Craftsman  160cc* 22'' Rear Drive Self-Propelled EZ Lawn Mower–50 States

I bought this mower on September 29th. I brought it home, put the oil in, filled it gas, and it started right up. However, the blade would not turn. I thought I was doing something wrong and re-read the directiions. finally I called Sears and asked to bring it back. I emptied the gas out and brought it back and they ordered a new one and I picked it up and brought it home and repeated the process. The second one started right up and the blade turned for about two bags full of clippings and then wouldn't turn any more. I brought it back and decided to give Sears one more chance before going for the ********** or Lowe's junk mowers made in China. I bought a Craftsman mower with a Briggs and Stratton motor and it has worked fine. I heard later that the Honda motor is actually made in China, but have not confirmed that.

I originally bought this mower because of the Honda engine and the Craftsman brand. My family has always had Honda mowers and they've done great jobs and lasted a long time. With this mower, I used it once a week for the first two weeks with 2 loads each time, no problems. The third time I used it, it started backfiring and stuttering. When engaging the blades after stopping, the engine would slow down, then stop. Mind you, my grass is not that thick or tall to cause the engine to overwork; I even tried lifting the mower up to prevent this. I ended up taking the mower back and got a replacement, thinking this was just a defective one, it happens. The replacement worked ok the first time, though it did start stuttering a little on the 2nd or 3rd bag. Now it won't start at all. Not overfilling the bag, I put in the first bottle of oil, as instructed, there is sufficient gas before I start each time. Headed back to the store, thinking about a different model. Very frustrating.

I just purchased this mower today, (NEW) . I mowed less than half of the front yard, and the blade stopped turning. This is the THIRD mower I have purchsed this year from Sears. It seems that Craftsman is NO longer the quality it once was.

All three mowers that I have purchased seem to have some flaw that renders the mower usless, or at very least very difficult to use. The first mowers' Kohler engine failed after only two uses, the second mowers self propell was faulty, now the third mower has blade engagement problems!

These are lawn mowers, one of the simplest machines ever made, yet Craftsman has managed to produce such a poor design. The designer of this piece(s) of equipment obviously doesn't have to mow a yard with it.

THE DESIGN:   The problem with the design is that the wheel base is too long. This adds overall extra weight which leads to difficulty turning the mower, which in turn degrades the ease of its use. The blade engagement lever is a cool idea (if it would work properly), but for the majority, it is an unnessesary component ~ just another problem to have to deal .... with in my case. The self-propell doesnt seem to have much control. It either runs extremely slow and thus need to push, or run extremely fast to keep up when its fully engaged.  There is no happy medium with this.   

WORD TO THE WISE ~ DO NOT PURCHASE!

Purchased this self-propelled mower assuming it would make grass cutting easier.  I'm a 50+ female with back problems.  I could not walk behind the mower.  It has only one speed and that is FAST.  I have a one acre yard with lots of trees which takes about 4 hours to cut.  I couldn't handle the 4 hours of jogging  and being dragged around my yard.  I do not have short legs, I am 5'8".  I am returning the mower and getting a self-propelled that has an adjustable speed.  Any suggestions?

I like the Honda engine but this mower either doesn't have enough power or the design is poor. My biggest complaint with this mower is it leaves clumps of grass all over the lawn when supposedly mulching, even when mowing short grass. If I had to do it all over again, I would have taken this mower back after the first mowing when I bought it in the spring. I guess I'm stuck with it now, unless Sears actually eads these and wants to trade it out to for 190 cc model.

I just bought this power baby today, what impressed me was the start system. It started with only half a pull in first stroke. I had over 10" of grass and this 160cc engine mower cut right throught that and gave me great cut the first time. I ll update my review after few more cuts.

I wanted a fabulous new mower.  Bought this one, took it home wouldn't start.  Finally figured out the spark plug in the front was unplugged from shipping. Starting mowing for 20 minutes and the blade stopped engaging. Called Sears they had me dump out the gas and load it up and bring it back in and told me it sounded like the belt is broken and that was the first time that has ever happened.  Exchanged it for the same model. Started mowing with the 2nd one . . . struggled with tall grass and again 20 minutes mowing the blade again stopped engaging.  Messed with it forever trying to see what the problem was.  Called Sears and they were stumped.  Got to pour the gas out, load it back up and return it which then took forever and my grass was still overgrown.  So disappointed!!  I can understand one being a lemon, but two!  We have had several lawn mowers from ********** which worked fabulous just wanted a mower with a bigger bag.  

It is a quiet and easy to start mower with adqeuate instructions how to get going. I purchased online because the sears people where I live had no information nor did they seem to care about the lawn mowers and so I thought I would save a littel $ by an online purchase. I cut 2/3 of my lawn with now problem. The bagging of the grass was very good and the capacity of the bag was good. I like the "see thru" bag to determine how close to full it is. Then, mysteriously, the blade stopped engaging. so after owning this mower for 2 hours, I repacked it and took it to the store....3 hours later I finished the lawn....PITA to return a thing like this and then go to the retail to exchange. The retail and online stores are competitors so the retail people were happy to get the exchange for credit. It is a hassle (at least in my case) to get the same kind of "deal" that I got online, but it was taken care of. The mower itself is great. I am a little suspect of the engaging clutch so I will see how this goes thru the summer.

Mower started on 2nd pull. Mower worked great after I realized I needed to switch the fuel lever over to the On position lol. I will write another review after I have had it more than a week, but so far, so good.

Pros: Quiet, Easy Start, nice that it runs without the blade spinning Cons: Heavy, front wheels narrower than blades, hand gets cramped holding two bars (one on each side allows to alternate hands), can't mow in corners. I waited to review until I used it a few times since the first one I got, the blades did not engage after about 15 minutes of use. Got an easy swap at Sears.