I bought a Snapper CRP2160KWV (the commercial mulcher with Kawi engine) last year and so far I'm very happy with it. I've never owned a Toro SR or the Honda HRX everyone raves about, so I really can't give a good comparison of these. During the late summer, I mow the bermuda grass higher to 3" or 3.5". IMO, at this height the stock Ninja blades were not producing enough upward lift to provide a clean flat cut. I installed a Gator blade and noticed an improvement in the uniformity of cut. The Ninja is a superior mulcher to the Gator - the Gator leaves slightly longer clippings. When mowing at lower heights, as I do in the early growing season, I'm not sure the Gator will be necessary, so I'll be installing the Ninja blade back soon to see if it makes a difference. This mower is a tank and the Kawi engine is a great powerplant. Last year I had to go a couple weeks without mowing once so the bermuda was much thicker and taller. This mower went right through it and didn't show any signs of bog down. My previous mower (an older Snapper with a less powerful briggs engine) would often bog in this situation, even at slow walking speed. I have no plans to sell this mower, but if I was forced to get a different mower, I'd try a Toro SR or Honda HRX just to see what the fuss was about. BTW, the only big difference between the commercial and residential Snapper mulching mowers is the steel wheels on the commercial, vs plastic wheels on the residential.

Ggreenwald: YOU are going to have to find the manual for the engine on your mower to determine the amount of oil it requires. Briggs and Tecumseh both provide free information regarding their engines, oil capacity, and filter information. Now, about the dethatcher I use; I have included a link at the end of this post. I used to use the dethatcher blade by itself, but constantly ran into stalling and low power issues because the dethatcher blade is so light in weight. Since the blades on all lawnmowers act as a weighted flywheel, I reasoned that running the dethatcher in conjunction with the regular blade would mitigate the problems I was having. I was right because when running the dethatcher blade with the regular blade, I had plenty of power and stalling problems came to an end. Please remember that excessively high spots or other obstacles WILL STILL stall or stop the blade. YOU will have to experiment to see how low to adjust the mower to do a good dethatching job. I wear out a set of springs each year and they should be disposed of once the tip is too worn out and the shock absorbing flex of the spring is lost. This year I am going to experiment with a 20" blade attached to the bottom of my 21" blade to increase the vacuum effect in hopes of picking up bigger heavier stuff without resorting to lowering the deck height. I don't know the math or physics of the slightly heavier weight acting as a flywheel, but so far, the added weight of the dethatcher blade has not caused anything out of the ordinary to happen and the engine still starts, runs, and stops without any unusual behavior. DO NOT mount the dethatcher blade perpendicular to the cutting blade as the weight of one may cancel the flywheel effect of the other. I put bolts through the dethatcher blades two holes that are out from the mounting hole. When I butt the bolts against the cutting blade, the blades cross each other at an angle. I butt the bolts protruding through the dethatcher blade (Make sure that the blades are flat against each other and not hanging up on the bolt threads or nuts.) up against the cutting blade and then tighten the mounting bolt with the outside diameter of the cupped washer (You had better have a cupped washer, otherwise buy a new one.) pressing against the blade to hold both blades in place. Good luck! Fairyprincess Here is a link that might be useful: This is the dethatcher blade I use and I change the springs every year.

mark, i'm a big fan of the old hondas. i've never had a problem with grass building up to a point it stops the engine. are your wheels raised to the highest level? when the grass is extra tall, what i do is take a bungee cord and attach it so the rear door is open and the grass just shoots out, be careful not to be running over foreign objects. wear sturdy pants and safety glasses. you can clamp a mat or something to the cross bar on the handle to deflect the clippings. if you're bagging, make sure your bag is clean.

Well, I mowed the back yard today with my new SPV21675E. All I can say is, I'm kicking myself.... for not getting a good machine like this YEARS ago. I coulda saved many, many, many hours. I was bagging the clippings, and the performance was astonishing. My old "pile-of-unmentionable" mower would require me to stop after about 1 to 1-1/2 rows to empty the bag, which never got more than 25% full. But if I didn't empty it I was treated to a clogged deck & chute and grass clumps all over the lawn, a real pain to rake up. This Snapper requires 1/5 the stops. Not a typo - 20%. The clippings get packed into the back of the bag. In fact, if you run the engine without the bag, the machine will blow the cover plate open about an inch or so. Coming from what I had, this thing is just great! And, it doesn't blow clippings all over the patio. The self propel also works great. If I pull the handle all the way I have to walk FAST to keep up, but not unreasonably so. I couldn't believe how fast I got through the job. The manual says 4.2 mph, which is a good brisk pace. The simple lever system for controlling the mower is easy and natural. I'm glad I chose this over the Deere JS25 (which is essentially the same mower) - I'm convinced that I wouldn't like the Deere "Mow-Mentum" system as well as the less flashy Snapper control. My lawn is dead flat so I can't comment on hilly terrain performance but it seems quite strong and traction is good. The evenness of cut is outstanding - I couldn't ask for any better. It's quite a bit better than the one Honda commercial mower I borrowed (sorry I don't know the model number) but then again this is a brand new blade and I doubt the Honda blade was freshly sharpened. In any case, the grass looks beautiful. I never wanted an electric start before and just got it this time because I got a good price on the machine. But I would now recommend it. It is really great just to turn the key after emptying the bag without bending and yanking and vapor lock on a hot day... it was 100 here today, and that key start was absolutely decadent! The Briggs 675 is one of those "no-prime, no choke" engines and started instantly every time. There's no throttle on the engine - it runs full throttle all the time. Fine with me - faster blade means better vacuum and better cut. The self propel speed control is so easy and smooth you don't even really think about the lack of a throttle. I had a single-point height adjustment mower years ago and loved that feature. I still do. So easy to fine tune the height, no pain, no strain. This is a great feature and will spoil anyone fast. Cleanup was pretty easy. I always hose off the under-deck. I had a mower rust out once, so for the past 25 years I rinse off the underside of the mower and have never had any problems with rust since. Then I run the engine for a couple minutes to blow dry. Easy. I do think those machines with the topside hose port would be cool, especially if you fit a quick disconnect. But unfortunately Snapper doesn't have it. Still, it was only a couple of minutes to get the machine cleaned up. This Snapper isn't a commercial mower and it may not last as long as those do. But I have to say that it is the best running, best performing machine I, as joe average homeowner, have ever had. I'm very happy with how quickly and effortlessly I was able to complete the job, and how good the grass looks. The bagging performance is, once again, unbelievable. Next time, I'll try the mulching... but I have an old Toro "Recycler II" mulcher so even if this Snapper doesn't do as well at mulching I will still be a happy camper (I bag mostly). If you are looking at $200 mowers, step up to this one. You will not regret it! I haven't actually used the equivalent $400 Toro or LB or whatever. So, they may be great, too. But you won't be unhappy with the performance of this Snapper.