I have had good luck with LawnBoy though the one I have is a 1988 model. I guess if you have bad luck with LawnBoy and Toro(I have had good luck with them) then maybe John Deere is an option. Where you buy it from has an inmpact on how it is serviced and the overall ownership expeirience. I would highly suggest buying from a dealer and not a big box store. I have had far better luck with this method. The dealer knows what he is selling(if it is a good dealer) and they are there to fix it if something is wrong. I hope this healped.

Probably needed a belt tension adjustment.

If you had both Toro and Lawnboy mowers break something in the transmission, then I think there is a cause yet to be discovered. Maybe there is something about the yard. Is it rocky and hilly? Maybe the mower gets bumped into walls and other hard objects?

I would have thought the same thing. However, the Lawn Boy quit working the second time I cut the grass. The Toro took about 3 years to break.

Have you looked at honda mowers? Mine is 21 years old and still starts on the first pull plus the rwd makes it easy to turn the mower while still applying drive power unlike a fwd mower. Unfortunately honda dropped the steel shaft drive system so the newer ones are belt driven.

Honda gets my vote every time.

The new Hondas have hydrostatic drives, just the cheap ones (if there is such a thing) have belt drive. Check out the Honda HRX217HXA.

My vote is Honda also. Folks still have a mid 70's model. Only oil changes and a rope/recoil.

The commercial model still has Hydro/Shaft. Belt driving the Hydro should last very long.

try a commercial snapper with a kawasaki engine. heavy mowers but built to last and the drive sytem is very serviceable should something happen to it. many of the lawnboy/toros and other cheap mower have too much plastic in the drive train. they are designed to be replaced in a short time as we have become a disposable nation. that has caused us to think gee why but a $700-1000 mower when i can get 3 or 3 $200-300 mowers. surely 3 cheapies will outlast one good one and i can eat out more on what i save. buy a good one and it will last 25 or more years instead of buying 10 cheapies in that same timeframe. think about it 10 cheapies now $200/300 = $2000/3000 and in 10 years they will be $400/500. invest in a good mower and it will pay back.