"Personally, I think the dislike of Craftsman equipment is based upon the total image of Sears. They sell about anything you can imagine, and I'll bet everyone has bought 'something' from Sears that they were not happy with, so they associate the word 'junk' to all of Sears merchandise." That association is well deserved. Craftsman used to make many quality products. They are now strictly a value line (even most of their "Professional" series), but their regular prices usually don't reflect that. Their sale prices are closer to what the products are actually worth, and often you can find their products under the product manufacturer name brand for significantly less. Ryobi is a good example of that. A Craftsman mower not on sale is probably overpriced, and people will think they are getting better quality than they actually are. I despise these sales tactics Sears uses, so I usually avoid buying anything from them. I prefer to buy quality products that will last 15-20 years from locally-owned dealers who can service what they sell. In the long run, I feel that is more cost effective, better for my local economy, creates less trash, and the equipment is more enjoyable to use. I had a Yardman mower, it only lasted about 6 years before falling apart and really just does not compare at all to my new Toro in terms of performance or quality. I am much happier mowing now. Happier being a relative term of course ;) I'll never buy another cheap mower. All Craftsmans are not necessarly junk, and a good deal is still a good deal provided you know exactly what you are buying. But if you can afford it, I feel a quality mower is a good investment. I do own some Craftsman tools. But I didn't pay anywhere near full price for them. For $120, and considering you don't expect it to last 15 years, I don't really see why you shouldn't think you got a good deal. People who try to claim Craftsman is just as good as the premiums mowers are a different issue.

Hi, guys. Thanks to every one of you for taking the time to give me your advice and explain some stuff in such detail, esp. Kompressor. And I appreciate James' advice on the Sears Craftsman. You didn't hear back from me because the day after my sister and I purchased a lawn tractor, my sister had a double heart bypass. She's coming home today and is in for a long recovery. I'm sure you're all wondering what I finally decided to do and if I took your advice to heart. Well, what you said about buying used ones made sense so I decided not to buy a used one. I felt more comfortable knowing it was new and didn't buy someone else's problem. Sears was having their Family and Friends sale and I was considering the Craftsman YT4000 (James really liked that one) but as it turned out, the YT3000 (Model 28822) had a lot of really good reviews and there was very little difference between it and the YT4000 (28928). YT3000 is 21hp, 4000 is 24 hp 3000 deck is 42", 4000 is 46" 3000 had 3-1/2 star rating, 4000 had 3 3000 was $300 cheaper (+tax) Both have hydrostatic B&S engines The oil can on the 3000 much more easily accessible than on the 4000. 3000 has only 1 cylinder, 4000 has 2 (don't know if that was important or what it means); no hour meter on the 3000 It was on sale from $1750 for $1299 and an additional $130 off - bottom line I paid $1169.00 and saved $600 w/tax so I think I got a really good deal. I've used it twice and so far I love it. Wish the deck were a little bigger, oh well. It cut some very high wet weeds very well (I know I should avoid wet but didn't have a choice unless I wanted to go out there with a scissors...NOT). Its got a lot of power. Now maybe I won't get fined or thrown out of the neighborhood! One of the cons that was mentioned was the position of the gas tank - very close to the engine. Very stupid design. rustyj14, my next project will be to get some fill dirt and remove the stumps (when I get some money) but in the meantime, I put out tons of bright flags from HD and didn't hit any stumps. James, I didn't get to ask about the fuel shutoff valve. What's involved in installing one? One last question - I have 2 weeks to decide whether to buy their $300 3-year warranty. It would start from day 1, not after the mfr's warranty, and it covers in-home service.

