Honda may have good engines, but the plastic decks on their more expensive consumer line would be a deal breaker for me. I would much rather buy an aluminum deck Toro or Lawnboy or a steel deck Snapper. I use to work for Honda as an internal auditor and audited Honda Power Equipments plant in Swepsonville, North Carolina. The plant management told me Honda made the switch from aluminum to plastic to cut costs. I got a Honda Harmony mower for my brother at a company discount. Even though he only uses this mower sparingly as a trim mower and is careful with his equipment, the deck cracked. To top it off Honda delivered this mower without an air filter element and my brother did not catch their mistake until he was doing preventative maintenance, approximately one year after taking delivery. A neighbor bought a plastic deck Honda Harmony a few years ago and did not like its maneuverability and lack of mulching power and gave it to his mother. He bought a much cheaper Troy Built and likes it much better. The Lawnboy Insight Platinum, the Toro Super Recycler, or the Snapper HI-VAC would be better choices than the plastic deck Honda mowers and the Toro and Lawnboy are significantly less expensive. I would choose the Toro if you primarily mulch and the Lawnboy or Snapper if you primarily bag.

I thank all of you, lawnmowerman07, tekumcman, altbob and ac.d17iv for your quick responses. They are a great help to me. I'm psyched to check out the Simplicity further. I looked at the Snapper LT200 yesterday, but my local dealer wanted to push me to the LT300 by saying the 200 wouldn't strong enough for what I want to do. Funny thing is, the LT300 doesn't come with a 50" cut like the LT200 and the engine isn't any bigger, you have to go to the LT400 for a bigger cut equivalent to the LT200, which is way beyond my price range. I'm not sure what you get for an extra $1K or so other than auto traction control. I'm not convinced he knew what he was talking about. Tekcumcman, fortunately for my neighbor, his Toro is about 6 years old that he bought the same local dealer who sells Simplicity, so I'm pretty sure it's a Wheel Horse not an MTD "special". Not sure which model, though. Your estimate for my Murray is right on, too.

Well now, just because the PTO "stays engaged all the time" does not necessarily mean that the PTO clutch is actually "electrically energized". If the PTO clutch bearing seizes, or if the clutch plates have become stuck together, the clutch might be "engaged" mechanically. If............the clutch is really being engaged electrically in the manner you describe, you should be able to hear the clutch "snap" into engagement when you turn the key switch ON & OFF, or, by getting under the chassis and unplugging the clutch wire connector while the key is ON (engine not running off course). If you here the clutch engage as you plug and unplug the clutch wire connector or turn the key ON & Off (with PTO switch OFF) then someone might have tampered with the wiring at some time in the past. But if you DO NOT hear any click of engagement, then the clutch may be locked mechanically due to a defect as I mentioned above. To check for the clutch being locked mechanically, try to turn the clutch by hand with the engine OFF. If you are unable to turn the clutch in this fashion, the clutch might be locked mechanically. Top confirm if the clutch is locked mechanically, unplug the clutch wire connector and try starting the engine (but not while you are under there). If the blades are turning with the engine, the clutch is locked mechanically. Some clutches have a replaceable bearing while others do not. The presence of a snap ring next to the bearing indicates a replaceable bearing. If the bearing is "staked in place", non replaceable. This machine sounds as if it is not your personal machine ("This is a mower we use at my son's ball field."), so the possibility someone has surreptitiously monkeyed with wiring could be very valid. If you want to proceed with some testing, please create your own new thread on this issue. I think this thread has been hijacked enough. A new thread will keep everybody separated.

There is a short somewhere between the fuse holder and the ignition switch. Did Bill say that already? :^) The wire is Red with a black tracer. Be suspicious of any place where it looks like a harness might be squeezed by, rubbing, or bent sharply around any metal surface. If you see any of the mentioned conditions, you may have to physically cut into the harness over wrappings to inspect the wiring inside. Be really careful if you decide to start opening a harness, you don't want to create more problems by hacking ruthlessly. When I have to open a harness I use a #11 X-acto knife and slice with the cutting edge facing AWAY from the harness bundle so I am only able to cut the tape and not the wires underneath. Then I peel the tape away. Many harnesses these days have plastic split loom covering the wires and if cap unravel the tape you can remove the loom to inspect everything inside. Sometimes shorts can develop between a hot wire and a ground wire inside the harness if the harness gets "mashed' really hard or crushed tightly for a long time. Searching for shorts can be a daunting task sometimes.