All outdoor power equipment requires some maintenance to keep running in top shape. By changing the oil, air filter and keeping the equipment clean, you can extend the normal life by several years. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to get my monies’ worth from something. I believe the average life you can expect from any piece of outdoor power equipment is about 10 years, ± 2 years.
Case in point, last year, my 10 year old craftsman lawn mower bit the dust. The aluminum crank case cracked and leaked oil all over the place. I used this lawn mower at our rental house, which had an acre of lawn, then when we moved here, I used it for four more years, again, mowing about an acre of lawn every week.
Last fall, my 9 year old chain saw broke the connecting rod. The chain saw was heavily used, and a higher quality unit like a Stihl or Husqvarna may have lasted longer. This year, my 10 year old string trimmer bit the dust. The cable that transfers power from the power head to the cutting head unsprung. The whole unit was beginning to fall apart anyway, again, a higher quality unit may have lasted longer. So I have concluded that 10 years of medium to heavy use is about all you can expect from most stuff.
The Toro Model 20071A Lawn mower was brand new last year, and it has been a good unit so far. Always starts on the first or second pull and does a real nice job with the lawn.
Maintenance is pretty easy. Changing the oil took about 15 minutes, including 10 minutes of warming the engine up. I like to change the oil when the engine is warm because the it thins out the oil and more of the old oil comes out of the crank case. This unit does not have an oil plug on the bottom of the engine, so it needs to be tipped on its side. This is best done when the fuel tank is nearly empty, so gas does not leak out when it is tipped over. I use a catch pan, then empty the catch pan into my “dirty lube oil” container, which is a 5 gallon gas can so purposed. When the dirty lube oil container is full, I take the oil to my favorite garage, M. Alpert and Sons, for recycling. The lawn mower takes 20 ounces of SAE 30W detergent motor oil.
The air filter should be changed every year. The replacement filter is a Tecumseh 36905, which I found at both Lowes and Home Depot.
The old filter is on the left. That is the filter that came with the lawn mower after one season of use. You can see why they need to be replaced every year.
The only other thing that is recommended is to lube the wheel gears for the front drive wheels.
An occasional blade sharpening will also make cutting the grass much easier. You can tell when your lawn mower blade needs to be sharpened by how cleanly it is cutting the grass. A blade of grass that looks torn or shredded where it was cut is a good indicator that the blade is dull and needs to be sharpened.
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I bought this unit in 2007, this post regarding maintenance was from the spring of 2008. This unit still runs and runs well, every year I sharpen the blade, replace the air filter, change the oil and this year I changed the spark plug, ensuring that the gap was properly set. I also drain out the gas at the end of each season, usually by letting the motor run until it quits.
If one where to read through the comments, you might get the impression that the mower was no good. My experience has been, it is a good mower and does what it says it does. As for the 1-pull promise, get real. If you don’t maintain the unit, of course it’s not going to start with one pull, nothing will.
Being a mulching lawn mower, it will not handle tall grass well unless the side chute is on, and even then, it is only a 6.5 HP engine.
My best advice it do a little research and buy a unit that will do what you want it to do.
As this unit is five years old and I have no idea what the units that are rolling off the line today are like.
I have an 18 year old Toro mower with a cast aluminium deck. I change oil every year, re-oil the filter and sharpen the blade. I clean the deck underside after every cut. THis year I have just completed a stripdown of the deck, repainted and rebuilt with all original parts.
All parts even for this ancient relic are available direct from Toro. Try that for any other brand.
Oh…it still cuts grass too.
Just an FYI, the engine has a drain plug on the underside near the crank, it can be backed out with a 3/8″ drive. Draining the oil that way gets more of the gunk out than tipping it. I usually put the plug back in and add a bit of kerosene or gasoline to the crank case,let it sit about ten minutes and drain that before adding fresh oil. It helps remove the gunk that gets built up.
I just got home from buying a two year old Toro 6.5 Recycler off Craigslist. The owner didn’t have the manual that came with it (lost in the move to our town).
Paul, your posts were very helpful. I found this forum as I googled to see how to get a manual for this machine. Is there anything in the manual I really need? I’ve been maintaining my mowers for 40 years now and hope I’m not in for any suprises with this one.
The old one I’m replacing had (and I wish I’d noticed it before I bought it) a plastic idler pulley that eventually disintergated and couldn’t be replaced. I could find no metal pulley of exactly that size and it has made the self-propulsion a big pain to maintain.
