I don't think you could go wrong on that deal. You can get a key and charger at any JD dealer. And you can always manually start it i would think. I'm guessing around 20 to 30 bucks for charger and key. Iwould make sure they have the manuals for the mower. We have a Lowes here close by and i stop there daily this time of year looking for deals on outdoor equipment.

The engine is equipped with Briggs' "easy starting system". Priming is not required - just pull the cord.

I sold a couple of these engines to older ladies who no longer had the strength to start the regular engine. So far they are pleased. The long range report card has not come in.

I just picked one of these mowers up from Lowes for 25 bucks. It does not come with a charger, for one is not needed. The engine has an alternator built in to the engine to charge the battery. The key is a universal "Indak" key, sold virtually everywhere. The reason I got it so cheap? Engine run with no oil, and the whole side of the engine is gone where the rod came through. Looks to be a decent mower. I can't decide if I want to replace the engine, or ebay the parts off it.Total run time? Less than 10 minutes, easily. The blade still has all the paint on it.

"...the whole side of the engine is gone where the rod came through."

The following statement was uttered by the operator of the unfortunate JS-30 immediately after the event occurred: "My goodness! What on earth has happened to my lawnmower?!"............Or words to that effect. :)

I imagine a string of profanities was used, and cursing JD and Briggs for producing inferior junk, when all along it was their own carelessness that caused it. I have been trying to locate a used engine for it, but so far no luck. It has the 25mm x 27/8" shaft. All I can find is 7/8 x
3 5/32" shaft engines. Bummer. But their loss is my gain!

I think that's a pretty good deal. I was just at Lowe's this past week and saw a John Deere electric start push mower on sale for about $300, around $150 off the original price. It looked like brand new and I wondered why the big discount. I was told that it was because the person who bought it changed his mind and that Lowe's can't sell it as new and gives a good sale price on it. Even though he said they don't usually do it, the guy held it for me until I could drag my husband down to look at it and see what he thought. He liked it too and so we bought it. Neither of us has gotten around to starting it yet. Heck, I'm not even sure what oil we should buy for it. I suppose it says in the book, but neither of us has had time to read the manual yet. I don't know offhand which model it is, but is electric start. We're both tired of having to practically pull our guts out trying to start push mowers and so decided that this one was the one for us! The salesman said if we would run it and decide we didn't like it, we have 30 days to return it.

$150 off is an awesome deal. You should be able to find the manual on the John Deere website.

A modification I did to mine that you might want to consider is to remove the flap at the top of the grass shoot. The flap makes removing and replacing the bag a pain unless you have 3 hands. The flap serves no purpose and the Snapper versions of this mower don't have it. I'm guessing JD added it for liability fears.

If you primarily mulch you may consider getting a Snapper Ninja blade. The deck is identical to a Snapper Easyline so the Ninja and Hi-Vac blades are compatible. The stock blade did an OK job mulching but the Ninja blade works really well.

Correction to my previous post: I meant "grass chute" not "grass shoot".