Overview

This is probably the biggest and most expensive residential grade walk behind mower you’ll come across. At a cutting width of 30″ wide it will definitely shave some time off your lawn cutting duties. If it holds up.

 

 

 

40%
Price

 

80%
Ease of Use

 

Mower

Let’s cover the standard specs of the mower first. Its 13 gauge stamped steel deck sits on 8 inch front wheels and 10 inch rear wheels. The machine weighs in at 138 lbs which is pretty heavy for a regular mower.

This Toro TimeMaster 21199 Mower is rear wheel drive, powered by a 223cc Briggs and Stratton engine with 10 ft lbs of torque. Is this enough power? The answer is definitely a mixed bag. A lot of people say yes, it is plenty of power even mowing on a hill side with forward speeds of up to 4.5MPH. While others claim the mower bogs down in the slightest of wet grass.

I’ve also seen a lot of complaints of grass collecting on the underside of the deck leading to some of the bogging down issues but hopefully the baffle system on the newer models helps prevent some of that.

One of the biggest pain points on this mower is the gas tank. It only checks in at 0.3 gallons. Basically most people can’t even cut 1/3 acre on that size tank. So keep that in mind if you have a larger yard (which the mower is rated for yards between 1/2 to 1 acre) you might want to have some spare gas ready.

For oil changes you’ll probably want to get something like this Oil Change Pump to make things easier, otherwise you have to tip the mower over which will probably make a mess, not to mention the mower is quite bulky too.

The Personal Pace feature on this Toro Self Propelled mower is great as it basically keeps up with you no matter what pace you are walking. The only issue is the transmission has some issues that keep coming up in review. It seems they’re on the cheaper end and go out frequently. They are covered under the 3 year warranty but that is still a pain to deal with anytime you have to put the mower in the shop. For those DIYers out there, they cost about $80 to order a replacement online and are not super hard to change if you consider yourself mechanically inclined.

The other issue that I see quite regularly mentioned is the idler pulleys seem to have trouble also. They seem to seize up a lot and have to be replaced. This is hopefully something Toro has addressed on the latest model.

This Toro TimeMaster Mower allows you to either bag your clippings, mulch them or spit them out of the side discharge. The other nice thing about this mower is the blade stop feature where you can stop the blade from spinning but it doesn’t shut off the whole mower. This is handy if you have to move a garden hose out of the way, for example.

As you can see in the video below, the quality of cut from the Toro Time Master Mower is second to none. Those are truly some beautiful stripes.
 
This model does not have the electric start (with key) feature, this is the more traditional pull cord style mower. However, if you want the electric start, it is $100 more and available here: Toro TimeMaster 21200 With Electric Start

 

 

Click here to read the full warranty for the Toro TimeMaster 21199 Mower
Service Manual for Toro TimeMaster 30″ Walk Behind Mower

 

Final Thoughts

This mower has all the potential in the world. It is perfect for those type of people with yards that are too big to push mow with a 21″ mower but too small to step up to a regular riding mower.

For the price tag I would have expected a little higher quality parts being used for the transmission and idler pulleys.

If you are one of the lucky ones that gets a good mower without the transmission or idler pulley issues I think you’ll be extremely happy with this mower. You have to consider if it is worth the potential mechanical headaches for the increased speed and efficiency this mower offers.

 

 

Affiliate Disclaimer – if you decide to purchase a mower based on my review, I do get a small piece of the sale. It helps to keep the lights on around here. I am very passionate about lawns and mowers and offer my unbiased review towards everything that goes on this site. I research several pages, specs, videos, forums and other reviews of each mower before I post about it so you don’t have to. If I wouldn’t buy it myself, I wouldn’t recommend it to you either.

– Brandon

Brandon

I am very passionate about lawns and mowers and offer my unbiased review towards everything that goes on this site. I research several pages, specs, videos, forums and other reviews of each mower before I post about it so you don't have to.