So should I spring for a manual, or is everything pretty standard on this model?
6.5 Tecumseh. What is the proper spark plug gap? Where is the air filter?
Just wanted to say “thanks!” for your blog entry here on the Toro mower. I have this mower as well, and am committed to keeping it in good maintenance order.
I just bought a replacement drive cable, and it seems to be too long, but is not. Any drawings or pics as to where the spring attaches? I read that it goes on the for front left hole, but that is leaving too much slack. Thanks.
my toro recycler drive wheel spin when lifted, but on the grass there is not enough power to self propel the mower….
i have a 21 in super recycler lawn mower. it has worked great since i bought it 2 yrs ago. This Spring i used it a few times with no problems, but now if it starts it will stop right away, if it starts i can keep it running if if i keep pushing the primer button , i took the fule lines off, blew them out, the filter is clean,
Help please
Larry
Bought my Toro Personal Pace in 2002. After 9 summers worth of mowing (from April to October each year here in Ohio), the rear drive wheels finally wore out. I replaced both for $60 and 20 minutes worth of work. Other than that, I’ve had no problems with the mower. I will say the recommended “pumps” to prime the mower are way low. I always need 8-10 and then it starts right up!
Tom, you can probably download the manual from Toro’s website.
And thanks for the hint on the drain plug. I’ll try that next time I change the oil.
No idea on spark plug gap. Air filter is on the left side of the engine (from mowing perspective). It twists off counter-clockwise.
Had my 6.5 in for some work. When I got it back it seems that the rpms are not cranking the way it did before the service. Used to suck up everything in sight. Is there an adjustment? I’ d take it back but I live in the woods and I’m a distance away from the repair shop. I’ve had my rig for five years and have gone through one set of rear wheel drive gears and two rear tires. I have a hilly terrain and there is a lot of slippage when climbing the hills. Overall…I find it to be an adequate mower.
I have the 2007 model that has become difficult to start. Last year, I replaced the primer bulb (although it never did seem to actually transfer any fuel), and this year it has now cracked and not working. The Tecumseh engine is solid when running, but not easy to start. I have been mowing in 100+ degF weather lately, and if I shut the mower off, then try to restart it will not. After sitting 20 min. or so it will eventually start. Any ideas on the primer bulb/starting issues?
Also, the RF drive wheel will not free-roll. With some fiddlin’ araound by hand turning it back and forth it will sometimes start turning again. There are not grease fittings, only the small square gear box near the left front wheel. Any thoughts on this issue?
I have a 2007 model that was running at a very low RPM. I emptied the gas and oil replaced both with fresh oil and gas. I also replaced the spark plug. Now it will not turn over at all after I prime it several times. Any suggestions on what I should do.
The local repair shop says there is 2 or 3 week turn around time. My yard can’t wait that long, it has been two plus weeks since I mowed it last.
22″ recycler lawn mower personal pace Model#20067 6.75hp …Gas tank leaking and needs replacing. How hard is to do ? Any help will b appreciated !!! Thx
why would my backdrive wheels not pull when mower on ground but
spins if lifted off back wheels?
I have a 2004 Toro Recycler 22″ that needs a new battery. I would like to know if a 3.4 Ah 12 V battery with the same dimensions as the original would be enough to start this mower. I cannot get any information off the original battery other than it’s made by BB.
The OEM part number is 106-8397 and sells for over $30 which seems about double what it should cost. Any thoughts before I order the replacement for less than $15.00?
I have a 2000 Toro mulching mower. It runs, wheels spin, blade turns, but it doesnt’ cut the grass. Blade has been sharpened, deck underside cleaned. Might belt slippage be preventing it from reaching high enough RPM to cut?
Gregg,
The blade is directly driven by the engine (connected to the end of the crankshaft), so if the engine is running at normal speed and the deck is clean underneath, it should cut grass. The belt drives the transmission and wheels, so it could be broken and it would still cut grass. Make sure that the blade is not on backwards. If it is, it may blow the grass down so it can’t be cut, also the sharp part of the blade will be on the wrong side of the blade and not get to cut the grass.
Aj,
Your drive belt could be loose and slipping on the pulleys or the transmission is bad and slipping internally. Make sure the drive cable is working well and properly adjusted. I would also make sure your wheel gears are not stipped and the gears are not slipping on the transmission shaft.