Obituary of a Toro
A Note to Daughters Margaret and Laura on April 2, 2010
Yesterday marked the end of my 27 year old Toro self-propelled, Suzuki powered lawn mower!
You both are aware of how you worked into the lawn mowing responsibilities. You may not know how I endeavored to make the task easy enough to prevent revolt. The first step was replacing the push mower that I bought in St. Louis in 1969 for $49 plus a $9.95 add-on bagging system at Biederman's Department store. (The Biederman mower replaced a reel mower that your Grandfather Madden had given us. The reel mower was so worn that I wasn't able to get it to cut a full width.) The Sears self-propelled mower cost $228 in 1981 and did forestall any uprising. Two years later it needed repair, however, and when the Sears repair shop wanted $200 for repairs, I let them keep the mower and bought the Toro. I bought it at the Richardson Lawn Mower & something shop on Coit Rd for just over $400.
The Suzuki motor was a story in itself. We had had a couple of two-cycle devices on the farm in Iowa; one was a chain-saw and the other was a Lawn-Boy lawn mower. Neither functioned all that well so I was apprehensive about a two-cycle engine. I had a choice of a Suzuki two-cycle or a Briggs & Stratton four-cycle. Since the Suzuki had a two year warranty versus a single year for the B&S, I opted for the Suzuki. (At the lawn mower shop yesterday, they told me that the Suzuki motors had functioned for years and years but are no longer available. EPA regulations have eliminated two-cycle lawn mower engines.)
For the last couple of years, I had to keep the mower running once started. It was impossible to restart when warm. It also had become increasingly difficult to start initially as well. Yesterday morning as I was mowing, the engine just stopped. I figured something was probably blocking the gas line and considered pulling the gas line apart but decided to take the mower to the shop and get both the gas line and the starting problem resolved.
At the small engine shop in Bentonville, the proprietor turned me away when I related my problems. He said, "That sounds like an ignition problem and only Toro dealers have access to the parts." When I related the story at Straight's Lawn and Garden in Springdale, they agreed but decided to check part availability first. After 27 years, Toro no longer carries the part needed to fix the ignition problem! They did seem to think that I'd gotten unusually good life from the mower.
So--I have a new four-cycle Toro mower with variable speed drive, just like our vacuum cleaner. The mower will stay ahead of you no matter how fast you walk. Apparently they chose this design feature to reduce the number of toenails trimmed by catching up to fixed speed mowers.
If you come visit during the grass cutting season from April first to November first, I'll even let you try it out. I think it's pretty neat!
Love,
Dad