Toro Recycler 20331 Lawn Mower

by Richard G. Knight
(Springfield, MO)

We have the Toro High Wheel Recycler Self Propelled Power Motor, Model number 20331. We love this mower! We bought our mower 3 months ago once spring began. Our lawn gets a lot of water and the grass grows tall and thick. We wanted a more powerful mower that would cut through our very thick grass with ease. So we went into Home Depot and this make and model was recommended.

It was a fair price and came with a leaf blower too. Our yard is large and this mower does a good job on a decent sized lot. It is much faster because it cuts through the grass with ease. Because you can adjust the blade, you can cut the grass very low if you want to.

The Toro 20331 mower does well on hills, and my seventeen year old can push this mower with no struggle at all. Since, we have purchased the mower we have used it twice a week to mow for a total of 20 times, and it still mows like new.

I only have two complaints about this mower. Because we have a dog and little children, we have to bag the grass. If we don’t the mower kicks out clumps of grass which we need to rake or they get everywhere.

The mower bag fills up very quickly. It seems to be smaller than other models. The only other drawback to this Toro mower is that if the grass is really thick, it will die as you push through it. It does not do this often, but when it does, it is a pain. My neighbors have other models, and theirs seem to fare better. However, if we stay on top of the lawn, we never have this problem.

Overall, this is a good mower. It is light, easy to use, and easy to push. It is very durable and comes with an excellent warranty. It was a great price, compared to other similar mowers. We like it a lot and it is a good buy.

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Toro Recycler 20331 Lawn Mower

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Jan 03, 2012
Rating

Toro 22 Inch High Wheel Recycler 20331
by: Lori Smith

I bought this Toro 20331 mower last spring after struggling with my previous mower in our newly sodded yard (the gaps in the sod seemed to suck the wheels right in). I knew I needed something with larger wheels to help. I also wanted a self-propelled walk behind.

Stopping & starting the "pushing" isn't always such a difficult task, but after a couple hundred of those push starts over a large hilly yard, self propelling seemed like it might be a handy feature (especially after waking up with sore muscles the next morning).

So with those items on my list, 1.) large wheels 2.) self propelled 3.) walk behind (there's no way a riding mower would work in our yard with all the landscaping, trees, swingset, & other obstacles scattered around) I started the search.

I found the Toro lawn mower range to have good ratings overall, and it didn't take me long to find one that seemed perfect for what I needed! The Toro 20331 self propelled mower was on homedepot.com, but they also carried it in the store. I did not want to wait for it to ship, so I bought the machine in store within a couple days & have enjoyed it ever since.

It helps with pushing over the sod ruts & small holes the kids & dog dig in the yard, as well as alleviates the muscles soreness I was getting the morning after. It has good speed and power, and always starts quickly & easily.

Blazes right over the thick St. Augustine grass we have, and does well even over thick patches of leaves. I haven't used the bag much these days because I do not like to stop & empty it, but that seems to be an issue with every bagging kind.

Overall I cant find anything about the Toro Recycler 20331 high wheel lawn mower I DON'T like. I still don't enjoy cutting the lawn, but at least it's a little more tolerable.

Oct 16, 2011
Rating

Toro 20331 Is A Superb All Round Mower
by: Woodrow Perkins

I have been shopping for a new lawn mower after I made the final installment payment of the purchase on my home. It was a way that I wanted to celebrate finally making the accomplishment of paying off my single family 1 story home and I have been researching for quite some time for just the right kind of mower.

I knew that I was looking for a mower that had mulching capabilities for the clippings so I could add them to my recycling bin with ease. The mandatory items that I was looking for was cost, ease of use, size (didn?t need something huge or a riding mower!) something that my 11 year old son could use with little to no supervision and something that was going to be considered low maintenance.

I did not want to worry about priming a gas line or having lines that would tangle underneath the carriage. I wanted something that I could clean the clippings with and not have extreme difficulty maneuvering around my edging.

When a friend told me to look at Home Depot for their mowers I was encouraged because Home Depot I have shopped at in the past and they price compare if you have coupons for other stores such as Lowe?s.

With it being the beginning of the summer season, I was able to walk in, look around, speak with the sales person in the patio area and then left that same day with my new Toro 20331 mower. One of the best features on this particular model is the wheels in the front are actually smaller than the ones in the back.

As I have already mentioned, I have pathways and lots of edging with curves for my small property and grassy areas and I did not want to spend a good majority of my time working on the corners and curves of the land.

The larger rear wheels on the Toro made movement around my smaller yard much easier than I could have hoped for. It also has a padded grip bar so I do not get blisters while using the machine. To clean it underneath I just take a normal garden hose and drench the carriage to get all the muck and clippings that get inside.

The drawback is that it did take some getting used to as far as power goes. With my prior mower (and one of the reasons I was paying a gardener) was the constant feel that I was pushing the mower. With my new Toro 20031, it feels like it is almost running away from me! Granted I know that it is not racing down the lawn but it did take some getting used to. The mower was basically assembled for me at the store and all I had to do was load it up into my truck for ready to use.

Oct 06, 2011
Rating

The Mulching Is First Rate With The Toro 20331 Recycler
by: Peter L. Walker

I recently purchased a Toro 22inch Recycler Self Propelled Mower" (model number 20331) for $279 from The Home Depot. Previously, I had been using a 20 year old mower I had inherited from my dad, which unfortunately finally threw a rod and died, irreparably.

I am the sort of person who fixes old rather than buys new, and I had been keeping the old mower going through minor repairs the past few seasons - it took a catastrophic break down for me to buy a new one, and even then, only reluctantly.

I reviewed a number of mowers online, and found this Toro appealing, for a number of reasons:

1) the brand
2) the price
3) the high wheels and
4) the self propel feature.

I went over to my local Home Depot, and was glad to find they had the 20331 model I wanted in stock. I made my purchase, and brought it home in my SUV, where the box fitted easily in the hatch. I unpacked the box, and found the set-up extremely simple, taking less than 20 minutes. I filled the new Toro machine up with gas, and was ready to go! I was not disappointed.

I was immediately astounded at the improvement versus my 20 year old beast - where the old mower was heavy, the new was light and nimble. Where the old "self-propel" provided a mild assist, I just about needed to run to keep up with the Toro. Where the old mower "mulched" but left behind clumps, the Toro left not a trace of the clippings. While the old mower sounded like a diesel truck, the new one hummed like a new sports car.

Mow time was reduced substantially. I have nearly an acre, and what used to take me 2.5 hours now takes 1 hour. I have tried both the mulching and bagging features and have been happy with each. Attaching the bag was extremely easy, but unnecessary as the mulching is first rate.

As promised, the Toro 20331 mower always starts in less than 3 pulls, and has not stalled once in several uses, even in high, wet grass. Cutting height is easily adjusted via toggles on each wheel. I keep the front shorter than the back, and making quick adjustments is easily accomplished.

My only complaint is that the machine moves so fast that I sometimes have to remember to slow down on the down side of the hilly part of the property. When I forget, the machine pulls so fast, I am afraid I may slip. This is easily remedied by remembering to release the self-propel engage on the down slope.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied, and if I had known how much better a new Toro mower would be, I would have purchased sooner. I wasted hours of mow and repair time on the old machine, and if time is money, it was a waste to keep the old gal going. I can only hope this new mower will last me 20 years as my last one did - and knowing the quality products Toro makes, I expect that it will!

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