Murray 24" Rear Engine Review
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Editor Rating - 7.6/10
7.6/10
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User Rating - 7.2/10
7.2/10
Summary
Murray’s 24” Rear Engine Mower is a compact model designed for small lawns around an acre or less. Its best suited for flat terrain and will struggle going up hills due to a narrow wheel base and an offset weight balance that tips the vehicle towards the rear. We give it a mediocre value score for featuring the Briggs and Stratton 190cc Pro Series Engine which is known for its high quality build and durability. The engine provides ample power for the blade and wheels as made evident by the consistent cutting that we observed. As a cheaper end model, this mower sacrifices a few features that you may find important - this will be discussed later on in the review. Overall, this mower does the job of cutting grass well, but fails to deliver on a few important aspects that all great mowers should have.
Pros:
- Affordable price will leave room in most budgets
- Small cutting deck equates to an overall smaller size
- Tight cornering thanks to a short turning radius
- Engine is powerful and known for reliability
- Having a rear engine opens up the front for increased vision
Cons:
- Manual transmission is clunky and shifting on the go rarely works properly
- Engine will stall when trying to mow in reverse
- Cannot mow up hills whatsoever
- Small Deck requires more time to mow large lawns
- Mechanical issues reported by many users
Performance:
In the model that we briefly tested, the Murray 24” Rear Engine Riding Mower showed only a select number of weaknesses. Firstly, the shifting knobs and levers were located in an uncomfortable position, and this made it harder to change gears than most other mowers. Not only was it harder to shift due to the location, but it was also jerkier than most other manuals. Next we noticed that the mower was highly unstable on hills. This is typical of rear engine mowers due to the fact that the majority of the weight is located at the rear. Lastly, the test model failed to mow in reverse which is disappointing considering this is an advertised feature of the model. Aside from these downsides, the Murray mower handled well and cut grass evenly. We noticed that it could corner even better than other comparably sized models, and its top speed was as advertised around 4-5mph.
Final Thoughts:
Unfortunately for this Murray mower, other users online have reported extreme technical and mechanical difficulties. From reading the experiences of buyers, we have noticed a trend of inconsistency in the mower and unreliability in the company. Several individuals have reported the company for failing to amend issues with the mower and for failing to honor warranties. Common problems include failure to start the engine and tremendously faulty transmissions. Although we had a pleasant experience during our own tests, there have been too many poor reviews from other buyers for us to recommend this mower. Instead, we suggest everybody in the entry-level market to check out a similar rear engine mower by Troy-Bilt. It is both cheaper and more reliable with thousands of available customer reviews online.