Non-Electric Lawnmowers

[herbicide]

I will buy new not used as I assume anything priced too good to be true used has issues. I have a neighbor down the street that bought one the other yesterday that loves it and a friend who is an engineer that owns one that has gave me his honest opinion and likes his too. I think like any machine you need to properly maintain it to get good life out of it.

Have you bought one and used it? From what I've read down the rabbit hole that the newer ones do hold up, even professionals use the non professional models. Same research I did made me conclude older versions had weak transmissions and undersized engines, but both issues now resolved. Mixed reviews on cutting performance.

 

[CYdTracked]

Have you bought one and used it? From what I've read down the rabbit hole that the newer ones do hold up, even professionals use the non professional models. Same research I did made me conclude older versions had weak transmissions and undersized engines, but both issues now resolved. Mixed reviews on cutting performance.

Funny you post this as I was about to dig up this thread. Bought a Toro Timemaster a few days ago and mowed today with it for the 1st time. First impressions its a solid machine. What took me up to 90 minutes to mow with my old 21" mower I knocked out in 40 minutes today. Took me a bit to adjust to the personal pace self propel when I have been used to mowing with a mower with no self propel. I have a friend that owns a Timemaster for several years and he says his eats gas so be prepared to run out during your mow. I have a .28 acre lot and did not run out of gas on a full tank.

I mowed today in mulch mode. My lawn is pretty uneven right now so was more about knocking it down as I probably wont have a free day to mow for another week with our family schedule, It didn't struggle when I hit the spots that have thick grass because its a low area that my 21" mower I had to creep through.

It comes with a 3 year warranty so I hope I won't have to use that. This replaces my 21" Craftsman mower I bought in 2004 when I bought my first house so I got a pretty good run out of that mower for 20 years and still have it in my garage as a backup. I do think that a lot of longevity issues with small engines is taking care of them with proper maintantence. Draining the fuel before winter and changing the oil and air filter regularly helps with the longevity.

 

[cycloner29]

Funny you post this as I was about to dig up this thread. Bought a Toro Timemaster a few days ago and mowed today with it for the 1st time. First impressions its a solid machine. What took me up to 90 minutes to mow with my old 21" mower I knocked out in 40 minutes today. Took me a bit to adjust to the personal pace self propel when I have been used to mowing with a mower with no self propel. I have a friend that owns a Timemaster for several years and he says his eats gas so be prepared to run out during your mow. I have a .28 acre lot and did not run out of gas on a full tank.

I mowed today in mulch mode. My lawn is pretty uneven right now so was more about knocking it down as I probably wont have a free day to mow for another week with our family schedule, It didn't struggle when I hit the spots that have thick grass because its a low area that my 21" mower I had to creep through.

It comes with a 3 year warranty so I hope I won't have to use that. This replaces my 21" Craftsman mower I bought in 2004 when I bought my first house so I got a pretty good run out of that mower for 20 years and still have it in my garage as a backup. I do think that a lot of longevity issues with small engines is taking care of them with proper maintantence. Draining the fuel before winter and changing the oil and air filter regularly helps with the longevity.

Did you get the 10 hp version? Now you have to get the striping kit for it.

 

[herbicide]

Funny you post this as I was about to dig up this thread. Bought a Toro Timemaster a few days ago and mowed today with it for the 1st time. First impressions its a solid machine. What took me up to 90 minutes to mow with my old 21" mower I knocked out in 40 minutes today. Took me a bit to adjust to the personal pace self propel when I have been used to mowing with a mower with no self propel. I have a friend that owns a Timemaster for several years and he says his eats gas so be prepared to run out during your mow. I have a .28 acre lot and did not run out of gas on a full tank.

I mowed today in mulch mode. My lawn is pretty uneven right now so was more about knocking it down as I probably wont have a free day to mow for another week with our family schedule, It didn't struggle when I hit the spots that have thick grass because its a low area that my 21" mower I had to creep through.

