Made in America Push mowers!

[bottjernat1 2,189]

So I am looking to buy a new push mower. In light of the corona virus crap going on. I want to buy a made in america push mower. I know there are alot built here but most of the parts are made in china. I may be wrong but it looks like snapper is the closest thing i am going to get to buying american made. I need some folks to enlighten me. I also see cub cadet and ariens is as well. https://www.ariens.com/en-us/lawn-products/walk-behind-riding-mowers/walk-behind  https://www.cubcadet.com/en_US/self-propelled-mowers/sc-900/12ABR2MM710.html#specs-table-specs-engine   https://www.snapper.com/na/en_us/product-catalog/residential/push-mowers/sp-series-self-propelled-lawn-mowers.html I dont want to break the bank but i want to support our american workers. I am trying my best to make some changes and my thinking on buy cheap overseas junk. This hole thing we are dealing with should be a wake up call to everyone to take pride and back our local folks and neighbors! I also know i will not avoid overseas made items to many things we have lost to overseas manufactures but i will try my best to avoid it!

[JoeM 7,769]

If you want to save $ look at good used on FB Marketplace or CL?

Good luck finding a true American Made Machine. Figure those days are over. Most American companies, so they call their self's, are owned with foreign $.

Thanks for the effort though.

[bottjernat1 2,189]

3 minutes ago, TractorJunkie said:

If you want to save $ look at good used on FB Marketplace or CL?

Good luck finding a true American Made Machine. Figure those days are over. Most American companies, so they call their self's, are owned with foreign $.

Thanks for the effort though.

I own a beater push mower but i want to do my part and support our workers and buy new and buy mostly made here. Plus with all the old horses and deeres i am good on riders. just want a new shinny toy. LOL

[JoeM 7,769]

4 minutes ago, bottjernat1 said:

just want a new shinny toy.

understand, like it!

OH, I do own a snapper and it is and has been very good. Pricey 

Edited April 6, 2020 by TractorJunkie

[diesel cowboy 263]

On the Cub Cadet I'd have to think long and hard about buying it cause it says made in USA on it.  Back when we were still a dealer for them at work they always advertised and labeled everything as made here but pretty much everything was made elsewhere and assembled here.  I doubt they've changed that since then.  Looking at the picture you posted of the Cadet that looks like a Cub Cadet engine which is a china knock off of a Briggs iirc

[bottjernat1 2,189]

I found this article what are some of you folks input. This is what is leading me to buying snapper brand. https://www.usalovelist.com/your-made-in-usa-yard/

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

Chances are that the Snapper-brand lawn mower is assembled in Wauwatosa, WI. The engine, even the Honda as well as the Briggs, will be manufactured in China. Snapper use to use a cast aluminum deck but even their commercial model has only a stamped steel deck. If set on a Snapper, buy the commercial model.

 

Also, missing on that list you referenced are Stihl products. They are manufactured AND made here in Virginia.

Edited April 6, 2020 by shallowwatersailor

[WHNJ701 4,164]

if you were closer to nj I would give you a great deal on snapper hi vac with spare engine I want to get rid of

[WHX?? 47,065]

The Ariens will made in Brillion WI. I've been in that plant a couple of times. 

https://www.ariens.com/en-us/lawn-products/walk-behind-riding-mowers/walk-behind

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

31 minutes ago, WHX24 said:

The Ariens will made in Brillion WI. I've been in that plant a couple of times. 

https://www.ariens.com/en-us/lawn-products/walk-behind-riding-mowers/walk-behind

Don't forget Ariens owns Gravely now and I believe they may be heavier built.

[Achto 26,741]

Here are a couple more options. These mowers are all made in Wisconsin.

 

 

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-SP-SERIES-Self-Propelled-Mower/p/000000000000414081

 

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower/p/WM13026DMN

 

Or if you really want to get things done quick.

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower/p/WM15030DMN

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Achto

[bottjernat1 2,189]

56 minutes ago, Achto said:

Here are a couple more options. These mowers are all made in Wisconsin.

