In May of 2010, I decided to purchase a new self-propelled lawn mower to use around my home and decided to stick with a brand I have known and used for many years, Sears Craftsman. After doing some research online and speaking with the Sears representative at the store, I decided to purchase the Craftsman 190cc 22” Briggs & Stratton Rear Bag Front Drive Lawn Mower and I think I made a great choice.
The Craftsman 190cc 22in Briggs & Stratton Rear Bag Front Drive Lawn Mower was easy to assemble, being 90% assembled right out of the box. It took maybe 15 minutes to assemble the handle, add the oil (which was included) and fill up the gas tank and before I knew it the mower was ready to go. I was very impressed with the quality of the mower as everything seemed to be well made, which is why I chose to buy a Sears Craftsman again. I have owned two other Craftsman self propelled mowers in the past and this mower is definitely in a class of its own. Here are some of the features that I think make this Craftsman mower a good buy:
1. easy to start – This particular Craftsman mower comes with a 190cc Briggs & Stratton engine that is considered the Platinum engine in their lineup. The Sears rep basically said that the difference between this 675 Platinum engine and their Gold engines is the spark plugs that come with it that provide a sure spark every time. The 675 Platinum engine also has a Start Promise which states that Sears guarantees that the engine will start in 2 pulls each time. In my experience I have never (until now) had to pull more than once to start this mower and right out of the box it started on the first pull as well.
2. Height adjustment made easier – On my old Craftsman mower it was much more difficult to adjust the cutting height as the wheel adjustments were sometimes hard to see and you were never 100% sure you had each wheel at the same height. On this new Briggs & Stratton Craftsman 190cc 22-inch rear bag riding mower, each wheel has an easy-to-use handle with numbered grooves. So I can adjust (for example) each wheel to be even with #6 and the handle fits snugly in each slot so I know they are all the same. Much easier than the previous Craftsman mower I had last season.
3. self propelled front wheel – My yard is basically flat except for the front yard which has a downward slope and I have found the front wheel self propelled lawn mower to be excellent on this type of terrain. This particular model has a long bar on the handle to engage the front wheels and I find it easy to control the speed of the wheels and it pushes the mower very well through my yard. If I had a yard with more hills and rough terrain, I might have gone with the self-propelled rear wheel, but I think most yards will do just fine with this front-wheel drive version.
4. Price and Terms – At under $300, the price was great for such a well made mower. I had the option of spending an extra $30-40 and upgrading to a Key Start (which is an electric start mower), but Craftsman only had rear-wheel drive versions that didn’t interest me. Also, Sears has been running a great promotion this spring where if you buy anything over $299 with your Sears card, you can finance it interest-free for 12 months. It wasn’t difficult to finance it and pay it off over time with no interest, so we definitely took advantage of that promotion. However, if you choose not to use the 12-month interest-free promotion, you can also receive 5% cash back online, so be sure to check it out on the Sears website.
All things considered, I think the Briggs & Stratton Craftsman 190cc 22in Rear Bag Front Drive Mower was a great purchase. It’s a great machine, it cuts our lawn evenly and efficiently and is a joy to use. Now if they could fit someone in to mow my lawn, I’ll be in heaven!