I can especially relate to your question as I was in a similar situation about four years ago. My four cycle craftsman mower had seen better days and I had always seen mowing as a chore. A lawn boy enthusiast at work wasted no time recommending I look at the lawn boys. At first I was miffed, asking why I would want 'old' two stroke technology with a louder motor and the 'chore' of having to mix gas and oil. He pointed out that mixing gas and oil for a two stroke is easier and faster than changing the oil on a four stroke and pointed out the power and constant lubrication benefits of the two stroke. These were good points that I had not considered. I had experienced the four stroke engine, even a 6PH unit, bogging down in thick grass. He explained that would be very unlikely to happen with the LB. The exact model I ended up buying as the 10550. I still have it and have been extremely happy. The 'easy stride' system is very intuitive and simple to use in my opinion and I love the power and aluminum deck. It is easy to clean, no oil changes, and I find removing and cleaning the air filter pretty easy . It is a reusable foam type that you pull out after swinging open a lid that is similar to a fuse box lid. The filter is accessable from there. The manual shows to soak it in soapy water and then oil the filter. I supposed tossing a paper element and putting a new one in would be faster, but I like the idea of reusable parts. I never considered the extra bonuses of forum support from the numerous LB enthusiasts until my 10550 died on me about two months ago. By searching the forum I was easily able to determine the issue and correct it. This type of support is invaluable in saving time and money in case you should need anything done to your mower. Resale is another huge plus that someone mentioned. This varies, but with many LB enthusiasts out there you should be able to get quite a bit for your 10550 if you don't like it. Good luck with your decision, but I am very happy with mine.

I know I am a little late joining this conversation, but I found this thread, looking up a comparison between Viking and Capitol. These are my two finalists, but things have changed a lot with these 2 companies in the past 2 years, since the last comments were made. First of all, Viking, who was purchased by Middleby Corporation (approx. 3 years ago), has made significant changes to the entire product line at Viking. I am in the commercial kitchen equipment business, and Middleby Corp owns the finest cooking equipment companies in the commercial cooking business (Jade Range, Southbend Range, Wells Mfg., Lang Mfg., Pitco, Blodgett, Market Forge, TurboChef, Star Mfg., Magic Kitchen, Anets, Toastmaster, Nu Vu, Doyon, and more). I went to the big home show this past spring in Las Vegas, and spoke directly with the CEO of Middleby and asked him what he has done with the Viking line since he bought the company. He hired engineers to revamp everything in the line, and was very proud of his new 7 series ranges with their new burner design and chrome plated griddles. He let me know that he inherited a lot of service issues that he has addressed, both on the manufacturing side, and on the customer service side. I can tell you that working with their commercial division companies, they are very committed to customer satisfaction, and expedited service. Some of Middleby's commercial divisions are making components and ovens for their newer product additions (such as TurboChef ovens in their wall ovens). I can't tell you how these changes have impacted the lastest product offerings, but I can't imagine that the changes have made them worse. I did have a Viking 48" gas range in a house I sold back in 2008, circa 2004, and there were a lot of features I did not like. Burners were not good in simmer mode, gas oven was not self cleaning, and was very difficult to get clean. Charbroiler smoked out the house, whenever I tried to use it. But it added a lot of value to the house when I sold it. Now let's look at Capitol. The guy who owns Capitol, owned DCS, which used to be one of the "players" in the commercial range market. Their ranges were very attractive, performed well, but were not heavy duty enough for high volume restaurants (Wolf and US Range were the big players on the West Coast, where DCS and now Capitol are located.) As many companies have gone light weight, easy to clean, low maintenance, Capitol appears to be sticking with some of the old commercial designs, which pay off from a performance standpoint, but may intimidate some, from a maintenance standpoint. I am truly impressed with the open burners on the Capitol Connoisseurian and Culinarian ranges. I can tell you that not only the burner design, but the top grate design adds significantly to the performance of the burners. Their is a bowl/ring that is part of the cast iron grates that directs the heat back up onto the pans that is deflected down off the the bottom of the pan, containing the area. The open style grates, that are light weight and easy to clean, have no added qualities to the performance. I am impressed with the thermostatic griddle (which is also standard on the Viking). The old manual flame griddles got too hot and made them useless for breakfast items, and left the griddle only for meat and searing. The addition of a self cleaning oven on the all gas model is probably the biggest "plus" feature of the range comparing it to Viking. With Viking you have to go to Dual Fuel, which raises to price by a couple thousand dollars. To me, the downside of both of these ranges is that they don't have a real good computer control for the ovens, like you see in a regular domestic range. I would love some feedback from anyone who has bought these two products in the past 6 months or so, with the latest improvements, and the bugs worked out.

kidzu9: A LOT of people will always feel like they know what they're doing. I guess my success in my garage door spring replacement must have been due to luck, and not the ability to follow directions, huh?. But to discourage competent people from doing things is just plain wrong. As a retired airline pilot who flies my own personal plane (in ALL types of weather, including light icing), I got mad when TV weathermen made comments about a plane crashing into a house in New Haven, CT two summers ago. They were commenting with "what was a small plane doing flying on a rainy/foggy day?", etc. Maybe we should ban private planes or discourage pilots from flying in that type of weather because of one accident like your friends had trying to install their garage springs? And believe me, if my local "pros" were more sensible with their billing practices and not have separate fees for estimates AND labor, maybe I would have been willing to put money in their pockets.

Wow, $750 for an 1132 sounds like a heck of a deal if the machine's any good at all! I'm not nearly enough of an expert to know how to comprehensively check out an older machine, but I guess I'd just look it over for general condition (there's likely to be rust), make sure it holds all its fluids (engine oil, hydrostatic oil, gear oil in the auger drive) and try absolutely everything. The belts are a pain to change and easy to screw up, so make sure both clutches (drive and auger) are smooth and effective, that the auger stops cold when its clutch is disengaged, that engaging the auger clutch and then the drive clutch allows you to release the auger clutch and just hold the other (important so you can operate other controls while controlling the machine one-handed). The engine had better be easy to start this time of year or it'll be a real PIA in the winter. With the drive clutch engaged you should be able to run the hydrostatic speed level back and forth and get a smooth, infinite change in speed. Make sure there's a spot in the middle where it doesn't move at all and that you can make it barely crawl in either direction. Obviously the machine shouldn't make ugly noises. The chute should be easy to operate, obviously. It might be tempting to have a pro check it out. Has it been professionally maintained or checked recently? Would you be having a pro maintain it for you or DIY? (If DIY, buy a maintenance manual for sure.)