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...

If you get a push mower just about anything will be ok provided you take
good care of it. There is little to go wrong outside the engine. I
would look for a heavier gauge steel (or cast Aluminum or
Aluminum/Magnesium alloy) for the deck. Don't leave a lot of wet grass
clippings impacted on the bottom of the deck after you mow, as this will
encourage rust - especially if you have recently fertilized. Change the
oil at the end of the season and either run the gas out of the tank or
put some gas stabilizer in the tank. Don't leave your mower outside in
the weather uncovered (you'd be surprised how many people do this).
Preferably keep it in a garage or a enclosed outbuilding. If you can't
do that at the least throw a tarp over it and stick it under something
(deck, lean-to, milk crate, whatever).

Personally, for .4 acres I would go with a good quality self-propelled.
If you let the grass get high (and who on occasion doesn't unless they
have nothing to do but cut the lawn) a push mower can be a real chore to
manhandle through higher grass - even on a perfectly flat lawn. A good
brand self-propelled (Honda, Toro, Husqvarna, and maybe a few other
select brands) should give years of reliable service if you take care of
it (same kind of maintenance as mentioned earlier). I've got a Honda
Harmony self propelled that I bought at Home Depot about 5 years ago and
it has never given me a problem. The self-propelled unit is working
fine and it starts with one pull every time just like when it was new.
Your gonna pay around $400 ~ $450 for a good self propelled (yes, you
can pay more). You might squeeze in a little under that $400 figure if
you shop around now at the end of the season. I think I saw Lowes
selling a Husqvarna self propelled (with a Honda motor, same as on my
Harmony which I consider to be a definite plus)for just under $400.

On the motor, I can't overstate how pleased I am with the Honda 5.5hp
engine on my self-propelled. I've owned or known a lot of mowers
growing up and through my adult life. Most were Brigg and Stratton with
a few Tecumsehs thrown in here or there. Some were hard to start right
out of the box. All got harder to start as they got older. The best of
them would start in 3 or 4 pulls after a couple of years of service.
Some were quite a bit harder than that. I generally check and change
plugs often, but no matter what it seems that all my Briggs or Techumseh
motors would at some point give me trouble starting. Sometimes I could
fix it with new plugs, other times I had to rebuild the carb. A few
would just never reliably start over any reasonable period of time.
This Honda has performed flawlessly. You set the throttle to choke, you
pull the cord (and an easy pull at that) and the thing just fires up.
Five years on it starts as readily at the day I brought it home. One
year I didn't bother to run the gas out and forgot to put stabil in the
tank. Put the mower away in November. Come late February or early May
I pull it out of the garage for my first mow of the year, choke the
throttle, and pull the cord and the damn thing fired right up - first
try after sitting for a little over three months (I live in the
Southeast and we have a pretty long mowing season if you have a fescue
lawn).

Good luck with whatever you get.