4 Toro timemaster`s - 600hr mark conclusion.

[instyle]

Well, like I explained in spring, the timemaster was going to be my answer.
I bought 4 machines (new in spring), I ran 5-6 people full time all summer (still going), and......all machine are still functioning. If I were to guess at the hours....there would be a minimum of 600 per machine.

Here is what I replaced...1 wheel, and 2 plastic clips that hold the front ax;e on the machine. Thats it. I didnt change the oil, I didnt sharpen the blades. My crews hit stuff, big stuff. Hell I watched one girl hit a half inch steel spike that was holding a Century 21 for sale sign in the ground....with the blades. Lots of noise, no damage.

All the kill switches failed, so i yanked the wires, and if you touch them together.....it dies. lol.

All front tires....completly bald.
Handles...no cracks or breaks.
Cables...all still working.
Transmissions....simple cable adjustment...still working fine. They still spin the tires.
Motor...2 motors somehow had fuel leak past the carb right into the cylinder - hydro locking it; pull the plug and drain them - fires right back up and didn’t happen again. They used next to no oil all summer.

Overall condition at the end of the season....I have 4 mowers that are meant for parts now.

Review: June`s thick heavy grass challenged them! Bagging was hard, often had to double cut. May July August Sept perfect. If I asked a crew to grab a 21`inch mower (Hondo HRX) to do something....they hated it. They look at it just as they would cutting a lawn with a weed wacker.

Over all....best purchase i made for the summer. Next year....I am doing the same thing.

Just my review for you!!

[instyle]

People say the timed blades`are stupid and if they hit would be catastrophic. Thats BS. I have a walker and guess what happens when you shear a shear pin.....the blades hit....and guess what happens....nothing, except now you have to stop and replace a pin. lol

[GMLC]

Why not buy the new commercial versions and get many years of service?
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[LawnMan19]

That's great to hear that their still going strong.

[Keith]

Didn't sharpen the blades???

[Patriot Services]

Originally Posted by Keith

Didn't sharpen the blades???

That's what the man said and I'm still shaken my head. I gotta ask why and don't say cuz they didn't need it.
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[sildoc]

Ok I will be the first to fly the BS flag. For one 600 hours on 4 machines, really thats mowing (using the machine) 8 hours a day for almost 4 months. Now all of us know that out of a 10 hour day we may run a mower 6-7 hours on a tight route.
second point, a mower hitting big stuff would require the blades to be sharpened in order to leave a decent cut. I don't know your business but if I didn't change blades every week, people would start calling me and asking why the lawn is brown from frayed ends!!!

[petscanning]

plus $1000 x 4 no way its worth it. any commercial mower will have longer life and less problems. If you had commmercial mowers you would still be a long ways from replacing them vs those. I owned one and took it back after 3 weeks of mowing. It was a 32 inch turd

[MJB]

To everyone that says buy commercial there are only two companies putting out 26" not 30 inch machines. I bought just 1 Timemaster and I did not abuse it but I too have not sharpened the blades since I bought it new in June. I keep looking expecting to have knicks and there aren't any. Very hard blades. I too have had a great experience way better than expected.

Mine has a little over 100 hrs as I don't like walk behinds and use my ZTRs everywhere I can. I mulched all but 2 weeks this summer and it saved me a ton of time. No way will I carry anything else smaller than 30 inches. If they make a commercial version I'll never need one for no more than I use walk behinds. This one will last several more years easy.

[GMLC]

Originally Posted by MJB

To everyone that says buy commercial there are only two companies putting out 26" not 30 inch machines. I bought just 1 Timemaster and I did not abuse it but I too have not sharpened the blades since I bought it new in June. I keep looking expecting to have knicks and there aren't any. Very hard blades. I too have had a great experience way better than expected.

Mine has a little over 100 hrs as I don't like walk behinds and use my ZTRs everywhere I can. I mulched all but 2 weeks this summer and it saved me a ton of time. No way will I carry anything else smaller than 30 inches. If they make a commercial version I'll never need one for no more than I use walk behinds. This one will last several more years easy.

Both exmark and toro have new 30" commercial versions. I took pictures and posted in this thread.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=389021

They cost less than half of the residential version so the OP would have already saved money and got many years of service.
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