light and have a great cut.

[TLS]

Evan,

I actually prefer my newer one! Always starts on first pull, and has loads more power than my '83. The Silver and Gold Series are homeowner models. Don't know all the differences, but the engine internals and carb are different on my Commercial than on a Silver. Deck and wheels are better too. They are even more dependent on gas oil mixture than a weed wacker. Just a little off, and you clog the ports real quick. I ONLY use LB oil.

[gusbuster]

Duncan IN

I've been using Lawn-Boy ever since I started working for my dad since age eight. Dad has been in the business since 1962 and still uses Lawn-Boy. If you need to bag, one of the best machines for picking up pine needles on the lawn.
Since I've been on my own now closing on 20 years and still am using commercial Lawn-Boy. There was a 2 year period where the machines were illegal in California due to smog emmissions. I had to buy a honda 216 when my mower had an accident cuased by my worker. I do like the honda, but it is too heavy to use during our winter time rain season.

You can get a commercial grade Lawn Boy from the internet from alamia.com. I have purchased 7 mowers from them last year. Model 22261 is a self-propelled model and I got it for 685 delivered. The push model was about $100 cheaper.
John

[Roger]

When I started lawn work, I used a very old commercial Snapper. I went through a B/S IC engine (worn out), a 6hp OHV Tecumesh (never intended for more than 500 service hours), then to a Robin. The Robin is a great engine, but the heavy engine, heavy steel deck, made the unit about 125#.

I then bought a commercial LB 5hp, self-propelled mower. I had never used one, but decided to try. It sounded like an airplane ready to take off, it smelled funny, I couldn't change the oil, had to carry another fuel can, and then - it was those staggered wheels. Why would anybody ever build a mower with that kind of wheel design? I couldn't even trim on the right side of the machine!

I have used my machine 3 1/2 years and wouldn't give it up. It has about 3,500 lawns behind it. I put on a new short block in Winter 2000 (oil leak on lower main bearing), replaced the front running gear last January, new governor spring, and some other odds/ends. It does a very nice job of cutting - too nice sometimes. I'm tempted to use it where I should be using my w/b. I learned to work with the staggered wheels and find the design is a big help in doing a good job on uneven lawns (of which I have many).

It starts first-pull, has a large fuel tank. Problem areas are short life of rear drive wheels (rubber wears off), and the Z-connector on the ground cable, where it connects to the bail on the handlebars (cable breaks at the Z). This cable is a great source of parts revenue for LB. Nearly all of last season, I used a wired connection. Another shortfall is the flywheel brake - lasts barely one season.

I would stay away from Silver Series - don't buy one for any reason. I believe there is a huge gap between these homeowner models and the commercial model, in many respects.

[Paradise Yard Service]

LB gives lots of bang,(bang um up, and they can take it) for the buck. They cling to hills good and cuts well. Get the commercial one. Mine came with the roll cage/ brush guard up front! What does that tell you the LB people expect LCOs to encounter in daily use?

Had one or more differant styles but the stggered wheel is good for going close to trees/shrubs. Also, no one mentioned the mini-wheels up front for enabling operator to go under shrubs to get a really clean look.

Toro owns them now, I think they did a little better when OMC (Johnson Outboards) was owner though.

Hawaii saw lots in the 80s. Now seems like Toro/Honda dominate 21' wb.

Aloha, Kevin

[turfguy33]

Hmmmm , I see there's alot of LB users in here. I have an older unit that is a 2 cycle. The only reason I purchased it was to do ditches and steep banks. I normally use John Deere for everything else. I wasn't really impressed with the cut, but it does a good job on ditches.
I was thinking of buying one of those Husqvarna hoovering mowers.........ever seen them? There light weight and 2 cycle. I believe they may be a good ditch mower.

[gusbuster]

Paradise Yard Service\Kevin
You're correct in stating that when OMC was the owner of L.B., one of the best 21" mowers on the market. Ever since Toro bought the L.B. name, The machine hasn't been the same. The new model 22261 has been good to me so far, but there's always room for improvement. Unfourtently, Toro is just to big to spend money on R&D.

