On Jul 13, 5:14 pm, ValveJob wrote:
Maybe you know a brand I should avoid or one you want to brag on.
I'm all ears - as Ross Perot said.

I own four self-propelled mowers and the cheapest one has been the
most reliable, go figure. It's a Troy-Bilt with a front wheel drive.
The briggs engine has started every time and the only repair it has
ever needed in five years has been the drive belt. I have a lot of
respect for the Honda and my next may be one. That don't mean you
can't get a lot of service from another brand, you can. Honda has the
rep for consistent reliability. Briggs seems to be more of a crap
shoot. I have had good luck but some don't.

More important than the brand, in my opinion, is the dealer. Your
mower won't run forever and when it quits you want to be able to take
it somewhere they are famililar with the machine and have parts. I
always reccomend that you take your business to you local dealer. My
local guys are primarily a rental shop but they can get me a machine
from a wide selection of manufacturers.

I own a Snapper self-propelled which is by far my favorite mower.
Maybe that's why the Troybilt is so reliable, haha. It is a pleasure
to use and on the rare occasion when it won't go, my local dealer has
it fixed in one day! I'm pretty sure that if this Snapper ever quits,
I would buy another over any other brand, including Honda.