I need a new lawn mower!

[EddieWalker]

I took a good look at Scag today, and I quite liked them until I sat on them. They're the least fat man friendly, lol.

That's odd. I'm more on the chunky side then I want to be, but the best thing about my Skag mower is the seat. They might of changed since 2010, when I bought it, but I hope not. It's a REALLY NICE SEAT.

My wife and I are playing around with making videos. Here's one of me mowing part of my back yard with the Skag yesterday.

 

[jjeff]

Hondas are used quite a bit on commercial construction equipment. Not so much on mowers. I own several pieces of equipment with Honda engines. The only one I have problems with is my i2000 generator. It's problem isn't the motor, it's the carb.

Remove that bloody screen in the tank and put an inline filter on it solved all my continuous fuel problems with my old Honda.

 

[Camofurever1]

Agree with everything except your comments about Kohler and Briggs engines. Both of those companies make commercial grade engines as well as consumer grade. I agree to stay away from consumer grade engines.

I give a more detailed explanation of my dislike for Kohler's in this thread.

Lawn Tractor vs Zero Turn

Sounds good in theory, but suspension seats (if just buying the parts) seem to be $1k+. At least that was the answer I got (actually $1200) for the Cub Cadet I bought. Nah, around $470 bucks. I would worry about the deck cutting level if the mower had four wheel suspension. Thats why they...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Camofurever1]

Remove that bloody screen in the tank and put an inline filter on it solved all my continuous fuel problems with my old Honda.

Yep, I removed that and put an inline filter in. I also bought the kit for converting the On/off switch that just killed the motor, but wouldn't allow you to run the carb out of gas for storage. Now, I can shut off the fuel, but the gen will continue to run until the carb bowl is dry. You can also instantly kill it by pushing the installed kill button. I have already replaced the carb once on it, I only run non-ethanol gas in it, but I still have issues with the jets getting clogged up if the unit sits for more than 6 months without being started. It doesn't have fuel in the bowl when sitting unrun for extended periods. I mostly use my 3000 watt Champion with the remote start anymore. It always starts and runs without carb work being done on it.

 

[jyoutz]

Yep, I removed that and put an inline filter in. I also bought the kit for converting the On/off switch that just killed the motor, but wouldn't allow you to run the carb out of gas for storage. Now, I can shut off the fuel, but the gen will continue to run until the carb bowl is dry. You can also instantly kill it by pushing the installed kill button. I have already replaced the carb once on it, I only run non-ethanol gas in it, but I still have issues with the jets getting clogged up if the unit sits for more than 6 months without being started. It doesn't have fuel in the bowl when sitting unrun for extended periods. I mostly use my 3000 watt Champion with the remote start anymore. It always starts and runs without carb work being done on it.

My Honda motor has a fuel shut off switch. It’s easy to shut off the switch when the motor is running and let it run until it purges the carburetor and fuel lines.

 

[5030]

No commercial engine will last any extended length of time with infrequent maintenance. Oil and filters need to be changed on a hourly schedule.

The issue with that simply is, a large portion of owners are lax in the maintenance department. reminds me of the guy across the road, never changes the oi or cleans the airfilter or replaces it in his ZTR and then whines when he has to have the mower shop up town work on it. I don't see how it even cuts as the blades are just nubs as well. Interestingly, he's a tool and die maker but has no sense at all when it comes to mechanical stuff.

I just observe and chuckle to myself.

 

[5030]

After tossing a rod in a Honda motor at 6 hours and Honda denying any warranty, I won't use any Honda motor ever again. I'm 100% HF Predator. If a Pred pukes, they are so cheap, landfilling one don't cause any consternation, but interestingly, never had issue one with any of them I own. One on the garden tiller, one on the pressure washer and one on my trash pump and the one on the pressure washer is at least 10 years old and it's on the original 'Torch' sparkplug as well I change to oil in all of them in the fall and I use the drain oil I drain out of my farm tractors. Why waste good oil I say. Blackstone always tells me the used oil is still good (TBN number is positive) so I use it again, that and I'm inherently cheap as well.

The Pred on the pressure washer gets used a ton too. It washes down farm equipment as well as the cars and truck. On the original PW pump as well though I do have a spare one, just in case. Don't use antifreeze in it either, I just store it in my heated shop in the winter.

 

[jjeff]

After tossing a rod in a Honda motor at 6 hours and Honda denying any warranty, I won't use any Honda motor ever again. I'm 100% HF Predator. If a Pred pukes, they are so cheap, landfilling one don't cause any consternation, but interestingly, never had issue one with any of them I own. One on the garden tiller, one on the pressure washer and one on my trash pump and the one on the pressure washer is at least 10 years old and it's on the original 'Torch' sparkplug as well I change to oil in all of them in the fall and I use the drain oil I drain out of my farm tractors. Why waste good oil I say. Blackstone always tells me the used oil is still good (TBN number is positive) so I use it again, that and I'm inherently cheap as well.

The Pred on the pressure washer gets used a ton too. It washes down farm equipment as well as the cars and truck. On the original PW pump as well though I do have a spare one, just in case. Don't use antifreeze in it either, I just store it in my heated shop in the winter.

Sure your Honda wasn't a GC model? Both are Honda's but built totally different imo. 4k + hrs (first digit is a 4 on that hr meter but hey plastics have yellowed lol), on this Honda gx engined gen set if that hr meter still even works. It's been physically abused, dropped off trucks, ran over by a skytrack, ran hard day after day 8 hrs at a time, til I took possession of it as it was going to be scrapped by a co. I worked for almost 20 yrs ago. burns oil but I'm fine with it. Not saying preds are bad but you knocked a brand I'm a firm believer in its durability from experiences, I also have a gx motor in my pressure washer never a problem.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've got a Honda push mower and generator that are older than my kids; perhaps, older than both combined. I'm at least the second owner, and I try to keep up on basic maintenance- neither has ever let me down. Which is really good, because I couldn't afford to replace them these days.



@EddieWalker the seats on the Scag's were quite nice, the lap bars were just a tad tight on the lap.

 

[jjeff]

Seems like Briggs is on the way out, Honda is not really in the game so all your left with is Kohler or Kawasaki for engine power on popular riders and zero turns? All power equipment manufacturers have different levels of engine quality depending on model and are priced accordingly. Seems all manufacturers of smaller air cooled 4 strokes have strong and weak points. As previously mentioned by others some maintenance at least seasonally is important. (Oil air filter etc). On new break in periods weather called for or not I've always added a very minimal amount of two stroke oil to first tank of gas (I use synthetic blend or full, definitely don't want to run to rich subsequently scoring cylinders walls due to excessive carbon) so take my non professional keyboard commando opinion accordingly on top of using seafoam (only snake oil fuel additive ive seen notable results with) all the time, and initially change oil and filter after a few hrs of use. Still waiting on first catastrophic failure on smaller air
cooled 4 strokes with something I own on all levels of initial engine quality by a few notable manufacturers. Knocking on wood lol