[MJB]

It's disappointing to see that so many people are having so many issues with the Toro Timemaster 30. I hope Toro can figure out a solution to these issues for the next model year. It sounds like they need to work on the blades, the engine, and other mechanical issues too. It reminds me of when Exmark first brought out the Metro 26" in 2005. I was one of those unlucky people that was the first to buy it. It had numerous issues. Exmark kept sending update kits. These addressed some of the mechanical issues but the lack of horsepower was never solved. So, they eventually gave me an Exmark Metro 21" in its place. I still have that machine and it works great. Anybody know if Toro is still planning to bring out a 30" commercial version of the timemaster next year?

My dealer sold over 30 this yr, he sells the pull start instead of the key. This may be where most of the issues were. Its the easiest starting pull start I own. My Hondas are not near as easy. I have not even sharpened the blades yet after 25 hrs. Cuts fine if you don't use it trying to mulch 2 plus inches. Bags well and I have cut my time by 40% on the lawns I use it on.
I love it, but again I don't over fertilize, I put on enough to green it up but not so much I got to cart it off.

 

[bucko]

This mower is adequate for weekly mowing . Here is my experience.
On flat yards. Dry grass. It does what it should in perfect conditions.
I have used one for almost one week and it is way underpowered.
The thing looks good and sounds awesome until it hits some thick grass.
Deck clogs and throws clumps so much it is embarassing .
I have some steep hills to take care of. Noticed transmission or belt vibration after 10 hrs on the thing. Doesnt seem as strong on the climbs after some use. The deck gets clogged very easily, requiring me to stop the blades and reach down to pull out clogged grass from chute. Engine bogs easily.
On my personal yard it works magic. but we are talking low growth dry flat ground.
I dont undersand why Toro went through the engineering of this thing and did not have briggs design a motor for it, and just threw on a 875 series with 6.5 hp . 40 percent more blade area than a 21 incher should be given 40 percent more power to compensate.

 

[MJB]

This mower is adequate for weekly mowing . Here is my experience.
On flat yards. Dry grass. It does what it should in perfect conditions.
I have used one for almost one week and it is way underpowered.
The thing looks good and sounds awesome until it hits some thick grass.
Deck clogs and throws clumps so much it is embarassing .
I have some steep hills to take care of. Noticed transmission or belt vibration after 10 hrs on the thing. Doesnt seem as strong on the climbs after some use. The deck gets clogged very easily, requiring me to stop the blades and reach down to pull out clogged grass from chute. Engine bogs easily.
On my personal yard it works magic. but we are talking low growth dry flat ground.
I dont undersand why Toro went through the engineering of this thing and did not have briggs design a motor for it, and just threw on a 875 series with 6.5 hp . 40 percent more blade area than a 21 incher should be given 40 percent more power to compensate.

What height setting are you mowing at? Im just curious I cut most lawns here on the 4th hole, if the grass is so long it bogs I go up 1 notch, but Im mulching most of the time. I bag dry grass with no issues I think this mower will go to fast , slowing down in thick grass helps.

 

[lawnkingforever]

This mower is adequate for weekly mowing . Here is my experience.
On flat yards. Dry grass. It does what it should in perfect conditions.
I have used one for almost one week and it is way underpowered.
The thing looks good and sounds awesome until it hits some thick grass.
Deck clogs and throws clumps so much it is embarassing .
I have some steep hills to take care of. Noticed transmission or belt vibration after 10 hrs on the thing. Doesnt seem as strong on the climbs after some use. The deck gets clogged very easily, requiring me to stop the blades and reach down to pull out clogged grass from chute. Engine bogs easily.
On my personal yard it works magic. but we are talking low growth dry flat ground.
I dont undersand why Toro went through the engineering of this thing and did not have briggs design a motor for it, and just threw on a 875 series with 6.5 hp . 40 percent more blade area than a 21 incher should be given 40 percent more power to compensate.

Good review. Glad I did not buy one for the reasons you mentioned. I gave up on buying a 30"-32" mower. I will just continue using my Sr4 on my few gated yards.
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[bucko]

What height setting are you mowing at? Im just curious I cut most lawns here on the 4th hole, if the grass is so long it bogs I go up 1 notch, but Im mulching most of the time. I bag dry grass with no issues I think this mower will go to fast , slowing down in thick grass helps.

I think i usually am in the 3 or 4 th, moving up as the symptoms appear.
I have experimented with everything. level, higher in the front, higher in the rear. overlap more, slow walking etc.
but the clumping and deck packing happens with moderate moist dense grass.
I have been raising the deck as much as i think the owner wont notice and complain.
I just think that more power would definetly help with my delima.
and also think a different profile blade to push the grass out.

 

[MJB]

Toro needs to come out with a regular blade for wet grass instead of the gator only because you lose that extra lift for packing the bag with wet grass.