It comes with a 3 year warranty so I hope I won't have to use that. This replaces my 21" Craftsman mower I bought in 2004 when I bought my first house so I got a pretty good run out of that mower for 20 years and still have it in my garage as a backup. I do think that a lot of longevity issues with small engines is taking care of them with proper maintantence. Draining the fuel before winter and changing the oil and air filter regularly helps with the longevity.

For a small engine your commandments are as follows. These are listed in order of importance; 1 & 2 are the most important, 3 is next:

1. Drain or empty fuel at end of season. If using non-ethanol fuel if your model has a fuel shutoff draining/running the carburetor out should suffice.
2. Use non-ethanol fuel if at all possible.
3. Keep oil full. Check it before each use (okay, check it fairly often). Low oil is the #1 killer of motors.
4. Follow break in oil change procedure, Even better change oil after initial use.
5. Change oil and air filter at same time regularly/seasonally depending on use.

This is something I can claim enough experience on, while not a professional I have repaired more than I can number for friends and family not following the above.

I am impressed by the 90min to 40min time reduction.

 

[CYdTracked]

For a small engine your commandments are as follows. These are listed in order of importance; 1 & 2 are the most important, 3 is next:

1. Drain or empty fuel at end of season. If using non-ethanol fuel if your model has a fuel shutoff draining/running the carburetor out should suffice.
2. Use non-ethanol fuel if at all possible.
3. Keep oil full. Check it before each use (okay, check it fairly often). Low oil is the #1 killer of motors.
4. Follow break in oil change procedure, Even better change oil after initial use.
5. Change oil and air filter at same time regularly/seasonally depending on use.

This is something I can claim enough experience on, while not a professional I have repaired more than I can number for friends and family not following the above.

I am impressed by the 90min to 40min time reduction.

Part of it is that old mower was a bit under powered when grass was tall and thick so had to go at a slower pace. 90 mins was probably on the long end but pretty sure going from a 21" to 30" mower is going to cut about 30+ minutes off my mow time now

 

[CYdTracked]

Did you get the 10 hp version? Now you have to get the striping kit for it.

Yeah it's the newest version which is a 223cc Briggs and Straton

 

[CoachHines3]

coach h has been battlin' van wall

ive taken my x390 JD lawn tractor in twice now and each time i get it back there is still an issue. initally went it for the seasonal service. the engine was surgin' pretty bad and i assumed it was just a filter/fuel filter dirty/clog and that would take care of it. $350 total for the service.

well i got it back and the engine wasn't surging but the blades wouldn't turn off. how this issue wasn't happening when they had it is beyond me. It would occasionally do it before they got it. I will admit, when i took it in for service i forgot to mention it to them. but it turns out it needed a new PTO Clutch. $830 total.

im over 1k in on this 2012 x390 and now i got it back and the engine is surging again, pretty bad. my guess is the carburetor. im not looking to drop another 1K on this damn thing.

its a 2012 with 443 hours on it. i think its got a lot of life left but on the farm, the lawn tractor isnt the most practical thing. the zero turn i have i use much much more.

im calling van wall this morning but i am not giving them another dime.

wanted to just rant.

thx

peace

 

[nfrine]

coach h has been battlin' van wall

ive taken my x390 JD lawn tractor in twice now and each time i get it back there is still an issue. initally went it for the seasonal service. the engine was surgin' pretty bad and i assumed it was just a filter/fuel filter dirty/clog and that would take care of it. $350 total for the service.

well i got it back and the engine wasn't surging but the blades wouldn't turn off. how this issue wasn't happening when they had it is beyond me. It would occasionally do it before they got it. I will admit, when i took it in for service i forgot to mention it to them. but it turns out it needed a new PTO Clutch. $830 total.

im over 1k in on this 2012 x390 and now i got it back and the engine is surging again, pretty bad. my guess is the carburetor. im not looking to drop another 1K on this damn thing.

its a 2012 with 443 hours on it. i think its got a lot of life left but on the farm, the lawn tractor isnt the most practical thing. the zero turn i have i use much much more.

im calling van wall this morning but i am not giving them another dime.

wanted to just rant.

thx

peace

Threaten to see their mom...that should help with negotiations.

 

[CoachHines3]

Threaten to see their mom...that should help with negotiations.

