I don't know if I will need one or not but they are expensive.
The mulch kit is best for warm climates, as the mulch adds to the shade, keeping the ground moist and preventing scorched grass. If you keep your lawn 3-4" tall (which you absolutely should, no matter the climate), you'll never even notice the mulch on the ground. The Exmarks and Toro commercial ZTRs will chop the mulch up so fine you'll have a hard time finding it on the ground anyhow. They spin the blades much faster than your average home mower (hence the regular bearing replacements).
Exmark and Toro may be the same nowadays, but they had definite differences when they came out. Exmark was much more popular with the commercial guys, but the Toro's seemed to come back for repair less often. Not sure if that pointed to DIY people liking Toro's or simply more reliable operation. Neither of the two mowers (out of the roughly 60-70 commercial units I did regular maint on) ever came back for a major item because of shoddy design, so either is a great purchase.
It should be noted, the reason Toro is such a great line is because of two reasons:
- They change very little over the years, so parts remain available for decades (a new part for a 40y/o mower is generally easy to obtain)
- They bought nearly all of the best patents, which means other brand have to work around the good designs, where Toro can make the stuff correctly.
I don't know anything about Husky mowers, but I can nearly guaranty Husky just relabels someone else's stuff. If they didn't, I would worry even more, as they would be first generation models. Parts availability down the road will also be iffy. Stock up once the warranty is up.
MTD is a buyer beware, but better than any other B-list mowers. They are well designed for the price you are paying, but they can only make them so reliable with those cheap parts and thin sheet metal. The non-wheel horse line of toro home mowers are basically in the same boat, but Toro will make parts for them for decades, unlike MTD.
Whites is just MTD relabeled.
I would really avoid any other so-called A-list makes. Honda is a money pit. John Deere mowers are overpriced, poorly designed garbage (we made plenty of money from Deere loving fanboys, namely selling them a quality mower when theirs broke down in some spectacular way).
As for 2-cycle stuff:
Echo makes fabulous engines, but are big fans of plastic where it shouldn't be.
Husky is okay for chain saws, but their trimmers have cheap components until the $400 price point, more durable plastic than echo, but more likely to have broken shafts whose price rivals a whole new unit.
Stihl is top of the line for chain saws (pretty sure most already know that).
Poulan makes great engines, but everything else about them is crap. Nearly all other chain saw brands are relabeled poulans.
As for engines:
- Briggs by far wins in the low HP level (20HP and under) .. They own all of the best patents for those designs
- Kohler is far and away the one to buy for 14HP and up (even over Briggs if you can afford it) .. They have it down to a science, and I've never, ever come across a shoddy Kohler.
- Tecumsuh (sp?) is junk throughout the entire range .. They obviously came too late to the patent rush, so everything is a workaround for a proper design.
- Honda also came late to the patent office .. They have reliable engines, but parts are scarce and they change designs way too often, so nothing ever gets perfected. Chinese engines are mostly copies of Honda engines, which makes it easy to swap out when (not if) some NLA (no longer available) part dies on you Honda in 4-5 years. Honda gets special recognition for making high RPM engines, which means they make for great go-cart engines.
Overall, if I were to buy all of my stuff over again, I would buy:
- Exmark ZTR
- Echo trimmer w/attachments
- Stihl chainsaw.
Having that set, I wouldn't even have to think about buying a replacement for a couple of decades, easy, with minimal maint costs, especially if I did the work myself.
As for what I do own:
1990 Toro Wheel Horse Classic (the all metal, cast iron line) - will last forever
60's model Troybilt (cast iron and metal) Horse tiller - will outlive me
Stihl trimmer - will last a decade
Poulan chainsaw (I knew better, but needed one for cheap) - should already be in the trash after two years
One last note: Anything you buy nowadays, bring it home, adjust the fuel mixture to be more rich at the high and low end (especially the high end). Your engine will live longer and run way, way better. EPA rules force makers to lean them out an absurd amount in order to pass regulations. Nearly all makes tell people to rich them out a little during the certification classes.. just don't tell the EPA that.
Hope that helps someone.
