Customer Reviews

Lawn Boy 10796 Insight Platinum Series 21-Inch Honda GC160 5 HP OHV Gas Powered Engine Self-Propelled Lawn Mower with Sens-a-Speed And Electric Start

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Coming from a $130 Lowe's, Briggs & Stratton mower, you may not think it would take much to impress me. (which may be right to some extent) I've used this mower for 3 yard cuts at this point; and I freakin' love it. I've taken apart everything I can take apart without voiding the warranty, looked underneath it, etc. It is a very solidly built, well-made mower.

I went with this model mainly for the Honda GCV 160 engine. I've always had mowers that used Briggs and Stratton and have always noticed a loss of power as time passes in spite of diligent maintenance. I had heard the Honda engines were quite powerful and long-lived, not unlike their automotive counterparts.

The engine itself runs fairly quiet. The air filter it uses did impress me as well. It uses one just like your car would use (only a smaller version) vs. the green sponge you have to dowse in oil on many Briggs and Stratton engines. Also, placement of the gas and oil lid are in high, convenient locations. One slight disappointment is that the mower apparently does not have an oil drain plug like my [...]mower from Lowe's had. No big deal, you just have to tip the mower over to change the oil. It made it easy having the plug since I could drive the mower up onto an oil pan and unthread the plug. o well.

The aluminum decking seems extremely solid and will theoretically never rust. The wheels are wide and durable. The wheel height adjustment is quite easy: other sites online have complained about the height adjusters being a hard plastic, rather than aluminum or some type of steel. I really didn't notice a problem; they seemed really sturdy to me. This is something you shouldn't be changing much anyway once you get it set where you want it. Hopefully if you're looking at a mower of this caliber, you know to cut your grass on one of the higher settings to encourage deeper root growth, and avoid scalping.

The sens-a-speed tech works great. The handle (which is height adjustable btw) has a spring loaded device that depresses as you push it. This causes the propulsion to kick in. I have used a neighbor's mower where the self propel was all-or-nothing which makes for quite an awkward mowing experience. If you're pushing the handle a little, the mower creeps; if you push it more, it gets moving. But there is no jerkiness. The unit has an actual transmission that governs this so don't know if that would be prone to going out or not down the road. Lawnboy says the transmission clutches and gears are sealed against dirt, etc. and that it should be maintenance free.

A note on propulsion: there are 2 spring loaded sensors (one on each side) and the one on the right had been dislodged during shipping in such a way that the self-propel was not functioning properly. It required a sharp jab to get the propulsion going. Well, once I finished mowing the yard, I looked at it and figured out the problem. The casing that sinks into the handle bar was not seated in properly. Once I made this adjustment, the self propel worked great. Just take note of this when the mower arrives. Make sure both sides look symmetrical. And that depression of the handle is smooth without having to bump it to go down.

The mower offers bagging, side discharge, and mulching. I have the mower set to mulching since bagging is a huge PITA and also since many lawn companies (i.e. Scott's Lawn) actually recommend you mulch the grass to provide better yard nutrition. Mulching works great. Since my other mower died and I waited a while before ordering this one; my yard looked like a Vietnamese jungle. This mower did not bog down, or even slow down once. (I have a thick, sodded, fescue yard to boot.)

Mower came pretty much completely assembled. You just have to adjust the handle since it comes in its storage position (which my wife loves, the mower takes up much less space if you stand the handle straight up.) You have to screw on a cap on the handle once you get the height adjusted. You then have to put oil in the unit of course, which the mower does not come with. It uses SAE 30w. I found a Castrol HD product at AutoZone that meets the requirements; the manual does ask for the oil you choose to exceed many of the API oil requirements that exist. Also synthetic is approved for use with the engine. I will probably switch to that after I run out of what I bought since synthetic may add a little longevity, in theory. The mower uses so little oil it's worth paying a little more, I think, if the synthetic preserves engine parts a little longer.

One other oil tip: manual recommends changing the oil after 5 hours usage initially. I went ahead and changed it after 3 mows. Also, before you change it, crank it up and let it run a couple minutes to heat the oil. Now that's CHANGING IT. Don't ever crank up your mower without oil in it. Heated oil will remove more contaminants, metallic debris, etc. that a new engine will likely produce.

Key start ignition is awesome. Turn lever to choke and turn the key. So far, the mower has never started on the first attempt, but always starts by the third. With these honda engines, there is a ARCS (auto return choke system.) What this means is once you pull the blade safety engage bar down, the switch automatically starts drifting away from the choke position. (It is during this 4 second span you must turn the ignition key.) I think mine moves a little too quickly which what may be resulting in the engine not starting 1st try. I'm also using leftover gas from last season which may be contributing.

These Insight Platinum mowers come with a 5 year Parts and Labor Warranty. The catch is you are responsible for the transportation of the unit to a dealer. So BEFORE YOU BUY, go to lawnboy.com, click warranty and do a search for dealers in your area. If you have one close by, go ahead and call to verify they provide Lawnboy warranty service repairs. Out of the 5 in my area, two of them no longer provided warranty repairs and one of them was on a 4 week back log for warranty work. Now that's not a reason to not buy online since even those that purchased their mower from this particular dealer would still have to wait 4 weeks for a repair. (Meaning you would be without your mower for a month!) This particular dealer, I think, was just managed exceptionally poorly and did not know how to deal with customer volume. I found another nearby dealer quite easily who could accommodate warranty work with a 1 week repair estimate. This info is important to find out ahead of time, though, to avoid stress afterwards if your mower arrives damaged in any way.

