Mower Horsepower Is Up

 

Honda?EUR??,,????'???s IZY 53SP is powered by a big 5.5hp 4-stroke motor with a self-propelled drive. The Japan-based company is one of several mower manufacturers vying for customers with bigger, more powerful engines.

Where 3.5hp push mowers represented the standard 10 years ago, today it?EUR??,,????'???s not uncommon to find slope-nosed 7.5-h.p. models looking poised for takeoff at stores.

?EUR??,,????'??There?EUR??,,????'???s definitely a horsepower war going on,?EUR??,,????'?? says Peter Sawchuk, lawn-and-garden expert at Consumer Reports in Yonkers, N.Y. ?EUR??,,????'??More horsepower is considered better. [But] there are points in which more horsepower doesn?EUR??,,????'???t do much for you,?EUR??,,????'?? he adds. ?EUR??,,????'??And we?EUR??,,????'???re probably well past that point.?EUR??,,????'??

Others say the boost simply affords buyers more choice. US consumers snap up some 6 million powered walk-behinds each year, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI). And they increasingly demand mowers that do more.

?EUR??,,????'??If you just want to make tall grass short you can get a 3.5 or 4 [h.p.] and still get the job done,?EUR??,,????'?? says George Thompson, vice president for communications at the Wauwatosa, Wis., firm Briggs & Stratton, a major US manufacturer of mower engines.

?EUR??,,????'??A Kia will get you there, as will a Maserati,?EUR??,,????'?? he says, comparing the cheap-to-exorbitant spectrum of cars to lawn mowers. ?EUR??,,????'??Obviously the Maserati has a lot more features on it. And a lot more horsepower.?EUR??,,????'??

Mr. Sawchuk can recall when basic, unmodified ride-on mowers ?EUR??,,????'??? which sell at a rate of about 2 million a year, according the OPEI ?EUR??,,????'??? came with 12-h.p. engines. Now, he says, they run to 20 or 22.

Mr. Thompson could not say what horsepower rating currently sells best for Briggs & Stratton, but he says the average level has risen steadily through the years.

Sawchuk acknowledges the widening array of features that gulp more power. But he also suspects that a marketing mind-set lurks in the tall grass: If 5 h.p. is good, 7 is better.

Much more sobering: the debate over mowers?EUR??,,????'??? environmental impact. Watch groups point to the significant amount of pollutants ?EUR??,,????'??? from nitrous oxide to carbon monoxide to volatile organic compounds ?EUR??,,????'??? still being unleashed by small engines, government-regulated only since about the mid-1990s.

The amount of pollutants from small engines continued to rise into the late 1990s, according to EPA statistics.

And some mowermakers have made extraordinary leaps. Honda, a company known for wringing power and efficiency from engines of all sizes, is poised to introduce new low-emissions mower engines ?EUR??,,????'??? primarily for ride-ons ?EUR??,,????'??? with advanced electronic controls. Engine speed will vary automatically according to ?EUR??,,????'??load.?EUR??,,????'?? Thick grass? The engine sends more power along to the blades.

Source: Christian Science Monitor