 

 

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-SP-SERIES-Self-Propelled-Mower/p/000000000000414081

 

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower/p/WM13026DMN

 

Or if you really want to get things done quick.

https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equipment/Lawn-Mowers/Walk-Behind-Mowers/DR-Self-Propelled-Lawn-Mower/p/WM15030DMN

 

 

 

 

Thanks awesome

 

[Stepney 2,314]

You want an AMERICAN mower!!?? Is that it!!!!?
HERE YA GO. METALLIC GOLD. MAGNESIUM. BUILT TO LAST SEVERAL LIFETIMES! REEKS OF FREEDOM ... and 16:1 premix ... yea we dont mention that part in the sales pitch..

Honestly. Im not sure there IS a true American mower anymore. Close as you may get would be an Exmark Commercial 21. Or one of those modern LawnBoy stagger wheel clones.

Snapper claims all American, but having a few through my garage in recent times, I can say the motors and transaxle arent. Perhaps other parts too.

IMHO, find a solid clean vintage mower and run her till it's time to hand it down to the next generation..

They work better then most of the new ones anyway. And have none of the problems.

Shame you arent near Maine. I have a near mint Toro Commercial 3 speed with the cast deck and Suzuki OHV 4 stroke.

For many years I restored old power mowers and resold for future use.

Nobody wants good iron anymore.

Even if the deck is US built, I've yet to find good solid proof of a small vertical proper American mower engine.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Stepney

[WHNJ701 4,164]

I had a hahn eclipse self propelled nicest mower I ever used, sold it for big money, the dude drove 7 or 8 hours to get it too

Edited April 6, 2020 by jabelman

[Achto 26,741]

3 hours ago, Stepney said:

MAGNESIUM. BUILT TO LAST SEVERAL LIFETIMES

 

Just don't park it too close to a camp fire. If it happens to light up the only way to put it out is to bury it.

[Stepney 2,314]

Just now, Achto said:

 

Just don't park it too close to a camp fire. If it happens to light up the only way to put it out is to bury it.

Oh, when they were plentiful I would occasionally break a piece off and set it in the bonfire..

Made for a good show! Bahahah.

Pieces from around the under-deck muffler made a nice final aroma of burnt up 30wt ND oil..

[Mike'sHorseBarn 2,706]

3 hours ago, jabelman said:

I had a hahn eclipse self propelled nicest mower I ever used, sold it for big money, the dude drove 7 or 8 hours to get it too

 

I did the same with a Hahn eclipse. The guy drove from Kentucky to my place and I thought he was nuts haha

[wh500special 2,076]

I commend you on your plan to spend a little more and get better products made by companies that treat their workers responsibly.  We’ve been doing the same in our household for a while now and I think in the long run we are saving money.  And, without a doubt, the environment thanks you too for buying a more durable product that won’t be headed for the landfill as soon. 
 

I went through the mower decision tree a couple years ago when my beloved Lawn Boy finally became too uneconomical to repair.   And i was tired of mixing gas.   

I had time to shop around and i wasn’t really limited (much) by budget, so I looked at a lot of

mowers at a lot of dealerships.  Never once visited a box store since I figured I might as well

support a local dealership. 
 

A lot of dealers will let you demonstrate a mower in their yard.  So I did.  My favorites came down to the Toro and the Honda.   I wanted to like the snapper, but it just didn’t “feel right” to me. No particular reason, just wasn’t my favorite. 
 

The thing that killed the Toro choice for me was the “toro” engine.   It was a Chinese clone of somebody else’s design (maybe Briggs...don’t remember).   They did offer a higher end mower with a Honda engine, but at that point I thought why not just look at the Honda again.  
 

So, I did.  And I bought a Honda HRX217.   It’s a $700 mower.  Yikes!  I never thought I’d spend that much on something like this.  
 

I’ve only had it a couple of years but it has never failed to start on one pull.  And it’s a very easy pull to get it going.  All of the controls have a nice feel to them and the whole thing is very nicely put together.  There is nothing flimsy or cheap on this thing.  Typical of Honda. 
 

