Which is better for side discharging-Lawn Boy or Toro 21" Proline

[joed]

I am planning to purchase a 21" mower that is designed to side discharge. I plan on using it during the heavy spring growth of our area. I currently run a Toro proline 21" with the Kawasaki mower. Great unit just not designed for side discharging. The models I am looking at are:
1. 21" commercial Lawnboy, self propelled.
2. Toro Proline, model 22026. It has the suzuki engine and is designed as a side discharge unit. It is not self propelled and is the last one the dealer has since the 2 stroke models are being disbanded. I have a picture of it but I don't know how to paste it into this thread.

Both units are similarily priced. Any thoughts as to which would work better? Thanks

 

[joed]

Here is the picture of the side discharge Toro Proline unit I mentionned. Thanks

 

[MOW ED]

Toro and Lawn-Boy are made by the same company.
I have a Lawnboy and it is a good trim mower. Real good on hills and its low maintenance. I am gonna think a 2 cycle Toro would be in the same ballpark.

 

[Rick Jones]

The nice thing about the Lawn-Boy is that it will also mulch or bag if necessary. The Toro appears to be limited to side-discharging only. Plus I assume the Lawn-Boy is a few hundred dollars cheaper. I would probably go with the Lawn-Boy.

 

[Fareway Lawncare]

The Lawnboy also has a Bigger Engine & is Lighter.

No Self-Propel avail. on those Side Discharge Toro's.

 

[jajwrigh]

I had a 2-cycle lawn boy silverpro a few years ago and it did really well on side discharging. It sells for around $350.

 

[Roger]

I have a Toro 21" ProLine, with 2 cy Sizuki engine, self-propelled, rear bagger. I also have a LB 21" commercial mower, self-propelled. Neither is much of a discharge mower. I borrowed a discharge chute for the Toro from a neighbor (he uses on his homeowner model, but same design). The chute didn't work, unless the clipping count was pretty thin, and the grass was dry. It was exactly for the contrasting reasons why I wanted to use it in discharge mode, too much grass to mulch, or when it was wet. But, the discharge was a total failure. I scrapped the idea of buying my own chute. Considering the places it would work, I could just as easily use mulching mode just fine.

The picture of your model is clearly different, so I'm sure it will work much better. I formerly had an old 21" Snapper commerical. It had a bolt-on bagging chute for rear bagging, but used a simple deflector for side discharge. It would discharge the clippings without problem, but left clippings in rows.

The LB is nearly worthless for discharge. The small opening in front of the right front wheel is too small for clipping counts that are very high. I can use mulch mode as easily. If the clipping count is too high for mulching, most likely the clippings are going to clog in the small discharge opening of the deck too. Where there is too many clippings for mulching, I bag them. I don't have time to fiddle around, and further, I don't want the clippings in the beds, across the sidewalk, across the driveway, ect. The extra time for cleanup is more than the time it takes to bag.

I'm not sure there is a good commercial mower, 21" hand model, that does discharge very well. I've heard John Deere works pretty well, with the same side discharge chute design as the Toro.

 

[Fareway Lawncare]

Hello Roger, my LB's can discharge Very Long Grass No Problem.

Have you removed the metal bar that runs under the discharge chute? This makes a Huge difference in discharge capability..

 

[joed]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I believe a bagging system is available for that Toro model.

As for a side discharge kit on the John Deere model that Roger mentionned, I had one for my old John Deere JX85. It is worthless in wet and tall grass.

 

[JAC]

Dear Fellows - plain homeowner here: our 21" Lawn Boy Gold self propelled will mow virtually any grass, even wet grass and the chute will stay fairly clear. The L-B is the only 21" mower I have ever seen that can walk across a hay field and not jam at all (dry day). I also have 19 year old Snapper self-propelled Hi-Vac Commercial - and no other mower I have used will vacuum the yard like this one - if it's not glued down to the ground, the Snapper sucks it up.

Which of you fellows has successfully mowed 12" tall grass in the rain on a single pass? Any of you done this with a walk-behind of any description? Any of you ever done this with a Toro Commercial? (36" and larger)

I can only mow 12" tall grass IN THE RAIN with our brush mower - in fact I have mowed 4 foot tall grass in the rain with that, and there was never the fist hint of any clogging at all...

Thank you
just another Christian