I have a steep hill on one side of the house. The Super Recycler has no problem asending the hill with a full bag of grass. The only time you could encounter a problem climbing a hill would be if the drive was out of adjustment. But that will happen with any lawn mower. The Super Recycler is a much better mower for the reasons tomplum mentioned. It is designed to run for 3 decades with only normal maintenance. What you will find with less expensive box store models is that after several years controls will start to break, transmissiotn will have problems, wheels will loosen, etc. If you decide to go with a box store mower be sure to get one with rear and not front wheel drive.

Welp, other than general reviews of the company itself (I know, I know - its MTD), I couldn't find any inbiased revies for this exact model, with either the honda or kohler engine. Thanks for the tip about the autochoke on the honda engine, i'll have to make a mental note if/when it happens to me - I did buy the mower late this evening, and made a few test passes with it. My front yard is the levelest of what I have, with a good 20' section that is perfectly flat. The fastest gear selection is a little TOO fast for me to actually mow with, but for moving it from front to back, etc, its great. out of 4 gears, #3 is just a hair faster than what I normally use on my rider - which on a brand new mower with a brand new blade, worked perfectly. #1 and #2 were fine also, just slower as expected - but nothing I would consider a 'grandmothers pace' - tho I wish it did have at least one that slow.. Even with the big 12" tires on the back of this RWD mower, I couldn't hold it still with it trying to pull. Tires wouldnt break loose and spin on level ground, it actually pulled me over the 3rd pass when I was playing with it. It also pulled itself, and me, up a 25 degree slope, about 40 feet long. Let's hope she holds out for a long time to come - for someone used to using the $99 Murray special, it's like comparing a Pinto to a Corvette. I understand lots of folks like some of the other names like JD, Snapper, etc - and I imagine that would be like stepping from a Pinto to a 200mph Maybach - I'm fine in the middle class with the 'vette.

Peerless won't do you much good, unless you try to kluge things together. Foote is part of Dana-Spicer, and Peerless was the transmission arm of Tecumseh. No connection. You might be able to figure the age by running the numbers from the 10hp Tecumseh. Should be stamped into the blower shroud. Given type of tank and aircleaner, I'm guessing late 80's or early 90's. Unless someone replaced engine, not likely much older.

The rear engine Murray did well enough. Actually, I've seen Murrays get beat for years and they don't know what to do but ask for more. Don't let the built in garage look fool you. $175 in average shape is a great deal. They were tough enough, easy enough to service generally. Take off the two large screws in the panel ahead of the seat, and the whole body shrouding slides off around the engine. The only thing that I don't wish on you is to have replace the traction belts and what goes with it. But generally drives on RER's are kinda a pain anyways. Unless you like turtles...