On 5/11/2011 9:27 PM, Giganews wrote:
OK guys, what do you think the best push mower is these days? My John
Deere has given up after about 15+ years. The Kawasaki engine was great
until today. Bad knock (started that last year) and it stopped. I'm not
sure if it is worth rebuilding.

The new JD mowers use B & S engines and, IMO, they are just not all that
durable. Any opinions?

I had a Cub Cadet years ago and it was crap after 3 years, a Craftsman
after 4 years. Both were a long time ago.

How about self propelled reliability? It was subject to breaking in the
past, but may be more durable today.

I'm also thinking Honda. Never had one but they seem to have a good
reputation.

My self propelled Honda is going into it's third season.

Easy to start but needs a couple of pulls.

Mulching cut is perfect and mower does not clog even when grass is wet.

I'm not real crazy about variable drive and having to use thumbs but I'm
more used to it after these few seasons but my right thumb is still
recovering from a winter sprain caused by a fall on ice.

Oil is easy to change and air filter is easy to clean. There is a fuel
shut off valve so you can over winter with gas in the tank but run the
carburetor dry. This is Japanese quality where they continue to make
things better instead of cheaper as done in the US.

Over the years, the first Japanese stuff into the US after the war was
crap but continued to get better and now are the highest quality. I
switched to their cars in the late 80's.