That Craftsman Professional looks like a Cub Cadet/MTD to me. The John Deere has an old flat head doesn't it?

Saying that I would probably go for the Craftsman.

Thanks there, I was not even aware of the Cub Cadet/MTD. I will take a closer look at those as well.
Thanks.

The Craftsman Professional mower is the exact same as the Cub Cadet CC 997ES.

The only difference is that you can get the Cub Cadet from an independent dealer for $469 AND a 3-year warranty, whereas the Craftsman "Professional" is regularly priced at $600 and only a 2-year warranty. Pretty good scam job by Sears.

I'm sure many here would disapprove of it, but I was strongly considering this mower before getting the Lawn Boy 10696. I loved the caster wheels and the way I could maneuver the mower, but my son is taking over the mowing and was more comfortable with the Lawn Boy, so I went with that. I thought that Cub Cadet had a lot of bang for the buck, though.

If you want to save even more $$, there's the Cub Cadet CC98M available at independent dealers for $399. It also has the casters, but no e-start.

Tractor Supply Co also has a Cub Caster with a Honda GCV160 engine, at $469 I think??

I also like the caster option - good luck.

Thanks for feedback. I went to SEARS and Lowes to take a closer look at these two mowers that I initially mentioned. I am leaning towards the John Deere, it looked like it was "more well put together, a little more heavy duty."

I was wondering where this yellow Sears mower with the Kawasaki engine came from. It is listed at $599, but is regularly on sale for $499, and if you belong to some kind of Craftsman Club, it is $479. Not too much of a scam when the truth is known, huh? I assume the Cub Cadet also has the Kawasaki?

That CC98M has a no-name 173cc OHV engine, as do several of the lower price Cub Cadets. I would pay the extra to get the Kawasaki, or go for the Honda 160 models.

Caster wheel mowers are much harder to use on anything but flat ground. On sloped ground they are awful. The height adjustment is a pain as well. My brother had one and he eventually locked the casters because they cause such ill handling. Try pushing a heavy shopping cart on a slanted sidewalk and you will see what it takes to keep it going straight.

I agree with you on the probability that the caster wheels would be hard to handle. In addition, from looking at the pictures, they appear to be somewhat fragile and easy to bend out of shape.

Caster work great and on a Snapper (whom makes the JOhn Deere) can easily be locked.

I bought one of the Craftsman Professional model and when using it to do a low cut if you pull backwards on it the blade strikes part of the underside of the mower. The rear section of the undercarriage is made of plastic and when it catches a little grass it will flex up into the path of the blade. After one mowing the blade had cut completely through this plastic piece. I took back the mower. I did like the caster wheels though. My yard has some contours/hills and I had no problem with it tracking off line. For going around trees and following mulch bed curves it was great. Now I'm going to go with a John Deere 2653. It's a couple years old but using a reel mower makes a lawn look great.

I agree with you Bradley0241 as reel mowers are probably healthy and do make a yard look nice as compared to most rotary designs. Not the case with all though, and it depends on the blade, the deck design and whether one bags or not. However Bradley that machine you referenced is a commercial model and very expensive compared to the models here being compared. Not apples to apples. A better comparison would be to look at a Mclane 17-4.75 GT series powered rotary mower. However keep in mind that Reel mowers slice the tips of the grass blades off much like a barber does to ones hair but it also means that to obtain the best results out of one, you must cut your grass more frequently and if you have better things to do then this will not be for you.

Anyway I too looked and considered the JD JS45 and the Craftsman Prosumer Yellow mowers. After careful consideration with reviews and with my type of lawn, I am just going to keep what I have. Actually I am going to fix up my old JD 12SB and just put a new engine on it. Those suckers run forever and require little maintenance with a Kawasaki engine. The new JD's are just not what they used to be. Craftsman in my mind represents a better value and their equipment seems to hold up better on the residential level than John Deere. Thanks though alerting me to the rebranding of the Cub Cadet. This is nothing new either as this sort of thing has been going on for decades and even John Deere has been complicit in this practice.

Additionally I forgot to mention that if people want USA made quality equipment consider Mclane. They have a great line of rotary mowers and are certainly comparable to the JS 45 and Snapper, Craftsman prosumer line. I found a link to one of their best models and it is in the same price range. Btw, I do not work for them and only endorse products and companies based on research and real world use. http://www.norwalkpower.net/McLane_N21_6BS_SP_Rotary_Lawn_Mower_p/mclane-n21-6bs-sp.htm

There are other models even cheaper, as low as 349.99 but I do not know the difference between them. Worth a look. Buy American, pass on John Deere.

When I was in a local Sears looking at mowers last week, the salesman asked me if I'd like to take a look at their Pro model. He took me over and showed me the model with the Kawasaki which had a closeout price of $499 on it. I'd hoped to find something good for under $300 and he said that he had to get it off the floor and thought he might be able to meet that price or even do better. But after checking, apparently his manager wasn't ready to take that cut all at once and he said he could only reduce it by another 20%. He said it would be reduced another 20% in 2 weeks if it was still there.

By the way, I think the new model has a Briggs & Stratton engine and lists for $100 less, but the Sears "sale" price is still $499.