"ill bang ur mom if u dont make this right"

i like it

 

[g4ce]

coach h has been battlin' van wall

ive taken my x390 JD lawn tractor in twice now and each time i get it back there is still an issue. initally went it for the seasonal service. the engine was surgin' pretty bad and i assumed it was just a filter/fuel filter dirty/clog and that would take care of it. $350 total for the service.

well i got it back and the engine wasn't surging but the blades wouldn't turn off. how this issue wasn't happening when they had it is beyond me. It would occasionally do it before they got it. I will admit, when i took it in for service i forgot to mention it to them. but it turns out it needed a new PTO Clutch. $830 total.

im over 1k in on this 2012 x390 and now i got it back and the engine is surging again, pretty bad. my guess is the carburetor. im not looking to drop another 1K on this damn thing.

its a 2012 with 443 hours on it. i think its got a lot of life left but on the farm, the lawn tractor isnt the most practical thing. the zero turn i have i use much much more.

im calling van wall this morning but i am not giving them another dime.

wanted to just rant.

thx

peace

If you can get some "mechanic in a bottle" try that first. Chickanic on youtube uses it all the time to help carb/fuel issues with small equipment. Can usually be found at any hardware type store, Menards, Ace, Home Depot, even some Walmarts.

 

[jdcyclone19]

coach h has been battlin' van wall

ive taken my x390 JD lawn tractor in twice now and each time i get it back there is still an issue. initally went it for the seasonal service. the engine was surgin' pretty bad and i assumed it was just a filter/fuel filter dirty/clog and that would take care of it. $350 total for the service.

well i got it back and the engine wasn't surging but the blades wouldn't turn off. how this issue wasn't happening when they had it is beyond me. It would occasionally do it before they got it. I will admit, when i took it in for service i forgot to mention it to them. but it turns out it needed a new PTO Clutch. $830 total.

im over 1k in on this 2012 x390 and now i got it back and the engine is surging again, pretty bad. my guess is the carburetor. im not looking to drop another 1K on this damn thing.

its a 2012 with 443 hours on it. i think its got a lot of life left but on the farm, the lawn tractor isnt the most practical thing. the zero turn i have i use much much more.

im calling van wall this morning but i am not giving them another dime.

wanted to just rant.

thx

peace

Deere didn't make the X390 in 2012, they came out in 2016. Have you been using ethanol fuel in it? Did you happen to jump start the mower at some point in the past? I've done quite a bit of work on the X300 through x540. Before you do much more, look up bad ECM symptoms. That's an easy do it yourself fix.
Deere did start using a cheaper Kawasaki in the X3 series to keep costs down, FR to FS series in 2021. Is yours a 2022 model? For carb issues B12 chemtool works very well at eliminating gum in a carb.

 

[CoachHines3]

Deere didn't make the X390 in 2012, they came out in 2016. Have you been using ethanol fuel in it? I've done quite a bit of work on the X300 through x540. Before you do much more, look up bad ECM symptoms. That's an easy do it yourself fix. Did you happen to jump start the mower at some point in the past?
Deere did start using a cheaper Kawasaki in the X3 series to keep costs down, FR to FS series in 2021. Is yours a 2022 model? For carb issues B12 chemtool works very well at eliminating gum in a carb.

I actually meant to type 2016!

haven't jumped it, ever.

I put a little "mechanic in a bottle" in it the other night and ran it for 15 mins and that actually took most of the fuel out.

ive used ethanol fuel, yes

Thought about filling it up with premium blend to see if that would help it run a bit smoother.

Honestly, might just sell it anyway.

 

[herbicide]

I actually meant to type 2016!

haven't jumped it, ever.

I put a little "mechanic in a bottle" in it the other night and ran it for 15 mins and that actually took most of the fuel out.

ive used ethanol fuel, yes

Thought about filling it up with premium blend to see if that would help it run a bit smoother.

Honestly, might just sell it anyway.

Avoid ethanol fuel if at all possible, regular or premium, for any small engine. It’s the culprit of your surging. Also if it’s got a fuel shutoff valve use it every time.