During my summertime drives through Pennsylvania’s picturesque countryside, I’ve noticed that many local businesses specialize in landscaping. Toro is the most common brand I see on their equipment. There is no denying that Toro is the go-to brand for commercial and residential mowers across the country. In order to evaluate the quality of this line, we here at Pro Tool Reviews decided to take on a couple of Toro Self-Propelled lawnmower reviews.
We brought in the Toro 20332 and 20353 22-inch Personal Pace Recycler Lawnmowers. Everything else about these mowers is identical, with the exception of the self-propelled motors.
UNDERCOVER TORO MOWER RIDERS
New and exciting options are available on the Toro 22″ Personal Pace Recycler series of self-propelled lawnmowers. The 163cc Briggs & Stratton engine in these mowers produces 7.25 ft-lbs of torque. Due to this. They are ideal for yards that are not too big or too small. Thanks to the all-wheel-drive self-propel system, even yards with mild inclines are no problem. The 22-inch deck makes quick work of large areas before upgrading to a riding mower, maximizing efficiency.
READY TO BEGIN?
The “Guaranteed-to-Start” guarantee was fulfilled. As the name suggests. With the Toro promo code ReadyStart auto choke feature, priming or choking the engine is unnecessary. One or two pulls are all it takes to get the Briggs & Stratton EXi 163cc going. I’ve only ever had to pull it twice, but even then, it usually started on the first try.
Toro also cleverly positioned the recoil start handle. Which I found to be both convenient and not awkward in any way.
BRIEF INITIAL CONVERSATIONAL PACE PERSONALITY
A few years ago, when I was in the market for a new push mower, I had to decide between a standard mower and a self-propelled model. The size, the fuel economy, and the ease of maintenance were the most important factors for me. Ultimately, I went with the self-propelled version and haven’t regretted it.
Depending on your preference, you can choose between three distinct modes of operation when using the Personal Pace function on the AWD model from Toro. You have the option of going completely unassisted, of using a fully automatic self-propelled handle that advances automatically as you do, or of using a traction-assisted handle that lets you adjust the amount of assistance.
I had to get used to the fact that the fully automatic handle is not a fixed bar. The handle advances in response to your grasp, providing varying degrees of assistance. The constant back-and-forth movement of the gripped handle as you walk gives the impression that you are mowing the lawn with a bungee cord.
TORO Pulley Pulling Handle
My use of Personal Pace and the mower itself became second nature after a short learning curve. For steep inclines, I often grabbed hold of the centrally located traction assist handle. It’s a little uncomfortable to hold the mower in the middle of the bar while adjusting the level of assistance you want. I get why the handle is in the middle, but it would be nice if it were on the side so that pushing it would feel more natural.
Mulching is a great alternative to bagging grass if you don’t want to deal with the hassle. However, there are those who, for whatever reason (perhaps because of the abundance of leaves), will only mow with a bag. Toro’s recycle mode mulches the grass with its Atomic blade lift system, and its bagging mode allows for easy switching between the two. Better yet, you can flip the switch even as the mower operates.
TORO Cleaning and Bagging
Reviewing a Toro self-propelled lawnmower is not complete without looking into its bagging capabilities. That’s a big deal in some parts of the country. When using the bag-on-demand function, I found that it occasionally failed to properly eject the cuttings to the rear of the bag, leading to a buildup of debris. This increased the frequency with which I had to empty the bag. The bag has a sturdy two-point hinge system, making it simple to put on and take off.
Toro needs to let more air out of the bag. A number of times, even with dry grass, I had to reach in to pull out the clippings when I dumped them. On a few occasions, when I stopped to empty the bag, the mower would leave a trail of grass cuttings that would have to be cleaned up before I could resume cutting.
TRANSFORMING THE TORO MOWER’S CUTTING HEIGHT
There are seven full stops and two half stops ranging from 1 inch to 4 inches for the cutting height. Professionals appear to prefer dual-lever systems, which allow for independent adjustment of each wheel, for their increased rigidity. As there are fewer moving parts, it’s less likely to break.
WASHER OUT PORT CLEANING
The blades and deck of the Toro 22″ Personal Pace Recycler Lawnmower can be easily cleaned with the included washout port and garden hose. You’ll need to grip the plastic nut firmly while you turn it on the hose.
It facilitates cleaning the deck, but it doesn’t completely remove dirt. If you can’t pick up your mower and hose it off by hand, we highly suggest getting one of these. The best method, if possible, is to tip the mower on its side and spray it down. Whether I used the quick wash connector or tipped the mower back to spray the grass off depended on how wet the grass was.
THE TORO 20353 ROTATING MOWER HAS AN ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE SYSTEM
One of my favorite parts of my Toro 20353 lawn mower is the Wheel Drive traction aid. Rear-wheel drive is standard on the Toro 20332 Personal Pace mower. Mowing up or down steep slopes is made more difficult by the loss of traction that occurs on uneven ground. Wheel Drive allows the front and rear wheels to rotate in their own axes on a suitably aggressive tread. If you need to mow an incline, this will give you the best traction possible.
When compared to the regular Personal Pace, the Toro 20353 AWD mower is light years ahead. These mowers’ top speeds appeared to be roughly the same, at around 4.8 miles per hour. Fast mowing was easy with that much.
BRIGGS & STRATTON 7.25 FT-LBS 163CC MOTOR
The 163cc Briggs & Stratton engine is a powerhouse. Because of the frequent business trips I have to make, my yard is often a mess when I finally return home after a week or two away. The exceptional slicing capacity makes “catching up” a breeze.
The Personal Pace model, which does not have all-wheel drive, is still quite powerful. When the Personal Pace handle is pushed all the way down in a dense St. Augustine lawn, the 7.25 foot-pounds of gross torque at 2600 RPM become apparent. This model’s potency and rear-wheel drive make for a formidable combination. The lawnmower never loses momentum. Instead, it keeps on going strong, even when burdened with a heavier and heavier sack.
Even when cutting tall, wet grass, the engine never slowed down. In St. Augustine, Florida, it took about an hour to mow half an acre.
As an added bonus, the engine is very quiet and operates with no rough spots. While mowing the lawn, I could talk to my dad from ten feet away. Although we advise using earplugs at all times, this mower’s output is low enough that it can be used for several hours without causing OSHA concerns. Since I’m a musician and have been known to belt out a tune while mowing the lawn, I was interested to learn that the engine is tuned to the note F#/Gb (in case you get inspired to write a song while you’re working).
CONCLUSION
This mower has enough power to cut through even thick St. Augustine grass (crabgrass to those of you up north) once you get used to the Personal Pace function. There’s room for improvement in bagging, and you might end up using the washout port very little. This mower can be folded up for easy storage, but loading it into and out of a truck bed will require two people.
To my delight, Toro strategically located all serviceable components. These Toro mowers seem capable of handling both light and heavy mowing jobs. Choose the Toro self-propelled lawnmower with all-wheel drive if your yard is steep, but either model will do a fine job on a flat lawn.