 

[bucko]

i am finishing up on first week of use with this machine.
the drier conditions since my last post are definetely helping out.
it is cutting better than earlier this wk.

i am getting to know this animal better now and understanding its quirks.
at first i just thought it needed more power. which it does , but the blades are killing the overall performance.
the machine is trying to mulch everything up. while doing so it is unable to move the clippings out. either side discharge or into bag. not enough hp.
so it is chocking the deck up with processed grass that is not being moved out. the blades are so flat that there is not much air movement .
toro advertises a 40 percent timesaving over a 21 incher.
well for this thing to work without clogging up the deck or leaving chunks or blowing chunks out the discharge, you will need to mow at a slower pace. i mean a crawling pace . or yoy can overlap by say 40 percent which works well for me. so there goes the 40 percent time saving.

 

[MJB]

i am finishing up on first week of use with this machine.
the drier conditions since my last post are definetely helping out.
it is cutting better than earlier this wk.

i am getting to know this animal better now and understanding its quirks.
at first i just thought it needed more power. which it does , but the blades are killing the overall performance.
the machine is trying to mulch everything up. while doing so it is unable to move the clippings out. either side discharge or into bag. not enough hp.
so it is chocking the deck up with processed grass that is not being moved out. the blades are so flat that there is not much air movement .
toro advertises a 40 percent timesaving over a 21 incher.
well for this thing to work without clogging up the deck or leaving chunks or blowing chunks out the discharge, you will need to mow at a slower pace. i mean a crawling pace . or yoy can overlap by say 40 percent which works well for me. so there goes the 40 percent time saving.

It really shines cutting up to 1.5 inches of dry grass if you are cutting more get out your old mower. For me this mower is working great but like I've said in the past, people are cutting prices, so I am cutting back on fertilizer and making it easier on me so I can mulch 90 percent of my yards. So far no complaints. So use this mower accordingly and you like it because time is money.

 

[rbljack]

Any updates on reliabitily? Most of the thread was posted in March, now that its august, Im curious to hear how well this mower is holding up over time. I mow about 10 lawns a week, and this could be a big time saver because most of my lawns are currently 21 inch mower lawns.

Im really interested to hear how well (or not) this mower has performed. I wont bash anyone for spending the money on this mower if it didnt work out. Time is money, and for some (like me) I can see the advantages of this mower if its holding up and capable of completing 10-15 lawns for a few years in a row. Sounds like its not up to the task though....lets hear it? the good the bad and the ugly

 

[petscanning]

i BOUGHT A NEW SNAPPER PRO 36 ztr yesterday and asked the dealer about how the timemaster was doing. He said he has only had complaints of it clumping up up and bogging down. glad he let me trade for a commercial honda. Timemaster would have been a time waster.

 

[stephen424]

Any updates on reliabitily? Most of the thread was posted in March, now that its august, Im curious to hear how well this mower is holding up over time. I mow about 10 lawns a week, and this could be a big time saver because most of my lawns are currently 21 inch mower lawns.

Im really interested to hear how well (or not) this mower has performed. I wont bash anyone for spending the money on this mower if it didnt work out. Time is money, and for some (like me) I can see the advantages of this mower if its holding up and capable of completing 10-15 lawns for a few years in a row. Sounds like its not up to the task though....lets hear it? the good the bad and the ugly

Don't buy the timemaster. Its just not worth $1000. It may save you 5-10 minutes vs using a 21 but its not worth it.

Forget about cutting moist grass!!!!! Period.
Clumps, clogs and shuts off

I've replaced the wheels, the compartment that holds the filter, both wheel brackets. Its garbage. Worst purchase I've made
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[petscanning]

My left front wheel broke off 2 in like 2 weeks of owning it

 

[MJB]

Any updates on reliabitily? Most of the thread was posted in March, now that its august, Im curious to hear how well this mower is holding up over time. I mow about 10 lawns a week, and this could be a big time saver because most of my lawns are currently 21 inch mower lawns.

Im really interested to hear how well (or not) this mower has performed. I wont bash anyone for spending the money on this mower if it didnt work out. Time is money, and for some (like me) I can see the advantages of this mower if its holding up and capable of completing 10-15 lawns for a few years in a row. Sounds like its not up to the task though....lets hear it? the good the bad and the ugly

Unless your mowing tall wet grass everyday buy 1. It starts on the first pull everytime. I got about 100 hrs on mine I mulch and love the time savings over bagging with a smaller mower. Best 1050 buck I have spent in a long time. Here is a pic of mulching at around 3 inches.

Don't let the haters scare you away. Once in a while on these small sections
if they are overgrown she can double cut them and still save time over bagging with a 22 inch mower.

 

[stephen424]

Nobody is hating. We're just stating facts about the mower. At least I am. If you're not cutting 10 PERFECT lawns then this ISNT the mower for you. Look at the condition of the lawn in the post above me. Its a nice lawn, no weeds and its probably 3pm, no dew on ground. If you run a business you know that you're going to have to cut some not so ideal lawns at not so ideal times of the day.

