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I find myself in need of a new mower. My yard isn't that big, but in the next year or so I plan to buy a house with (hopefully) a much larger yard. That said, I've never had a self-propelled mower. I consider it a good form of exercise, but since I'm going to go buy one I figure I should at least research to see if it's worth it. Any reason I should be compelled to spend the extra $$ on a self-propelled mower?

I found a very nice Craftsman mower w/ 3-in-1 mulch, rear-bag, and side-discharge on sale at sears for 219 that has a deckwash system and a 6.75 Torque B&S motor. It is a manual push. They have basically the same mower for 299 that is rear-propelled and 7.0 Torque B&S motor. Is it worth it?

yes

The Annoyed Man wrote:yes

Absolutely. Especially for a rear-wheel drive.

Definitely go with a self-propelled and rear wheel drive. While the Craftsman mowers with the Brigg's engines are good (my sister-in-law makes the engines), I personally will spend the extra $$ on a higher end (non-box store) Honda or Toro mower. I have owned several push mowers over the years, everything from cheapie Wal-Mart mowers, to Lawn Boy to commercial Toro's and high end Honda's. The commercial grade mowers will WAY out-last and out perform a lower end mower if they are used a lot.

I currently have a 3 year old Honda HRX217 that replaced my previous HRR 216 model that I bought used and was almost 20 years old when it gave up the ghost. I love the way it handles, the variable speed drive and the job it does cutting and mulching. I had a commercial non-propelled Toro previous to these two as I was only cutting the areas I couldn't hit with the riding mower. When I moved to a smaller lot that I couldn't mow with the rider, I sold it (almost 10 years old at the time) for close to what I originally paid for it.

Bottom line, if you can afford the extra $$$, you probably wont be sorry in the short term or the long run for buying a quality unit.

I am going to be a contrarian on this. I have a relatively small yard, the front being uncluttered to some degree, the back having more planting areas than we really need.

I had a self-propelled, electric start mower that I traded off to a neighbor. It worked OK for the front, and lousy for the back. If you don't have much room, it is almost impossible to turn one around.

My wife likes a colorful yard, and moves pots/planters around often. I can turn my cheap pusher if a very short distance, which is why I traded the 'good' mower off.

Dang it, now you guys have me thinking about buying a rear-propelled model. I'm going to go look tonight I guess.

I have a tiny yard, so I don't have the space necessary to make a self-propelled mower a real option, but my Dad has a big property and the self-propelled mower he has does make the job a lot easier. The only thing to keep in mind is that the self-propelled machines are more complex and therefore have more components that can break, so if you are the type to fix it yourself, you may want to take that into account. If you are not going to do your own repairs, it probably doesn't matter.

One of the smartest things I ever did was to buy a nice big powerful self propelled mower with electric start.
I just turn the key and walk along while holding my Lemon aid with my free hand.

Get self propelled, You won't regret it.

I second the Honda KeithB mentioned, I use it as well, a great mower. Our old one was a Honda as well and it lasted for more than 10 years.

On a side note: whoever invented front wheel drive for lawn mowers has never mowed a lawn in their life. Craftsman is a good brand but Honda wins hands down in the lawn mower category for reliability and ease of use.

Botomline: Honda's worth the extra bucks.

If all you have is a small space, why not get a reel mower like one of these? You've got to push it just the same, but you don't need gas, oil, electricity, etc.

I have the Honda HRX 217 (green knob for adjusting mulch / bagging - no side eject option). It has two blades, a 6.5 HP engine, rear wheel drive, and a few problems:
- In tall grass, the mulching will kill the engine. Pure bagging tall grass will cost you a lot in bags and time. I long for a side-eject option
- The carburetors are finicky - $28 to replace and you'll need to replace it every few seasons
- I wish it had a larger rear wheel
- It was too expensive

There is some upside:
- I love that the engine will idle with the blade off, so you don't have to restart every time you step away
- The petroleum-based polymer deck is very nice and should last much longer than most metal ones
- As long as you mow often, the yard looks great and it's close to effortless
- It's easy to start. . . just this side of a push button

I'd go manual, it is good exercise.