Mr Organic....I don't think you can go wrong with either a Honda HRX or a Toro Super Recycler. Go to lawnsite.com & check out some posts there about push mowers. These are guys who use them everyday for a living. Also, check out your local Craigslist for mowers. I got really lucky & found a commercial Honda HRC that was basically brand new. If you get something that mulches well (Honda or Toro) & cut your lawn frequently, then you don't need a side discharge. But, I'd definitely look for something with a rear bagger. I'm not sure where you are located but at some point you are most likely going to need to overseed your lawn & for that you need to cut it low & bag the clippings. I only use mine once or twice a year with the bagger attached but it is more than worth it. Hope this helps. I'm sure someone will chime in about looking at Snapper's as well but really, unless you use it everyday, I think something from Honda or Toro is the way to go. Spend a little more & get something good. As someone once told me, "buy quality tools & cry once. Buy cheap tools & cry every time you use them...." Oh, another piece of advice I'd give is to use something like Sta-Bil in the gas can you use to fill the mower. It's an additive that lengthens the useful life of your gas & keeps it from damaging the carburetor on your mower. Learned this lesson the hard way & now I put some in the gas can everytime I fill it up at the pump. You can find it at any parts place in town. Anyway, good luck....

I just got a Cub Cadet CC550SP and it is a great mower. My yard looks much better after one cut. The suction on this mower is outstanding when using the bag. It's amazingly quiet and its the easiest thing to start. Starts on first pull EVERY TIME! Did not or would not ever buy from the big box stores. I did some comparison shopping and even though the models had same numbers the mowers had small differences. First being the wheels. Home depots mowers had these narrow hard plastic wheels and the one I got had 2" wide heavy duty wheels. At box store your new mower is sure to have loose bolts on it somewhere. At the store I bought mine, DEWYNNS in San Antonio Texas, they set up my new mower serviced it and step by step showed me all the features. Try finding someone at a box store who could even find where the lawnmowers are. In closing, don't rush out to lowest or home depot to try and save money. I spent the same amount of money at a store that just sells lawn equipment and the service was outstanding. I've bought a couple pieces of lawn equipment there and will only go there in the future.

I guess I'm the Dad in this case! I do remember having an el cheapo power mower (person propelled) when I was a kid (red and perhaps Western Auto) and using it for everything - a field at the rear of the house comes to mind... one day it was 3 feet high, the next it was "lawn". Anyway, everyone is always dumping on Craftsman tools and power equipment. I'm still using my Craftsman Eager One, 5HP, Tecumseh engine, that I purchased in 1984. I don't recall it ever failing to start except when the switch I installed to replace the dead-man handle died. It smokes, uses oil, but still cuts better than my $500 Troy-Bilt. At the beginning of the summer, I ran over a rock and bent the blade so that it was actually digging into the ground. Had to replace the blade plate and blade, but didn't faze the crankshaft or the upper crankshaft shear pins. The only maintenance I've ever done is occasionally replace the air filter, less occasionally replace the spark plug (do clean it annually), and change the oil. I think it is coming to the end of its long life and really hate the thought of getting rid of it. It really needs a total engine rebuild (chassis, etc. is still fine - no rust but lots of scrapes), but I just don't have the abilities. JimC

'The Perfect Mulching Lawn Mower Doesn't Exist' Right. And it will never exist, because in mulching mode there is no 'vacuum' to pull the grass up - you only get that when the air generated by the blade has someplace to go, either out the discharge chute or through the bag. This is why the cut can be a little ragged when mulching, as the air tends to blow the grass down under the deck. The other problem of less vacuum with a raised deck also cannot be solved although there have been some improvements like the Hi-Vac Snapper deck. I changed out mowers a few years ago so I would have 4" capability, but I found that the grass 'laid over' at that height instead of being cut. So, I never go above 3.5" now except in special cases, and always bagging or discharging. The bottom line is that the rotary mower is good at discharging or bagging because the blade works as a fan to draw air in around the edges of the deck and blow it out the discharge. Once you close off the discharge for 'mulching', you lose this 'vacuum' and 'pulling up' of the grass blades to be cut. The Honda HRX system of blending bagging and mulching is a good compromise in theory because it should give some of the air an escape which promotes a cleaner cut, but then it defeats to some extent the purpose of mulching, which is to eliminate bagging/discharge and return the chopped clippings to the ground.