On 9/29/2005 9:34 AM US(ET), Stubby took fingers to keyboard, and typed
the following:

G wrote:

I have about .4 acres to mow. Originally I was looking at
self-propelled, but have been convinced by a long-
time mower friend (this is my 1st house and I've NEVER mowed before),
that a push-model is good enough. That the more complex a mower (i.e.
Propel vs. push), the more things can go wrong, and I'm 30 & fit so a
push should not be an issue. Land is mostly flat, backyard slants up
about 30 degrees. Obviously, electric not an option.

After looking at Consumers Reports and reading a lot of stuff in
general, I'm considering the Craftsman 38886. It's a push, large-rear
wheels, with mulching & rear-
bagging. I wish I could find out if it is ball-bearing or not (I'll
go this weekend to look at it and hopefully the salepeerson would
know....we'll see....is there any way to tell myself?)

Any opinions on Craftsman push mulching/rear-bagging mowers,
specifially the 38886? Oh yea, it's B&S 6.5hp

Thanks a ton, trying not to make a bad decision considering I've
never owned a mower before, and I figure a $220 Craftsman is better
than spending $700 on a Honda HRX217HXA now that I have mortgage
payments...


FWIW, My beef with Sears (Craftsman) is they only guarantee repair
parts availability for *one years* now. Back when, the said parts
would be available for "life". Sears is nothing but a marketing
outfit that sells what they get from their vendors, and that can
change monthly.


What Craftsman repair parts would you need for a push mower? After all,
it is just a chassis to hold an engine with a mower blade attached.
Replacement mower blades, wheels, and other non-Craftsman common parts
are available almost everywhere, like engine parts for B&S engines. My
Craftsman self-propelled, B&S powered mower is over 20 years old and I
have only changed the blade once and the pull starter cord once (neither
of which were Sears parts). It looks like s**t with the rust, dents, and
cracked plastic parts, but it cuts grass as well as it did when new.

--
Bill