Have had my Craftsman for about 12 years now. 42" with Kohler 17 hp. 6 speed. You can get one now at Sears for about 1300. Relpaced drive belt once. 15 min job.

I'm guessing Dads mower is dead or dieing. The guys make good points. Might want to take Dad with you. The Toro Recyclers are a good machine. You can go from one HD sells for 299.00 all the way up to a electric start, personal pace with blade brake so you can empty the bag without killing the engine. My uncle just had his 99th birthday this month. He was splitting firewood at 84! And why are neighbors going to be borrowing it? I keep a yardman self propelled mower for my son in law to "barrow". What he has against buying his own I don't know. He damaged my rider when we had 1.5 acres when he borrowed it. We moved back to town, 60 mile a day commute was killing us. That and 4.00 gas. Probably retire out there, but...Oh, back to the subject. Nobody barrows my Toro. They can barrow the yardman, till they break it.

I am really tired today running between all the big box stores. At the end, I didn't option the lawn boy because I really can't justify the extra cost vs sears promo today. Plus, a technician at Rona's service center gave me a friendly warning about the Tecumseh engine, the supply of the parts might be good for next 2-3 years but can't promise anything at long run. I still have a thought that a good mower should last me 10 years ironed in my head... However, I really like the design of the lawn boy 10684, everything seems very well design and build quality is better than others. If it's around $350CND range and none self-propelled model, I would pull the trigger, no question ask. I went back to Sears and ordered the Craftsman 36933 model (3-in-1 with bag, side discharge, mulching), which has B&S 850 platinum engine (8.5 ft/lb torque), no choke and no primer needed. The price is just what I am aiming for, 289.99+taxes. The engine seems pretty well build but the rest of the parts are very standard, a regular every week lawn mower...

Lol, minis are supposed to be miniature versions of full size horses of any breed really, finer boned than a shetland pony for instance, which are sturdy and stocky. You can have a miniature horse that looks just like a full sized Arabian for example and should be quite delicate looking. Mine are not particularly well bred, and are stockier than a really good mini should be. And Crazy is overweight as well :) S