In my opinion, the Honda. I am a mechanic, and own a Honda HRA215, which I bought new in 1985. I have not done any work to this, other than oil, plugs, blades and replacing cables. The honda engine is superior in every way to the more common Briggs and Tecumseh. You might pay a bit more up front, but it will be around a long time.

They are both excellent mowers and you should be happy with either one. The HRR does not use the same engine as cloudcrasher's HRA215 but is still decent. FWIW, the Honda is lighter and the better bagger of the two, the Toro is one of the best mulchers I have seen.

thanks for the advice, the honda does seem like the better choice i think.. but now my problem is that i cant seem to find it anywhere.. well i found one but for some reason it had a transmission and was over 500 dollars. thats just a little too much for me right now.

can anyone recommend any other good mowers that are the push type under or around $400? or should i just start looking for self propelled ones?

$400 is BIG money for a push mower. Most fall in the $99 - $179 range. Most of the mowers out there are made by two companies MTD and AYP...some of the stand alone companies are Toro, Honda, John Deere and Simplicity. White, Cub Cadet, Troy Bilt and Husky are a few of the MTD line. Most of the Sears machines are AYP/Electrolux. Sears has some GREAT buys this time of year. They also have Honda powered machines. Frequent oil changes add years to the life of any machine.......Good Luck

look at the Toro Personal Pace. Dealers sell more expensive ones than HD...not sure what the difference is. I have had mine 5 years. It replaced a Honda that was nothing but trouble. I should say my Dad and I had the same Honda and he still has his! The Honda back then was nothing like the ones at HD. I think we paid $600 back then circa 1990 or so. It drove like a caddy compared to my Personal Pace but I'd say the Pace mulches better at a quicker speed. A had a few issues with the Pace, all covered under my 5 year warranty. If I get another few years and then need a new one, I can not complain. It will be 8 - 10 years old by then.

Whatever you do, stay away from the Craftsman mowers! The mowers are not to great but what is worse, is the parts department. First, Sears carries little to no parts and trying to order parts on line, well all I can say.. Don't. I spent many phone calls and over two hours on the phone and after two tries.. they still sent me front wheels when I needed the rear. Their famous line is.. we will send it to the resource center and they will get back to you in 3-5 days. Buy a mower from a dealer and the Toro or Honda is the way to go. Aside from the motors, check the quality of the wheels and most of all, the comfort of the pull start, and overall feel of the mower. I just purchased a comercial Lawn-boy model, 22271 over an equal Honda mower simply due to the feel. Good luck with your decision. I strongly suggest, buy from a dealer who you go back to for advise and service.

I would stay away from a honda;they're overpriced, under built,and not that great at bagging........My TORO is over 28 yrs. old now,and still runs great!! When a honda runs that long,(without costing a fortune to maintain it)I might give them a second look,but I doubt it!!

My dad had 2 Toros. They both broke down within 5 years of being bought new. My Honda is still running strong after 12 years - never did anything to it but change oil and sparkplug and sharpen the blade. Sweetest small engine made for residential grade equipment.

If you only use your mower so little,that in 12 yrs. you have to sharpen the blade once, then of course your mower will be in good shape after 12 yrs. ....Come back in 28 yrs. and brag about how good your honda mower is then;I'm sure parts will be obsolete,and Gaurantee you couldn't buy something as simple as an ignition coil , or even a carb kit...LOL

i have a toro personal pace with a 6 hp briggs i hate it when mulching and mowing it has to be set up or it keeps stalling the engine is terrible no power.the seam on gas tank leaks 2wks out of warranty they would not fix.Rick