# Best 21 push mower and why?



## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

What I've owned or used.

Snapper Hi-Vac residential and commercial. The commercial is a heavier machine. Little more cumbersome getting around trees and such. Build quality, I don't see any competition from any other brand, to date. Meaning Snapper has been around for decades for a reason. These I must say are my pick of the litter. By far, THE best baggers on the market. Bolt the air lift wings on the blade and it will suck up spare change off your garage floor. I've done it several times. These Hi-Vacs will suck rocks up out of your grass. They all mulch just as good as any other brand I've used. Always left no clippings behind. Best drive system on any push mower too.

Honda Commercial or residential. Ummm, expensive, engines last a long time because new out of the box, they run at 2600rpms. These engines have no grass cutting torque in my opinion. Back in my lawn care company days we used to put bungee cords to wire the throttle wide open while the blade was spinning. They just don't have the power of a Briggs or a Kawasaki. Replacement parts are costly too if needed compared to Briggs. The commercial GXV engine is no power house either. No way would I used one on a tall Tifway Bermuda lawn LOL. To me Honda's are a good mower. Not a great mower at all. Are they the best at bagging, nope by far. Mulching, nope again. Which leads to number three in the group.

Toro commercial or residental. The new mowers are like all new mowers. I would not buy one. Now the old 1999 Super Recycler models with Personal Pace are tough to beat. Lightweight aluminum decks that make a great mulcher. Bagging again is rather lacking. I think these were purpose built mulchers. One of my favorite mowers.

John Deere, not impressed with the mowing capability. Engines were to famous Kawasaki FJ180V. Nothing to complain about there. Just didn't have the bagging performance for such a pricey mower.

The new Kabota WGC6, rather pricey and another under performer. I really wanted this mower to do well. It just didn't ......

What are your thoughts guys? Want to hear the "been using this mower for 25 years" stuff.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

I needed a new mower last year and didn't want to spend $600+ on a quality one so I did some research and spent some time on craigslist. I ended up getting a 1997 Toro Super Recycler with the aluminum deck and electric start for $75.
It starts so easily, and runs and cuts beautifully. I plan on taking good care of it and using it for years to come. They seem to come up pretty regularly on Craigslist.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

jessehurlburt said:


> I needed a new mower last year and didn't want to spend $600+ on a quality one so I did some research and spent some time on craigslist. I ended up getting a 1997 Toro Super Recycler with the aluminum deck and electric start for $75.
> It starts so easily, and runs and cuts beautifully. I plan on taking good care of it and using it for years to come. They seem to come up pretty regularly on Craigslist.


That is one of the machines I was talking about. Only thing is yours doesn't have Personal Pace. Still a great mower. Dad had one for 15 years, no issues.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

slomo said:


> .... John Deere, not impressed with the mowing capability. Engines were to famous Kawasaki FJ180V. Nothing to complain about there. Just didn't have the bagging performance for such a pricey mower.
> .....


Say whaaaaat?! 😆 I'm still a big fan of the old Deere 14 series units and the JX/JA series that superseded them. Not the best mulchers. But they had full-pressure lube Kawi engines (with a filter, optionally), blade clutches, HD aluminum decks, and they made great cut quality as a bagger/discharge unit. The did a great job of packing the bag too. The bags weren't huge, but a heavy bag just encourages the front to float through any bumps. Achillies heel for commercial use was the wheels, you have to look LONG and hard to find a set of JX85 (steel with bearings) wheels for one now.


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## thesouthernreelmower (Aug 28, 2018)

Check out the exmark commercial 21"


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## ram82 (Dec 19, 2018)

exmark is heavy.too heavy in my opinion for a medium sized yard.didnt have luck with mulching either.i would like to try a snapper out but don't have any dealers near me.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

Exmark IS Toro, just saying. Back to JD mowers, they didn't do any ONE thing great in my book. To me they were like a Honda CUT quality with good Kawi engines. The engine doesn't make the mower for the most part. It's the deck design and the blade that does.

My Dream 21" would be the older FJ180V Kawi engine with an aluminum deck Snapper Hi-Vac Commercial mower. Ball bearing wheels, check. The best drive system, check. Bagging performance, ultra check. Oh and add the Personal Pace handle to Snapper's disk drive........


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I like Honda mowers. My last one lasted me 20 years and I sold it to my neighbor for $260, still running strong. Used the money to buy this one for $399 with a four year factory warranty:



Honda mowers have governors on the carburetor. Easy to change the setting if you know anything about engines. Go from 2600 rpm to 3100 rpm and it will cut and mulch through anything I ever encountered.

My other Honda never saw the service area where I bought it. Started first pull. My new one does too. It even pulls wheelies. Seriously.