Here's what the consumer safety commision published about reverse operation (this is cut-and-pasted): "In 2003 a requirement was added that prevents the mower from backing up with powered blades. This feature can reduce the severity of injuries that are caused when an operator backs into a young child by stopping the rotating blades. The standard permits a device that overrides this no mow in reverse feature temporarily. If an override capability is provided, it shall automatically reset when one or more of the following actions occurs: (1) the blade is re-engaged or (2) the engine is restarted or (3) the directional control is moved from reverse. Ride-on machines with zero turn radius capability and machines with front mount mowers are excluded from the requirement." I believe that some manufacturers were providing this before 2003. The link below is to the referenced page. Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Product Safety Commission

The Bosch "Ascentas/300 series" -- which are the entry level models --- have tubs whose sides and top are stainless and only the base of the tub is a a synthetic. This apparently makes the tub less costly to produce. The nylon/poly-whatever base is a dark gray, so not likely to yellow or brown the way a white plastic tub interior can. It will still dull and fade with extended use, if that matters to you. The poly-whatever tub base doesn't seem to make much, if any, difference in drying effectiveness or time. According to Consumer Reports' testing, the Ascentas/300 series have wash cycle times that are a bit faster than those of the the other Bosch DWs. CR says that the the Ascentas generally average about 95 minutes for cycle times while the 500 and 800 series average around 110 minutes in CR's testing. The difference is probably the result of the better water sensors in the 500 and 800 series acting on the highly turbid water and extremely dirty dishes that CR uses for its testing. On the SHE55 (500 series) unit that I bought last June, the cycle times actually run between 98 and 102 minutes. Probably because I scrape my plates and and the water is less turbid than that used in CR's tests. I don't have any problem with drying my dishes n my 500 series and didn't have any problem with drying with my previous Bosch DW which I had for 14 years. I tend to run the DW overnight, however, and so there may be more time for things to dry out. When I running multiple loads after a party or big holiday meal, some things do seem a bit damp right out of the DW. Also, hot. Giving them about 15 minutes to cool before handling takes care of the problem for me. Items with rimmed bases in which water can collect (colander bases, some coffee cups and wine glasses, for example) will hold a bit of water. Some plastic things (Gladware and Rubbermaid storage containers) do seem to hold water droplets. (OTOH, with no heater element in the base of the DW, there are no worries about washing plastics). Leaving the unit sit for a while after the cycles finish seems to take care of most of this. The Bosch capacity did not seem not noticeably smaller than other dishwashers I looked at when shopping last year. Some DWs seemed to be a bit taller, though, so you might be able to put taller items in a load. Never been a problem for me. The loading pattern is different and the bottom tines may be a bit closer together than some DWs I saw. Take some of your plates to a store and check this out. Took me a week or two to get used to it and I kept the racks from my old DW for "just in case." But, I quickly found that the new design was more flexible and had as much or more capacity as the old one. The 800 series will be the quietest with the 500 series being the next quietest. The 300/Ascentas are rated about the same as the old SHU333 Bosch that I replaced in June. I could hear the old Bosch running when I was in the kitchen but not when I was in the adjoining dining room. The first few times I ran the new 500, I had to put my ear to the DW door to hear it running. Two additional points on this. First, getting the DW positioned correctly and properly installing the toe kick are critical to nose suppression. Second, the final drain sequence is quite audible, as it is in almost every other dishwasher. On the differing model numbers, there are indeed a huge number of them, although they are pretty much all the same dishwashers. The differences within a line are largely cosmetic -- door color, do they take panels, top mounted versus front panel controls, etc. The store-specific ("exclusive") model numbers are basically for two reasons. One is that some stores (such as Sears and Best Buy) purchase huge shipments at one time, so the model numbers may help with routing and supply. Mainly, as deeageaux says, its a marketing scam. The store can say they only price match on identical model numbers so having "exclusive" models cuts down on the need to price match. If you need to buy ASAP, the Ascenta/300 series will be less expensive. Stainless exterior finishes run about $100 more than black and white and top-mounted controls also are more expensive than front panel controls. I happen to prefer front mounted panel controls. Too bad you weren't shopping a couple of weeks ago because holiday pricing can really reduce the price of the 500 and 800 series models. I got my 500 series on a holiday weekend where the price was only about $30 more at an appliance dealer than the Ascentas model I was planning to buy at Lowe's. But, if you need a DW ASAP, that won't work for you. (Too bad this couldn't have come up during President's Day weekend.) This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 15:48