There is only a 1 year warranty on the battery. Keep in mind, you'll have to charge it for 24 hours before 1st use.

One final tip: If you are a Prime member, wait til close of the cutoff for shipping that day, and pay for OVERNIGHT SHIPPING. My reasoning for this is that you want UPS to be in possession of your new mower for as little as time as possible. UPS is known by those of us who rely on shipping for our livelihood, to be a little "rough" with packages. By requesting 1 day shipping towards the end of the day, it more or less requires overnight air on Amazon's part. You do not want UPS bouncing this thing around with ground transport. They are notorious for delivering boxes that look like they've been run over by a forklift.

Also, plan to be at home the next day since Amazon does require an indirect signature (meaning anyone present at your address) on purchases over $400. And for God's sake, if your package looks like they tied a rope to it and dragged it from California, REFUSE IT.

You can't return this thing to Amazon due to Amazon policy on combustible engine items; so if the box looks like hell, let UPS take it back with them so they can finish it off. You will have no recourse if you sign and accept receipt of the package. I would be quite mad if I had to take a brand new mower in for warranty repair before its first use.

So the 5 star review is based strictly on the mower itself, not UPS delivery (downside), or warranty repair (potential downside.) I have already built up an affection for this little guy. My other mower and I were a team out of necessity, but we really didn't like each other much. But with this mower, it has a personality and I'm starting to like it as much as I do my dog.

A previous reviewer warned that UPS on this type of item often damages and mishandles the carton and that if any damage is seen to refuse delivery as Amazon will not take a return on this once opened. I received this item when UPS put it in my garage without ringing the doorbell even though I was home all day waiting for them and our cars were in the driveway. Hoping that in spite of the carton appearance the $650 Lawnboy was not damaged, I opened the carton and found several loose bolts, handle pieces, springs and controls with no clue how to put Humpty Dumpty back together. Amazon will not offer a return for "Haz-Mat" reasons even though the tags clearly state the mower is bereft of gas and oil. They suggested that I lug the unit to an authorized Lawnboy dealer to fix and they would consider the repair bill. I informed them to recconsider using UPS on such items.

This is the best mower we have ever owned. It is also the most expensive. My sons took on the job of mowing our yard this summer. With our old gas push mower it took them over 3 hours to mow our 1/2 acre lot. The self propelled mechanism is amazing. I can push the mower as fast as I care to and the mechanism keeps up. The first time I used it I really felt like I was chasing it around the yard. Since you simply push the handle forward to activate rather than work a separate leaver, it is completely natural and my children adapted to it in minutes. With it they can complete the yard in 2 hours and are not complaining of exhaustion when they are done.

We have been using the mulching feature which leaves very little grass behind. The self propelled mechanism does put a bit of drag on the mower when pulled but this can be minimized. The bag seems a bit small but we have not used it yet. The mower starts easily on the first pull so we have not charged the battery or tried the electric start. We might have saved some money and not gotten this feature. The Honda motor is quieter than other engines and I do not notice fuel odors that were present on all previous mowers. The overall build quality is impressive. I expect to have this mower for many years.

We purchased this item direct from Amazon.com in June 2009. It arrived within (2) Days (FREE SHIPPING!!!). My wife and I easily assembled it in about (15) Minutes including filling it with OIL.....(Not Included). I emphasize this because there was some residual oil in the crank case probably from operational testing at the manufacturer. If someone started the motor without heeding the warnings it could be a disaster. Otherwise, this is a great mower. Its easy starting, cuts perfectly, and moves effortlessly. I love to watch my wife doing the lawn...!!! Chuck_H

Finally, a mower that is worth what is charged! If you want a mower that requires no assembly and you simply fill with gas and oil and turn the key....this is it. The wheels are easily adjustable and the blade really chops the grass into riny pieces because I only have to dump 2 times on my front lawn and four on my rear - which is exactly half the number my other Toro mower requires.

When you're done wasting your money on kiddie mowers, upgrade to a MAN"S MOWER. I would highly recommend this one!

in the 4 years i have owned this mower it has cost me $250 in repairs and the starter needs to be replaced for another $100. carb has been replaced. i will never own another honda engine it has been alot of trouble. mower does not bag well at all. very dissapointed with lawn boy customer service. stay away from lawn boy and honda.

Beware Lawn doesn't honor their warrenty and said you have to replace the air filter every month. Had it 2 months when it started stalling out. I had taken the filter out and cleaned it after each use and it looked fine. Took it to lawn repair shop . As soon as I told them I bought it over the net , she said Lawn Boy usually don't honor their warrenty if bought over the net(I didn't buy it at Amazon, wish I had). They said the filter was bad and it damaged the spark plug so I had to pay $60. Called Lawn Boy and she was very rude and started immediately to insult me, I was shocked because I was being nice but was frustrated. She said I had to replace the spark plug and filter after every 10 hours of use if necessary( the manual said after 200 ours). So beware you will have to replace the filter monthly or when it starts sputtering, cleaning it won't help, not like the old mowers that will run almost forever on a filter. I would give it 5 stars if it wasn't for customer service and the filter problem.