The M-series mowers came out just before Toro bought L.B. I still say that this was the best 21" mower to ever to be made. It was a straight wheel design with a rear discharge. Great mulching mower also. It had such great suction, I had to weight it down so the debris would not spit out from under the basket.If Toro would combine today's transmission with the M-series engine and deck, oh what a machine.:)
John

[Paradise Yard Service]

Gusbuster,

I always wanted the M-Series, however due to the fact that Lawn-Boys are so durable it wasn't time to renew even though the upgrade would have been the way to go. Still need my LB staggered wheel for certain jobs. I too noticed the R&D has suffered since the Toro buyout. Hope they remember that theres alot of us LB owners out here looking for something better.

Aloha, P.Y.S.

[plow kid]

I still have a old lb, it's about 25 yrs old, first thing on the trailer in the spring, last to come off in the fall, get one of the older ones with the cast magnesium decks, they will go thru hell and back and be just fine[ex. falling off the trailer @65 mph on the freeway and running thru the ditch and getting 15 feet of air http://www.unionturf.com/eek3.gif ]Iuse that one every day for trailer lots.

[Duncan IN]

Well I probably will not go with an old LB but rather a new one from my dealer.

What I really want to know is if you were to buy a NEW one which LB mower would be the best mower for mulching and still have a really good cut.

[gusbuster]

Read my first post.

The trick to getting the best cut while mulching is to turn the white disk(govener) a couple clicks clock wise. If you don't want to do that, in tall grass just don't try to go so fast. The current commercial grade model I sugest is the model 22261. Large orange gas tank,good day's worth of cutting just filling up once. Can't get the magnisum decks anymore. They're all aluminium now a days. Make sure you get the optional mulching plug and the optional mulching fan that goes on top of the High lift blade. If you use a chute, make sure the flu is not damaged. It does effect the way L.B' suck up.

If you can find one, try getting a m-series L.B. STAY AWAY FROM THE GOLD, SIVER SERIES. They are not true commercial grade. They also are terrible machines.
John.

[1MajorTom]

Comparing the Silver Series with the Commerical


LB Silver Series 6.5 2 cycle price $389.00
LB Commercial 6.5 2 cycle price $750.00

Both mowers have the same exact engine. Contacted Lawnboy 2 years ago to find that out.

Differences: Commercial has steel wheels, Silver has plastic. They both wear out in the same amount of time. Haven't had too many problems with the plastic wheels breaking in two years.

Gas Tanks. Commercial: extra large tank. Silver Series, small tank. Who cares? Never have to fill it more than once a day anyway. That's what your big mowers are for.

Decks. Commercial: aluminium, undestructable. Silver Series: Steel Deck. Should last at least 5 years.

Quality of cut: Can't tell them apart.

Dependability: The Silver Series is just as dependable as the commercial.

Now you figure out the savings between the two.

[mmorgan]

I have used the Lawnboy silver series for several years with no problems. On the new ones with the 6.5 engine, turn the rpms up just a bit. The wheels get tired after a long season, but for $30 I can have 4 new treads. Lightweight and all in all a good machine for the money. Keep your blades razor sharp.

[TLS]

Guess I got a good deal at $599 for mine? I'll stick to the commercials.

[klite]

If you want to make your Silver Series almost like the commercial put some steel wheels on the darn thing, and if you keep the deck clean like yous keep your Expensive Commercial Z-Riders It will last you forever .(well almost)

[Prasino]

I have two silver series lawnboys, i think they are great. They are very close to the commecial mower that lawnboy offers. 2cycle engine means less maitnance, and they also cut nice.

[1MajorTom]

Another thought:

Does anybody run the Stihl oil in them instead of the Lawnboy oil? Our dealer sells both types of oil, and he told it was just as good to the run the stihl oil in them.
We did that all last season. No problems whatsoever, and we only had to carry one can of mix instead of one for the LB and one for the Stihl stuff.

[gusbuster]

We've been running stihl oil for over 5 years. The only problem that we had and still sometime do is the reformulation of Califonia gas. For those that don't know, Califonia gas is different from other parts. It doesn't burn as hot, therefore the oil doesn't burn properly. Clogs up sprak plugs an mufflers if you run too rich.

My shop says that Echo and Sthil are comparable. I get sthil becuase he make a little bit more money. The price between the 2 brands are the same.
John

[1MajorTom]

Attention Silver Series Owners

This is your chance to "come out of the closet" and admit that you are a proud owner of that Silver Series that just won't die. :) :)

[Evan528]

Not me! Mine was junk from the beginning! Cut quality was horrible too! I think im going to replace it with a 99 dollar mtd considering it will be used 20 minutes a week! Maybe the new 6.5 hp lawnboys are better!

[Prasino]

I run the Echo 50:1