I have had this mower since 2015 and it is great. Starts easy 1 or 2 pulls I have the electric start for my wife and she loves it. Reading reviews I see one guy writes about front-wheel drive breaking. Well, he doesn't have this model since it is rear-wheel drive. One guy complained about how hard it was to clean the drive unit. I had to clean mine after 3 years it only took 10 minutes. I had to remove 3 screws and drop the plastic cover. It was packed with grass. There was no need to drain oil or gas. Some complain about starting but I'm willing to bet they use cheap gas with ethanol which is a big no-no.

First the pro's: Truly one-pull start. No problems with the electric start. Self propel works but sluggish on mossy lawn and sluggisher on damp mossy lawn. The big problem is periodic maintenance.

Now the cons: The see-through window in the catcher bag split in the first season of use. Next, the hose connector for the clean out feature broke and I had to send the mower in for repair. I taped Window up with owl motif duct tape. Periodic maintenance is a horrible chore. Periodic cleaning of the drive mechanism is recommended and really is necessary to keep the drive running. You need to tip the mower on its side to "empty" the gas and oil. If you run the mower 'til it runs out of gas, after tipping it and emptying, it will run for about 20 minutes. (If you do this DO IT BEFORE EMPTYING OIL!!!) Oh, the mower takes a twenty ounce charge of oil when new, but not all of the oil comes out when you tip it so don't put more than 12 ounces back in before checking level. Now the real fun. Getting at the drive mechanism to clean it is not a user friendly job. And, to make matters worse, the manual is not only next to useless but trying to follow the instructions is potentially harmful or fatal to your mower. If you are lucky enough to find the four screws which they illustrate and tell you need to be removed and try to take the cover off the drive mechanism, and are really persistent, you will break it. There are actually two more screws that are not shown. One is on the top of the mower deck and the other is hidden beneath the battery cover. The battery cover is horribly hard to open. Two of the four screws noted in the manual (they are 5/16 by the way) are made almost inaccessible by having convenient access blocked by the rear wheels. With a 1/4 inch drive socket you can only get one click of the ratchet at a time and the socket slips off all the time. These are long winded screws, too.

Ok, now you've got all of the 5/16 screws (there are six of them). Don't forget the 1/2 inch bolt right next to the hole for the blade drive and bolt. That's it. You're ready to pry and wiggle the drive mechanism shroud off. You think.... You pull and wiggle and wiggle and pull. You stand up, pinch your nose and twirl three times then say "Rumplestiltskin". Something is still holding it. Finally it gives but something whizzes past your left ear. It is what I have called the drive tensioning spring, the spring that has no name or existence in the manual, the Valdimort of springs, and chances are you have lost it, because it isn't very big. I found mine, but, since it is not in the manual, I had to guess where it belonged and was never sure of it's function. I was probably wrong on both counts because it was missing yesterday when I took the mower apart for cleaning prior to my first mow of the season but the drive still seems to work.

Upshot: Don't get this mower unless you are either a masochist or you enjoy engineering puzzles. Keep in mind that Sears stores don't do the servicing. They send the mowers somewhere. It takes mucho time, you'll miss more than one weekly mow if you don't do the servicing yourself not to mention getting hit in the wallet. If I had this to do over I like think I would have the good sense to do a very thorough check of the mower before buying. I'm 72 years old so I'm kind of thinking this is my last mower, but, if not, I will get my next one from a local dealer where I can just take it in have it serviced on-site if I don't want to or can't do it myself.

I picked this up earlier this year and ive been very happy with it. The one-lever cut-height adjustment is a plus, and so is the one-pull start (I've yet to have to pull a second time).

The mower pulls well without jerking you along, and maneuverability and cutting performance have been above average. My FWD Troy-Bilt mower is a bit more agile and has a slightly better cut, but it lacks the power and stability on rough terrain.

As far as reliability, I've had no issues after using it for a full season. I always use fuel stabilizer, and make certain to give it a tune up every season.

Bought this mower it lasted 33 days before the front drive went out, took 10 days to repair then they found out something else was wrong so they called it a lemon and gave me a new one. This mower is like a tank after you let off the drive lever. All wheels are locked so you can't pull it backwards unless you 1st push it 4 feet forward to disengage the drive. It will not bag after 10 feet in my yard, it clogs. It's the only mower that give's a Mohawk cut! leaves a strip right up the middle. Love the adjustable handle height EXCEPT when you hit the smallest bump and it pops out of position and you have to shut it off each TIME and reset it! I took the second back for a full refund and purchased a Snapper Hi-Vac 21" cut w/rear drive. The difference is like night and day!!!! Don't waste your money it's total JUNK spend $120.00 more and get a real mower like I did.

Within first year mower would not start. Fixed under warranty. A few months later same problem. Advertised as 1 pull start, I liked that feature as I am getting older and considered buying electric starting mower but figured I'd be good for at least 1 pull and didn't want to spend the extra money for something that could break later. Haven't taken it to get fixed yet, even though it gives me a workout trying to start it when it wants to. I'm highly disappointed since my old Craftsman mower still worked without any problems for over 20 years, it was getting rusty and drive cable holder cracked. Now I'm sorry I gave it away.

I have owned many lawnmowers and only had to do general "maintenance". This mower broke in the first season. The drive broke first. Early the next season the mower would not start. Took to independent engine mechanic and could not fix. After purchasing a warranty from Sears they replaced the short block. Brought it home and the same thing happened. Poor design - do not buy, very frustrating mower.

I bought this mower 3 years ago. I did the maintenance on the mower regularly and took care of it. I worked the mower very hard for two seasons as my yard was very rough on it. I mowed around an acre once a week from April through October. This year after 1/2 the season I was mowing and stopped to move some trash out of the way of the mower and it would not start back up. I had the extended warranty so I took it to Sears to get fixed. It was in the shop for a month before I got it back. It still has trouble starting and the side discharge chute has broken off. When I lived in Florida and mowed twice a week Craftsman mowers lasted a lot longer. Of course things were made better back then however to have it only last me 3 years is ridiculous. I will be purchasing a better mower this spring.

I got this mower in October, used it for about 5 months, and the self-propulsion has broken twice already. While I wait to have it fixed, my lawn grows out of control. I am on this site to find a more reliable mower that will last at least a few years, if not more.