toro pro mowers

[miker]

anyone got good/bad points

looking at the pro 22186, looks tough and basic, not keen on the auto-drive, looks like a load of hassle if it goes wrong:confused1:

[david wood]

having used a few older toros, couple kaaz mowers and then had a demo of some john deere mowers i have some thoughts,

 

toros are nice on slopes as all weight is low down so better balanced, the three speeds on older ones were nice range. didnt seem to bag well in damp to wet and after first year we had dealer turn revs up past max recommended a few hundred to give a lil more go!

 

Kaaz seem hardwearing mowers, heavy to manouver and rubbish on steep slopes, want to fall over lots and not grip. do bag bit better than toros but heavy, harder work to use, no grease points so eat wheel bearings, ok easy and cheap to replace but just annoying.

 

now i only have about 3 hrs on demo john deere rotary pedestrian mower so not based on a years use like others, but as for first impressions worth sharing i reckon.

 

have a huge range of speed selecters on forward range, cant remember how many notches but a lot. i tried on steepest slopes we have which are way above recommendations, like tough to walk on and the range was great, crawl with lots of power there to a good speed on flat open bits.

 

seemed well built but cant comment on life span.

 

now the bit that sold me to beg employer was the bagging, i realised i was running out of time to try out (had been playing with zero turn and lawn tractor) and dealer was on way to collect so figured best try, was raining all night before and drizzle in morning, needed waterproofs for test so you get idea.

 

grass hadnt been cut in 3 weeks as winding down to last cut of season so dense, soaking and overall worse of many areas i cut.

 

full revs, lowest forward speed and set height quite low to ensure last cut of year, kind of abusive really of kit but hey its demo kit...

 

i started with expecting ten foot and chute blocked, none in bag etc. now it was dead slow and wouldnt make money commercially unless well priced but it cut tidy, lifted all of it and filled bag!

 

dont know costs etc so cant comment there.

 

but point of my ramble is try at least three makes pre buying, you may be surprised.

 

i am hard on mowers, average 150 - 200 hours a year mowing, stones, branches etc get hit, log edges get fallen off. they get transported in a loader on site. washed top to bottom every use and i dont skimp on oil changes.

[easy-lift guy]

I actually own an American example of this same mower and I believe it would be a safe investment. The mower was very dependable and under normal growing conditions never bogged down mowing Florida grass, which is a great deal tougher and longer than most if any turf cultivars in the UK. I used the rear bagger for the mower and the collection of clippings was user friendly. When I was not bagging I would simply attach a bungee cord to the discharge door and let the clippings fly out the left side of the mower. I have averaged around 500 hours on this mower with the only repair being the drive cable needing to be replaced once. Otherwise very satisfied with the mower.

easy-lift guy

[Eddy_t]

Good mowers! I'm an ex greenkeeper , it's all we ever used.