I discounted the Honda when I first looked at them, mostly due to the plastic deck.  But now that I have it I couldn’t be happier.   Grass doesn’t stick to the bottom of it.  And it can’t rust and the deck is warranted to never break or fail.  
 

Mine had a three year warranty.   Now they’ve extended to to five years.  And the current promotion is for an additional year.   SO you can get six years of coverage on it.  
 

That’s confidence.  
 

I hardly ever bag with it.  I mulch pretty much 99% of the time.  Once in a while I might discharge or I might collect some clippings to put in the garden.   It bags exceptionally well - probably not as well as a snapper though - and it will mulch just about anything.  It has to be really heavy for it not to mulch well.  It isn’t great at discharging if the grass is heavy and will leave clumps like a rear-discharge Wheel horse.  
 

the handle took some getting used to.  It has virtually no up and down play when locked into one of

the three heights.   So as the deck goes up and down over undulations the handle follows along.   I took to it quickly, my wife is not a fan. 
 

if it was stolen or a tree fell

on it, I’d buy the same one without hesitation.  Shoot, even if the engine blew up I’d still make the same choice. 
 

it uses half the fuel my Lawn Boy did.  

 

I realize there is some irony in my choice to buy an American made mower when I bought my Honda.  Yes, the parent company is Japanese owned, but Honda does the bulk of their market research, engineering, design, and manufacturing in the countries where they sell their product.   In the case of the Honda mower and the Honda engine, both were made in the USA.  
 

They probably pour more money back into the communities in which they manufacture than do the typical domestic brands.  
 

Did some portion of the profit go overseas?   Of course it did.  But because they are so heavily vertically integrated pretty much the entire mower - from wheels to recoil - are made by Honda in Honda US factories.   The parts not sourced here tend to come from the mothership in Japan as opposed to China.  That’s worth something too. 
 

anyway, my point is you can broaden your search if you want to.   I’ve decided as long as I am supporting a company that values its workforce, their rights, and pays a livable wage I don’t have to just look at the name on the front of the building.  
 

All that said, I really miss the thrum that Lawn Boy made.  Sweet, sweet two stroke music...
 

steve 

[SylvanLakeWH 24,353]

Haven’t bought a new mower in years... Hand me downs and trash finds that need about $10 in parts to get going do just fine..

 

Last one I picked from a neighbor was a Toro... he bought a big box one because it “didn’t work “...

 

Put gas in it, put 3” of fuel line on it to correct the reason it “didn’t work...” and it started right up...! Used it as my brush hog for a year or two then passed it on to a nephew...

 

My go to is Dad’s old Toro hand me down... 15 years old and going strong...

[briankd 816]

i bought a craftsman 21 inch aluminum deck push mower 5 yrs ago 50 bucks don't know what year it is it has a tecumis  engine starts 1 -2 pulls every time all i done to it was change oil and sharpen blade been a dang good mower just use it to trim with 

[Lee1977 6,310]

Here is a true "American Made Mower" built right here in China Grove, North Carolina by Eddleman Cycle & Shop. This one was built in 1958 it's self propelled. 

[bottjernat1 2,189]

Ok folks I wanted to share snappers response to my question of our your push mowers made here in the United States including the motors? I feel they answered but didn't say if the motors are but they didn't say assembled so what do you all think?

[Mike'sHorseBarn 2,706]

Truthfully, I highly doubt your going to get any closer than that on a made in america mower. What kind of engine do they have in them?

[bottjernat1 2,189]

29 minutes ago, Mike'sHorseBarn said:

Truthfully, I highly doubt your going to get any closer than that on a made in america mower. What kind of engine do they have in them?

https://www.snapper.com/na/en_us/product-catalog/residential/push-mowers/sp-series-self-propelled-lawn-mowers.html  Looks like a briggs

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

1 hour ago, bottjernat1 said:

https://www.snapper.com/na/en_us/product-catalog/residential/push-mowers/sp-series-self-propelled-lawn-mowers.html  Looks like a briggs

 

They are owned by Briggs, so of course that would be the engine brand used.