Geez--with problems like that--you'd might as well hire a local guy to mow yer grass once a week, using a gasoline powered mower. that way, by the time you'd get enough similar answers from this site, yer grass wouldn't be over the rain gutters on yer roof! Holy Cow! You make an easy job look hard and expensive! I'd like for you to tell us just what it is about those fancy things you talk about, that makes them any better for lawn mowing! by: Rusty Jones

When operating the mower over a dry, dusty surface, you will raise considerable dust. The fact that this even needs to be stated is sad. Anyway, with most current mowers that don't have a manual throttle, you're pretty much SOL. You can raise the cutting height but the best thing to do is wait until after a rain when the ground is a little moist. With the bag, the dust will be more directed at you, so we don't usually bag in dusty conditions. When bagging leaves, you typically will get leaf dust which will give most people allergy symptoms. A trick I use is to go over the leaf-covered lawn in mulching mode (possibly with the riding mower if you have one), which breaks down the leaves but makes a mess (if the leaves are thick). Then I go back over it with the bag on the regular 21" mower. The volume of leaves is greatly reduced not only because they are chopped up but also because half of the leaf material has been fine-cut and will stay in the lawn. so in this way you have maybe only 25% of the original leaf material to bag, which in many cases can be done on one bagful. At the same time you are putting nutrients back into the lawn.

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

Must of been lucky. Bought an MTD at Ace hardware (Ace Special Edition) with a 42" cut and 16hp Tecumseh. Aside from the normal problems of your MTD of that era IE having the grille mounts break off after a few years) it's been great, and it was only replaced as it was really starting to not work well on hills, and in the last year has been a case of "What's going to break next when I mow?". A key to remember is any NEW tractor in that range is going to be light duty. If you have more an acre to mow with it, a newer, higher end, used model is a probably a better option. You'll get a lot of life out of one though if you keep it well maintained. Take care of it and there is no reason why you should not get a good, usable life of about 10-12 years. one other thing to keep in mind; the chief complaints of many people on a mower it seems is the motor. That is the most important part of a mower besides the transmission on a Hydro equipped tractor. The engine is going to what will go wrong 9 time out of 10 on a mower, and is often going to be to blame for issues with cutting (due to lack of power) and reliability.