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Get the self propelled, no sense pushing a mower around in this heat, I subscribe to the get it done policy, so I cut my lawn 4 or 5 times then it goes to Manual and his partners to cut it once it gets too hot....

Well, I ended up with a Toro mower with a Honda motor. It is manual push and has the 3-option system (bag, mulch, or side discharge). My grass was pretty long on Saturday, and I was busy in the morning so I waited till the hottest part of the day, and mowed it. My wife said I was crazy, but I got it done with no problem. The mower works beautifully.

The 2-cycle Lawn Boy that was outlawed in about 2004 was the best mower I have ever had. With modern electronic ignition, electric start seems unnecessary and is just something else to go wrong. I just replaced my 1999 2-cycle Lawn Boy with a modern Lawn Boy with a Briggs engine. Both of them are rear-wheel drive self propelled. The new one doesn't mulch as good as the old staggered wheel model but seems to be a good value.

Uses old school reel mower with no engine---------------->

Followup to my previous post: After doing my research and looking over lawn mowers top and bottom (including looking under the deck to see how the cutting chamber was built), I went with the self propelled Lawn Boy mentioned in my previous post. The first time I used it, I noticed that it left small clumps of grass when I turned it. I glanced under it when I was through and thought that it looked different than the model I had seen on display upon which I based my purchase decision. I went back by HD today and, sure enough, the model on display had a heavy metal shroud and 1/2" thick reinforcing bar at the front of the mower deck. The one I got had a plastic insert to form the shroud. I packed it all up and took it back. It turns out that the three models of Lawn Boy (push, self propelled and the electric start model) on display were last year's model and all had the metal shroud that formed the front of the cutting chamber. They didn't have any of "last year's model" in a box so I insisted they let me have the display model. Then I negotiated a $30 discount for the deception. I mowed my neighbor's parkway to try it out. The newer (although last year's model) mower does a better job of mulching and doesn't leave the clumps of grass like the "new and definitely not improved" model.