I'm still using the Snapper hi-vac riding mower that i bought , back around 1983. After 12 years of weekly use, mowing, and cart hauling, the Briggs engine finally got too tired to start. I installed a used engine, and it still runs well, and is in use at least twice a week. Try that with a lawn tractor, sold by the big box stores, or Sears!

Toro's transmissions are normally trouble free. I will replace 1 a year on customer units is all. The market by me sees lots of the standard steel decks however that people just grab from Depot. If they have a trans defect, they tend to replace the mower. Deere wpms are not sold by the Deere dealer by me, so the ones I see of the newer Snapper made ones are sold by Lowes. No Snapper dealer by me either, so I see much less of those. Either engine will serve you well. Keep the fuel that goes into either clean, sealed and treated and they will perform fine. I personally am not a huge fan of Snapper's friction drive. They are dependable, but I feel the other drives are much more intuitive to use.

Just go with the Toro 22197 and never look back - its a true commercial mower on all accounts; Thick cast alum. deck, heavy duty cast alum. cased 3 speed trans with zerk fitting for greasing its gears, the wonderful Kawasaki FJ180V engine with 1" dia. shaft, pressurized oil pump & oil filter, steel wheels w/ ball bearings and zerks on the rears for greasing its drive gears, crank protector plate below deck, big 1 gallon fuel tank and the icing - no BBC/clutch/blade safety nonsense to add unnecessary weight, expense, maintenance and repair costs.

Its an excellent mulching machine (rated #1 in the industry) with its recycler deck with kickers and a decent bagger with a high lift blade. I know, I sound like a dealer, but its a great mower and I promise you it'll be the last 21" SP mower you'll ever need to buy.

Just go with a Toro 20092. The Personal Pace drive system is simple, versatile and virtually trouble free. I do have to ask if you are getting a Toro Commercial because you are in the lawn mowing business. If you are using it for residential mowing will be paying more for durability that you will never use. And more importantly you will pay more for the shorter 2 year warranty for commercial vs 5 years for the Super Recycler. Consider a residential Super Recycler instead.

No, I don't have a commercial business, however I do mow a couple of the neighbors yards plus mine. That's why I was asking about Toro's best residential to Snappers commercial. I figure that makes them fairly equal. I'm afraid of the Snapper residential stuff anymore. I currently have a commercial Honda that I bought a couple years ago, and have been very disappointed with it, as it randomly leaves an unacceptable number of single uncut blades of grass behind. Very sorry I bought it, and am willing to take a loss just to get a good mower. I hear nothing but good remarks on Toro's cutting quality. Not sure of Snapper's commercial stuff anymore. Leaning toward the Toro 20092. Is the B&S side valve engine on that mower good? Just trying to weed out the good stuff from the junk.

The briggs flathead engine will run for decades if maintained. It will also provide more than adequate power to cut the grass then bag or mulch it.

The briggs flathead engine will run for decades if maintained. It will also provide more than adequate power to cut the grass then bag or mulch it.

Your question:
"Is the B&S side valve engine on that mower good?"
-------------------------------------------------------
This has been a good engine for most homeowners. The engine is easy to start and delivers more than adequate power. It will probably require more maintenance than the Kawasaki, but the maintenance is very easy to perform.

Besides oil changes and air filter maintenance, the carburetor will probably need disassembling and cleaning every 4 - 5 years. The fuel line will need to be replaced and cooling fins cleaned when the carburetor is off. With this simple maintenance, many of these are still running after 15 - 18 years of service.

I own and use the Toro Pro Line 22177 since 2004. I have BBC on my unit and can report it has been trouble free.I also own an old cast deck Snapper from the mid 70's. The reason I introduce that in the conversation is to point out the comparison between the two units with regard to handling. The Toro is like a Kenworth and the Snapper like a Porche. Handling is the only criticism I have of the Toro. I bought it because the Town stopped picking up grass cuttings so I needed a mulching mower. The Toro is an excellent mulcher with the proviso that as with all mulching mowers you must wash out the bottom of the deck after each use. This is especially true in the spring when the grass is exceptionally succulent meaning laden with water.
Marc

Which of the three cuts the lawn best(nice even cut, no individual uncut blades left behind, etc.)? Toro seems to be the best mulcher, Honda seems to be good at both mulching and bagging and Snapper is the best bagger, but which has the best cutting quality? Has anybody had problems with Briggs and Stratton's Ready Start? Has anybody had any long term experience with Toro's Personal Pace reliability? I spoke with one Toro repair shop who said they love the Personal Pace because they make a lot money repairing the cables and transmissions. Thanks.

Brett

Exactly. The Toro deck design is optimized for mulching where the Snapper and (to a lesser extent) the Honda deck is optimized for bagging. The Honda's have a fairly good reputation, have you tried changing the blade to a higher lift design (more curl on the back of the blade) ? does it have the double blades ? ..those have been criticized to leave green pasty clumps behind. In general, missed blades of grass indicate grass is randomly "laying over" which implies there's either not enough vacuum below deck to pull the blades of grass up straight for the blade to cut (like the barber uses a comb to pull your hair up straight for the scissors to cut) ..or the airflow/vacuum below deck is being disrupted (caked up with old clippings etc.). I hate to see you run out and buy another mower for a fairly simple fix.

And Marc has it right, you MUST hose down your mowers after every use, especially below deck - it will help your mower cut properly and the decks to last for many years.

Mine is a LawnBoy with their version of PersonalPace...I liken the LawnBoy as an Oldsmobile and the Toro as the Buick...the same company built these two mowers..
Note which brand is still around...cuts can be unfair...
I love this LawnBoy, but now it finally needs some maintenance...
No complaints..
I also tried a Honda...it failed...even with its great engine..

In response to viking427, I have the commercial Honda. It came with their "Micro-cut" blade system, which is 2 stacked blades. The top is basically flat, and the bottom has a fairly wide paddle shape with what I would say is pretty good lift. I've found a gator type blade by Oregon,and tried that too. It has to be used alone,with a spacer as the creases/bends in Honda's upper blade won't allow the 2 to fit flat together. The standing grass blade issue has existed since it was new, and grass free. Honda denies any issues, other than the pasty clumps you mentioned. They sent me a spacer to use in place of the upper blade, which also gave the same results. I've figured out how to increase the full throttle rpm a little, but I still see blades left uncut. Just can't figure out the cause. This has the BBC, so it is rather difficult to find non Honda blades whose holes are spaced the correct distance for this mower. Any other suggestions for non OEM hi-lift blades, or fixes? Thanks to all for your input.