Well guys, looks like you know what you're talking about. The Toro was awesome! I began mowing right away - didn't have to "learn" how to use it - it just worked! No problem backing up or turning; although, I did pop a few wheelies! I was afraid I might have trouble trimming around things and getting in certain places, but it worked like a charm. I will tell ya, I gave it a good workout. If the lawn mower police had come out, I surely would have been arrested for battery! I gave it a beating. It held up through all the tall clover, cut down the thick buttercups that were left, and cut throug some kind of "sticky" grass. It never even sputtered through the really tough stuff. I had to refill the gas tank once. Next time I cut, it should really be a breeze - not to say it wasn't today. I'm glad I bought the Toro!

I know this is an old question, but since I recently had the same problem I wanted to share the solution I found with everyone. I was also having problems with my rear left wheel, the gear kept getting stripped out after about 30 minutes of use. I went through 3-4 wheels before I found the true problem. The wheel is mounted to the body/frame of the mower, which is just sheet metal. From mowing sideways across the face of hillsides the mower's weight all goes onto the lower back wheel, and after a year or two of use the body/frame has bent. Now the wheel is not square with the drive shaft/pinion. This causes the gears to not mesh properly and the wheel gear to strip out. I bent the frame back then welded some 1/4" plate to the inside of the body/frame to stiffen it up. Since then the self propel system is working great.

What about Snapper, they have 2 different walk behind mower lines now. Their top of the line seems nearly identical to mowers they were making decades ago. Everything seems old time heavy duty. Which leads to a few big positives. Reliable proven design, dependable, and when yo do need a part chances are it will be available. (A problem I had with a 10 yr old Murray, sure those generic parts are available at big retailers, as well as some parts for more recent models, but they like to keep you buying new equipment every few years.) Plus they are mostly sold at dealers who are also service shops. When you need your mower serviced, the big retailer wont be the one you bring it to. Look at many of the mowers they have discounted in their discount area. Usually the ones returned for one reason or another often with the sticker of the local repair shop that serviced the machine. Snappers other line is new and designed and priced to compete with mowers sold at the big retailers. Im not sure about the dependability, but if you are using them with different teen operators and on Camp sized property with hills and such with enough area needed mow that two mowers would be needed to cut it quickly then it may be wise to purchase from an authorized service / dealer like Snapper. And the prices online at Snapper are suggested list only. When I got my new Snapper I had moved from a flat 7000 sq ft lawn to a sloped 20,000 sq ft lawn. Considering I had 3 times the amount of lawn, I definetly wanted self propelled, mulching, and a high quality motor. So I picked the old style Snapper mulching deck with the 6hp Kawasaki engine that is used on many commercial models for $599 , $100 under list without bargaining. If I had gone with the standard B&S engine it probably would have been closer to the price of the Deere yout mentioning since the mulch only B&S Snapper is listed at $499 and your planning to get two so you could probably get a nice deal. Ariens also makes a nice mower I was considering, but the Ariens dealer wasnt as close as my local Snapper dealer. Also considering the other equpiment you have it would be even more of a reason for me to buy from a Dealer / Service shop as opposed to a big retailer.

The early Toro commercials (22035 is the predecessor to the 22040) 3 speed trans lacked the ability to "freewheel" backward. Not sure when they changed the design to freewheel backward, but I've had both versions. Check the simplest first - take the belt cover off and check the belt for proper operation. Then pop the cover off the trans and watch what happens as you pull on the bail bar. The commercial 3 sp. trans looks very similar to the consumer recycler 3 sp. trans but has heavier duty internals, a grease zerk fitting on the top of its case and "HD" stamped on the bottom. The engine kill is a simple design, pulling the throttle all the way back touches the throttle linkage to a coil wire down on the engine and grounds out the ignition, killing the engine. Its easy to see where this linkage touches the wire down on the mower and adjust the linkage accordingly. The 22035/22040 was the best 21" propelled mower ever built IMO and its 2 stroke Suzuki is a pleasure to operate. Well worth repairing even if you need another trans. for it.