Honda engines are as reliable and dependable as a stove.

Never had a Snapper or a Toro. Never had an ExMark either.

Never had a need to.... To me, it is all about the engine in a machine.

Just speaking from my own personal experience. YMMV, etc.


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## thesouthernreelmower (Aug 28, 2018)

Toro owns exmark. But there commercial 21"
Mowers are different from each other. Both have the fj180v kai engine. Aluminum deck on the exmark, don't know about the toro. Blade break, mulches and bags great. I use one everyday commercially. They aren't heavy. It's aluminum


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## Jwsjr (May 16, 2018)

Toro ProStripe 560. As close to a reel as you can get. I'm cutting at .71" currently. Has built in roller Don't get me wrong, I'll be upgrading to a reel as soon as I can level couple more times. Fantastic mower and neighbors always ask if I have one of those golf course mowers.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

2014 Snapper Hi Vac 7800947 with Briggs 8.75 torque engine. I have 4 different blades (for different purposes), mulch plug and side discharge chute. Gobs of power, suction, and all sorts of goodness. Best bagger and excellent mulcher, and I love the drive system. It bags when I need to; mulches when I need to; and destroys mountains of leaves with the side discharge chute and Gator blade (turns them into dust).


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Chris LI said:


> 2014 Snapper Hi Vac 7800947 with Briggs 8.75 torque engine. I have 4 different blades (for different purposes), mulch plug and side discharge chute. Gobs of power, suction, and all sorts of goodness. Best bagger and excellent mulcher, and I love the drive system. It bags when I need to; mulches when I need to; and destroys mountains of leaves with the side discharge chute and Gator blade (turns them into dust).


Someone PM'd me with a question asking which 4 blades I use, so I figured that I would post it publicly, in case anyone else was curious. I pasted this from the message:

Snapper bagging blade (OEM) - very good suction; used for bagging, mostly in early spring (for spring cleanup) and maybe last time at the end of the season to get stray leaves/debris up. Picks up acorns and maple seed pods 'poly noses' no problem.

Oregon replacement for Air Lift blade (Oregon's version of the Snapper OEM bagging blade with holes to bolt triangular wings on [Air Lifts] Oregon version is the same profile but thicker/heavier) - Incredible suction! Could suck small children up. You don't need a dethatcher if you have this one. Mine is dull because it sucks so much soil/rocks up. I've used it to pull up thatch after dethatching and/or on its own to pull up thatch before overseeding/reno. It's heavy and needs to be balanced.

Ninja blade (bought with mulch kit [blade and mulch plug]) - almost no suction with Hi Vac deck (Ninja deck has even less suction for better mulching). I use it during heavy growth in spring. It is the best mulching blade for grass, ever. It mulches super fine with a sharp, clean cut. I used to use it in peak summer when cutting high at 4", but grass flops a little at that height, so I switch over to the Gator blade for peak summer (and I don't cut at 4" much anymore, anyway).

Gator blade (most versatile blade) both bags and mulches well. Has a little less suction than the bagging blade, but a lot more than the Ninja. I use it late spring/early summer through the end of fall. It has good suction to stand tall grass up, and good recirculation to mulch. I like it so much that I bought a second one to use the new one on grass and save the worn one for leaf mulching. This is the best blade for leaves. I can mulch light/medium accumulations and throw the bag on to have a clean finish, or use the side discharge chute to destroy large, deep piles of leaves, to turn them into dust. With the Hi Vac deck, I've seen it suck up leaves up on the discharge side, spit them out, suck them up again, and so forth. Check my journal out. I hope this helps. I can look up part numbers if you need, but it's not too hard to find the info on the web. Oh, and I hand file my blades as much as possible for accuracy and balance (always hand file all 4 edges of the Ninja blade). I also bought an Oregon balancer.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I'm not sure if I'm being sentimental or what but I'm really missing my old Cub Cadet w the front caster wheels. I especially liked the adjustable speed control lever (vs the bar on my new HRX217) that allowed for easy one-handed operation ... and the rear wheel drive w the front caster wheels was always smooth to maneuver around obstacles. Mind you this was before my lawn obsession and I just may be nostalgic but I hardly see Cubs mentioned in the same tier as Honda's and Toros. What am I missing?


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

@corneliani i have a SC500Z and recommend it to everyone I can.... my buddy is shopping for a push mower now.

Has the front casters and a similar system to personal pace and I absolutely love it. Great machine going on 5th season now and no issues.


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## Tomnan24 (Aug 14, 2020)

Bought my Super Recycler in 2007. Personal Pace, Blade Stop. Other than gas and oil I spent about $200 for parts. It mulches great. Oh, by the way, I'm still mowing with it.


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