Ain't much you can do, except make yours look really nice, and folks will naturally be drawn to the sight of yours, in contrast to his rotten looking yard! His novel mower is probably an experiment. He'll get discouraged when it finally quits on him.

I've had a Toro lx427 for about one year bought it used I will tell you if you buy one used take down all the part numbers and verify the part numbers are for a Toro mine is hard to find parts for because it's been modified so be carful when buying one and ask the right questions 1 has the deck been replaced if so from what model or was it new from factory by the way those are over 300 for just the bare shell 2 when was the last time the oil was changed 3 does it have a new motor as they have an hour meter on them 4 when was the drive train last serveced 5 has there been any modifications to the drive system other wise yes very good mower I use mine at my house and I also use it on others lawns very good mowing very good with a plow not sure about a thrower but yes I'm sure it will do fine with one mine has a 20 horse Kohler couage very good motor I would suggest if you get a thrower to get the weight rack not the wheel weights wheel weights are more expensive I know stupid but true I've done my research and get a set of chains they are about 70 for a set of two be carful on which ones you buy some are quick release and the prongs break easy better off buying the ones that slip over the tires and strap in

IMHO, if you want a rider, buy a rider "older Minneapolis mower" isn't a good thing unless you're mechanically inclined and willing to do your own repairs. Also, do you have a truck or trailer to haul to a shop if you aren't? Older equates to more breakdowns and repairs irregardless of the brand. Are parts available for it? Assuming it has a common engine like a Briggs, etc. parts are available, but the other "odds and ends" could be a problem. With that size lot, you'll spend a lot of time turning and backing and will probably keep your walk behind for trimming after you see what a PITA the rider is to maneuver. Also, with a blower, you'll need chains and weights are those included? Put another way, a new LT and blower, chains, weights, etc. would probably be $4,000+ and you're getting a deal for $500. Can you borrow a rider from a neighbor to find out how much faster it would be? Good luck,

worldcomposting and others, my old Black and Decker broke last weekend. When I say, broke, I mean a large chunk of the chute broke off and flew out. I need to take a pic. I stopped mowing and bought an EGO self propelled. Unpacking these things is trivial. It's already assembled in the box, so you unfold the handle, put the battery in, and go. I happened to have another battery so I used that first and charged the one that came with the mower. This topic started as initial thoughts on my sister in law's mower. Here are my initial thoughts for my own mower. Simply pushing this mower is much easier than pushing the B&D. The ball bearing wheels make a big difference over an entire lawn. It's nice. I wondered if I would like the self propelled, but I do. My back yard slopes down away from the house, and the self propelled helps to get it off dead center at the bottom of the hill. I was not sure it would get through the tall and dense St Aug, but that did not seem to be a problem. I do believe that trying to lower the deck a lot might present a problem, but you never do that with St Augustine. The lever to start the wheels going is pretty flimsy. I can see that being the first thing to break on this. It does power through the dense St Augustine. I wondered about that, too. My sister in law has thin grass, so that's easy. When the mower hits a heavy load, it throttles up the blade. I guess some gas mowers do that, too. Nice feature. Reseting the deck height is easy and solid. I mow my yard at two heights. The St Aug is mowed at the highest setting and the weeds are mowed at the lowest. The St Aug is taking over the weeds, so soon enough I'll be mowing it all at the highest setting. The EGO mows lower at the lowest setting and higher at the highest setting compared to the B&D. Mowing has not been fun in a long time. The B&D had some features that made it not fun. This EGO is a lot better. As I mentioned in the original post, the EGO comes with headlights. I thought it was a gimmick, but I had to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. If I had a yard with lots of rocks, child's toys, or even pet toys, I would not mow in the dark, but it is possible to do. It turned on the outside lights, but that's not enough to see what you're mowing. The headlights are. One problem with them is a bright green LED that indicates the headlights are on. That green light is right in your eyes. So I'm no longer laughing about a lawn mower with headlights. But I'm not going to make a habit of mowing at night. I still think it's a little dangerous. So back to worldcomposting, when the mower does not completely mulch the grass or leaves, you have to go over it multiple times until you are satisfied. This is true with all mowers. I did this with a Toro back in the 1960s. Many of today's mowers do a great job the first time, but many do not. Deck height makes a difference, too, as does the type of leaves you're mulching.