The time master is a bigger Toro personal pace 22. Only its $750 more
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[MJB]

Nobody is hating. We're just stating facts about the mower. At least I am. If you're not cutting 10 PERFECT lawns then this ISNT the mower for you. Look at the condition of the lawn in the post above me. Its a nice lawn, no weeds and its probably 3pm, no dew on ground. If you run a business you know that you're going to have to cut some not so ideal lawns at not so ideal times of the day.

The time master is a bigger Toro personal pace 22. Only its $750 more
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We mow that lawn even wet in the morning dew. Like I said she will doublecut with the second pass crisscrossing the middle and it takes a couple extra minutes per section but it cleans it up fine. There are 15 of these little lawns and some bigger sections she does. Mulching this job saves us about 30 minutes per week on this job, over the 22inch toro mulching which does not do as well. This mower bags well too but needs to be dry because it has a bigger bag on it it weighs more when full. I would buy another my dealer sold 30 of these already . Not sure why some are falling apart I would go over it before using it to make sure everything is tight.
I even do that when I buy a new Exmark and you won't belive what I've found before loose.

 

[rbljack]

im not trying to stir any hornets nests, but I am looking for everyones opinion...whether its good or bad. Each person must make a choice as to what will work for them, etc. I can say this...most lawns I cut are dry because I live in West Texas. The greenest lawns are the St Augustine lawns that are being watered with well water because we are all under water restrictions here, and watering is limited to 4 hrs ONE day a week.

As you can imagine, my lawn cutting has suffered. I cannot charge weekly or biweekly because there are lawns that have gone dormant and not mowed (or needing to be mowed) in over a month and a half.

Anyways, what Im trying to say is most lawns I cut are pretty dry. The bagging capability is nice too because its an oversized bag. Im hoping to save some time on lawns where i can mow the front yards, and also squeeze this thing into the back yards.

Most lawns I mow are not pristine and green however. Lots of dry conditions, and sometimes as dry as hay...LOL. The biggest lawn i maintain may be a perfect fit for this mower however because she is a weekly customer, and uses well water and waters every day. Weekly customer= good money! Keep those updated reviews coming so I can decide, but please remember that everyones opinion will be different and I want to hear both sides, but not argue about it.

Thanks to everyone!

 

[LAWNBOY1979]

We mow that lawn even wet in the morning dew. Like I said she will doublecut with the second pass crisscrossing the middle and it takes a couple extra minutes per section but it cleans it up fine. There are 15 of these little lawns and some bigger sections she does. Mulching this job saves us about 30 minutes per week on this job, over the 22inch toro mulching which does not do as well. This mower bags well too but needs to be dry because it has a bigger bag on it it weighs more when full. I would buy another my dealer sold 30 of these already . Not sure why some are falling apart I would go over it before using it to make sure everything is tight.
I even do that when I buy a new Exmark and you won't belive what I've found before loose.

I have a time master with about 50 hours on it and i like it alot so far for weekly mowing mulching.On taller grass it side dicharges ok to. could use bit more power but it does ok for what it is.

 

[cutman2000]

How can you disagree with my statement about it not being able to handle more than 2 lawns??? How long have you owned it, a week?

Trust me, its not going to last. I mean, even Toro states that its a "consumer" product. So if you don't believe me and you don't believe Toro...then good luck
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lol,...why are you so negative?

 

[MJB]

Nobody is hating. We're just stating facts about the mower. At least I am. If you're not cutting 10 PERFECT lawns then this ISNT the mower for you. Look at the condition of the lawn in the post above me. Its a nice lawn, no weeds and its probably 3pm, no dew on ground. If you run a business you know that you're going to have to cut some not so ideal lawns at not so ideal times of the day.

The time master is a bigger Toro personal pace 22. Only its $750 more
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I use it on other lawns as well not all are in as good a shape as above. Its not a perfect mower but for the price it is well worth it. If you don't like something thats your right. But sounds like you just like to knock non commercial mowers. Not everyone runs there business with just walkbehinds, so no reason to go commercial, and no way I would ever buy a commercial 21 inch mower, that is a waste of my money and time for me. But I've only been doing this for 22 yrs what do I know.
Now there are commercial versions of the Toro 30" if you want a commercial version there u go. But if I paid over $1000 for a 21" Id probably knock the Timemaster to , just to justify my purchase.:hammerhead:

 

[Exact Rototilling]

There is a commercial Toro 30 coming out next year. Short video on the Toro Facebook feed.

Would I buy another Time Master 30...? Yes. I use it almost exclusively on some lawns. I don't use my.yBravo 25 as much these days.

Still haven't modified several sets of.non OEM blades for use with the Toro. Winter project.
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