Troy Bilt TB280 ES TriAction Mower

by Shaun Mitchell
(Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)

I currently own a Troy Bilt TB280 ES TriAction lawn mower. I've had this particular mower since June of 2010. I live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and during the summer, my lawn grows so fast that I have to cut it twice a week. I've owned several lawn movers in the past, but the Troy Bilt TB280 far surpasses them all.

This machine is powerful. When I first used the self-propelled feature, I almost had to run to keep up with it. Pine needles tend to accumulate on one side of my lawn, which would quickly stop all of my previous mowers, but the TB280 cuts through them with no effort. Although I try to avoid them or pick them up beforehand, pinecones and sticks also pose no problem to this mower's 21 inch blade.

This mower also came with a side discharge attachment, and an optional rear bag. The rear bag is helpful during the fall and early winter seasons as well, since I can just mow over leaves and gather them in the bag, rather than having to rake and bag them by hand.

So far, maintenance has been a non-issue and performance has been superb. I really can't complain about anything from this mower and would recommend it to anyone looking to buy a new one. I purchased this one at a local Lowe's home improvement store. This lawn mower isn't particularly large by any means, and could be handled easily even in a small yard, although my own lawn is of average size.

For larger yards, it really is up to how much effort the user wants to put into trimming their lawn. The self-propelled feature is quite effective in this mower, so cutting the grass isn't so much more difficult than walking. However, for a really large lawn, it would probably still be best to purchase a riding lawn mower, mainly because of the larger blade size offered.