Just an update for the group and those who may have been following this
thread. This past Saturday, we purchased the Toro 20031 (recycler with
electric start). It was a close call between the Cub Cadet and the Toro,
but ultimately price and the ease with which we can lift the handle (to save
space in the garage) won out. Now the bad news. On Sunday, my wife, eager
to see how the new mower felt, said she'd mow the front yard. After she
finished the front yard, I told her I could take over and mow the rest. Her
reply? "No sense in both of us needing a shower...I'll finish." I never
did get to mow, except for a couple of short stripes! :-) The self propel
handles nicely, although when I tried jogging, I found that I could outrun
the self propel mechanism. (Although it is plenty fast for "normal" mow
speeds.) Only real negative is that it does burn more gas than our old
3.5HP push mower. (And the engine noise is noticeably less than the old
mower. Probably not as quiet as the Cub or the Honda, but an improvement
all the same.) On another added note, the self propel allowed us to finish
the 0.4 acre in about 1.5 hours as opposed to the 2 hours it used to take.
Craig