This is my first self-propelled mower. I'm coming from a basic, no-frills machine that I bought some years ago when I just wanted something cheap that would do the job.
I bought this mower at the local Depot, cheaper than the advertised price here even after tax was added. I brought it home and unpacked it. Setup was done in just a couple of minutes -- unlike my previous mower, this one is almost entirely assembled in the box. All you need to do is put the handle on and attach the blade clutch lever to it. No tools required.
Next, add the fluids. The mower comes with the right amount of 30-weight oil. Then fill up the gas tank, and you're off.
The mower has an engine kill switch like you'd find on a motorcycle. Switch to "I" (Ignition). Pull the starter cord. Mine fired up on the first pull! The engine runs smoothly (and much quieter than my old mower). You don't need to have the safety bar pulled in at this point -- the engine will run, but the blades will not spin.
Pull the safety bar in and the blades start spinning. Release it and they stop, but the engine keeps running. Kill the engine by flipping the ignition switch to OFF.
That's cool. With my old mower, every time I let go of the safety bar it killed the engine and I would have to pull the starter cord again to get it going.
The propulsion is really nice. The upper section of the grip is spring-loaded and slides up and down the vertical handlebar rods slightly. The more pressure you apply to the handlebar, the faster the mower will want to move. Release the bar, and the mower stops moving. There is another, secondary handlebar underneath that can be used to circumvent the propulsion entirely, if desired.
There is also a large lever that allows you to change between mulching and bagging. This can be done at any time. With the bag attached, pulling the lever to the rear will start bagging, while pushing the lever forward will close off the opening to the bag and start mulching instead. The mower also comes with the side discharge attachment, which installs easily and is very effective.
When you're done mowing, there is a port on the side that accepts a standard garden hose. Attach a hose to the mower and turn it on. Then start the mower and start the blades spinning. It does a really good job of cleaning out the mower for you. When the water coming out starts to run clear, just shut off the hose and let the blades keep spinning for another few seconds until the mower is dry. You will still need to clean out some of it, though, like the bag port, which the hose doesn't reach.
The Briggs & Stratton engine seems strong, easily handling whatever horrible things I threw at it (with a caveat, explained below). Propulsion was also strong, and even going up a steep incline behind my house required only about 5% of the effort required with my previous mower. The overall build quality is excellent, and it's a real looker to boot.
There are a couple of minor quibbles, but nothing significant enough to merit the loss of a star. I'm not a huge fan of the white wheels, which were already turning green after the first mow. And the wheels themselves don't turn as freely as those on my old mower. Presumably this is because of the propulsion mechanism, so I guess that could be the case with any self-propelled mower. And finally, when in mulching mode, the mower seems to stall more frequently than my old mower when it hits the hard stuff. I live in Florida, and it rains a lot in the summer. Sun + lots of water = grass that's sometimes a foot high in a week. So if the grass gets too long in between mows, this mower will sometimes stall because there's way too much material to mash around. However, switching to side discharge or bagging solves the problem immediately, and the mower will cut ANYTHING.
