"Did I get a good deal? " Yes I'd say you got a hellava deal at 450. I don't know that much about that mower but the engine is worth that. If this helps I mow 1/2 acre with a push mower twice a week in the summer. So 1/2 acre with a ZTR is no big deal. I would have bought that mower in a flash also. Good score! Neal

The long and the short of it becomes this: a consumer can't hardly walk up to the shelf and decide if he or she should pick a red can opener or a blue one. Everything we buy is so feature intensive. Think about the last car you bought. Mowers are much the same. You can compare engines, deck construction, how the wheels are attached, what bearings they have in them until your eyes spin. Honda builds a wonderful mower. Actually Honda did more for the american mower industry than just about anyone. Think back, you had basic "L HEad" aluminum bore for 4 cycle engines. Which I may add, if used under proper conditions and maintained as they should- would last plus 1000 hours. (From Briggs service school years ago) Obviously, the average WPM doesn't. Honda changed the world with the overhead valve engine later to introduce the OHC engines that the competion put off as a "cheaper engine". The OHC engine lasted and performed well. I mention this because any of the mower engines that you are considering are great performing, easy starting engines with superb track records. What the variable is and valid concern seems to be is lubrication. From a track record of the Sears you had, I wonder if that should be as big of issue. Who can really say which is best for you and your cutting environment? Technically, I can point out many things. Operationally, sometimes they make a differance- sometimes they don't. The heaviest aluminum deck, the most sleek plastic housing as well as steel decks all can and do fail when conditions are right. If you were my brother asking for guidance, I would tell you to go with what feels good to you. After all, you will be spending lots of time with the your mower. Big things for me are how solid things remain after they have been in use foor a while. Visit the back end of the dealership- put your hand on a machine ask to run an older unit. ARe things cracked, wheels wobble? Consider how the drive control may be an asset to you and your environment. A big part of this is the selling /servicing dealer and what they offer you as a consumer now and in the years to come. I'm sorry if this seems like a rant on my part. I have been in the buisness a long time. I have also built relationships with real people like you and gotten to know the equipment well. I can share with you very cool things I've learned on QOC (Quality of cut) both in school and in the field. But that is another rant. I wish you luck on your descision. Your Echo purchase shows you care about the quality of your tools. I believe more people should research this type of investment like yourself, by talking to folks who have 1st hand experience, rather than be swayed by the new feature or buzzword that actually turns out making the purchace a less than positive one.

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.

Both of these mowers will serve you well, expecially considering the small size of your lot. Should only be about a 30 minute job each mowing. Since you are at Sears, I would also recommend another mower, at a slightly cheaper price, a Craftsman brand that has a Honda GCV 160 engine. It is presently on sale for $289.95, and appears to be identical to my Craftsman-Honda purchased in 2000. I have an hour meter on this mower, and it is up to 490+ hours right now, and the engine still does a one year, 60+ hour oil change interval without using a drop of oil. It is on its' second set of wheels. I have a .5 acre lot, which I am already having to cut twice a week this year, and I use the mower year 'round, cleaning up leaves and yard debris through the fall and winter. If I were in the market for a new mower, it would be a hard choice as Sears has so many on sale in the $300 price range, including rear wheel drive models that many on this board find more desirable. For myself, I would choose between the Husky with the Kohler or the Craftsman with the Honda.