Briggs And Stratton 500 Series Push Mower

by Louise Westendorf
(Lula, Georgia)

We have a Briggs & Stratton 500 Series push-mower that is perhaps four years old. It has so far proven to be an excellent machine for our one acre property, which is mostly weeds with about hundred square feet of sod (you know how these subdivisions are laid out).

It's a pain to get going, as most pull-start mowers are, but once it gets started it gets the job done quickly and efficiently. We've used it on thick grass, stalky-weeds, scant flora, rocky ground, tangles of briars and blackberry vines, uphill, downhill, side to side, and it does a great job.

It seems to do its best on the plain sod front lawn but when forced onto the rocky, uneven ground in the backyard it keeps up the pace well. Even when it encounters rocks and small stones it merely spits them out its side and continues annihilating the flora it is pushed across.

The blade appears to be holding its edge nicely and stays very clean, even when it kicks up lots of dust during dry spells. In the worst case a quick spray from a garden hose renders the entire machine and blade well cleansed. Give it a few minutes in the sun to dry and it is ready to be stored in the garage or tool shed.

We purchased our Briggs and Startton mower from a Lowes store in Cornelia, Georgia, about twelve miles from our home in Lula, in the spring of 2007. It was about two hundred dollars and well worth every penny. It has been great for our property in its rural subdivision and would be excellent for any household with one to two acres of grass that needs to be consistently maintained.

Any more than that and you'd be better with a riding lawnmower, as pushing this machine for more than twenty minutes at a time can be very tiring.