Check here lots of good info, especially for commercial use. Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn site

When i narrowed down my choices it came down to service if needed. I had two dealers, one very close by. If needed he will pick up and tend to the issues. If you purchase from a big box store, stop by a local small family run service place. Ask advice from them. They may even have a re-built used one as good as new. If you want new, see if they are familiar, what their pick-up charge is, etc. (i was more obsessed with service than anything). Always good to have a service plan in place for piece of mind. Call Snapper trouble-shooting hot-line, (if they have such a thing), or the parts dept. See if they answer, : )...make up a simple question about deck height after reading the manual on-line. Or something you feel is unclear. Treat it kindly and the little Snapper might be just the thing for you. Here is a link that might be useful: older but similar post

I've used one of those leaf blower/suckers. It is kinda a noisy dusty job and draging the cable is a bit of a well drag but it worked well. I don't think the thing will last long if you suck up too many sticks or rocks but it is great on dry leaves and even gulped down some wet ones when I wasn't careful. If you really don't have much space and are just using it on leaves, it might be the way to go since it isn't very $$ and you don't have to deal with keeping gas for it. As to how long it will last, the one I used I think had mostly plastic parts so that could be a drawback. They don't take up too much space and so long as you don't loose the different parts you should be in good shape (it is kinda hard to use as a vacuume if you loose the bag.) If I was just sucking up leaves off the patio at a condo and shredding bagged leaves, this is the one I'd get. Be ware, the bag will fill up quickly. A lawn mower might work for your purpose but if you are in a condo, storage my be a headach. Also, since you don't need to mow, why spend the extra money on such a thing. If you decided to go this rout, you might look into renting it for an afternoon so long as you have a vechicle that will transport it. I've been doing plenty of research into chipper/shredders. IF you really want a chipper, then the rule is go as powerful as you can afford. However, shredders for leaves are different. I've noticed that most of the smaller chipper/shredders are either better for leaves or better for branches and they have difficulty with the other. I've also seen big barrel looking things that are for shredding leaves only. They are essentially a string trimmer mounted in what looks like a section of barrel. I've heard they are great for dry leaves but almost everything had difficulty with wet stuff. To find something that can do branches and leaves with any efficiency, one probably needs to get above 5hp, better yet 10 hp. This is most likely up in the $500 and above price range for a gas model and will take up an odd amount of floor space in a garage or shed. This is probably what I'm looking at since I need to chip/shred a wide variety of stuff that the lawn mower won't like. The item bpgreen got looks good if you have lots of dry sticks and twiggy things to shred but only if they are pretty small. It won't want to deal with huge branches. The nice thing about that item is for a chipper, it don't take up much floor space and is electric so you don't have to deal with the gas cans. If all I ever needed to chip was the branches pruned off my crep myrtles, that is the one I'd get.

Honda GX engines have been great. examine the mower for access to belts, oil filter, air filter, blades, grease fittings and other maintenance items.