Forums Archive Index > Lawnmowers-Reviews Only Please > Toro Super Recycler! Model No: 20055 Review

Author: Termy

Date: 8 Sep 2005 8:27 pm

These mowers were made back in 2001-2003 and they were the brand new thing! Many people wanted them and did not hesitate in buying one. Honda has always been known for producing quiet running engines. So how could you go wrong with a quiet engine on a self-propelled mower to boot? In this review, I am going to explain the positives and negatives with these mowers.

Somebody I knew bought two of these mowers from Home Depot. At the time, these mowers ran for around $530.00. They came in boxes but all we had to do to set them up was put the handles on, the bag onto the bag frame, put the oil in the engine, and fill it up with fuel. This took about 30 minutes for us cause we were trying to interpret what the manual was trying to tell us.

These engines use 10W 30 oil with a rating of SJ or SL and take almost a quart of oil. Starting these engines is very easy cause you don’t have to mess with a primer! Just put your throttle on choke, pull the rope, she starts first pull, then move the throttle off choke.

Using this mower is pretty easy too. This machine has 3 modes; it can side discharge, mulch, or bag. I use this mower primarily for bagging. It bags well in dry grass conditions but not if its wet, shoot will clog. The side discharge works really well in any conditions and gave me no problems. However, mulching leaves some to be desired. It tends to leave clumps everywhere instead of mulching the grass like its supposed to and it will tend to leave grass clump trails where the wheels travel.

This is a 3-speed self-propelled mower so it has a 3-speed shift lever on the right side of the handlebars. To engage the drive, you must pull up the drive lever. If you have a property where you have to go around gardens or trees, you find your self-shifting the mower often. So I find it a bit tedious, but it still gets the job done. None the less, it sure beats pushing it! Here is the only big problem I have with the self propelled system. The transmissions on these mower have a defect in them that allows them to expel the oil out of them with age. One of the two mowers had to have a new transmission put in for $150.00 minus labor! Since then there have been new models from Honda and they may have fixed the defective transmission issue.

There is only one negative about the engine itself. After the engine becomes 2 to 3 years old your going to have to replace the carb. This is because the carb insides are made of aluminum and break down after time. This is not so much of an issue as the transmission because a new carb is only $30.00. Forget about doing a rebuild because it would cost as much as a new carb!

Here is what I think… These are good mowers but I don’t think they are worth $530.00. You are paying the high price for the brand name and the high tech robots that built it. I would give this mower 3 out of 5 stars because its not a bad mower but it does have its issues over time. Runs great, easy to start, bags and discharges well, and self propel beats pushing it! Do I recommend this mower for the price? No, but would not mind paying $400.00 for it! If you want this mower, see if you can get it used for around $240.00 or less.

Date Purchased: 05/03/05
Price Paid: $549
Recommend: Yes