Ditch the Honda and go with an LS7 swap. It'll get the job done but all of those Craftsman purist snobs will ride your azz for not keeping it original.:D

have been running the same 22" 6hp Briggs powered Yardman for 9 years...certainly nothing special. Run on tallest setting (leaves grass 3-4"long), original no-frills blade (sharpen myself 3-4x/year). Even on the original spark plug. Keep the deck bottom clean and make sure the blade is mounted so the sharp side is cutting (ask my how I know), run premium gas and some synthetic oil. If you can't get it to cut/mulch, you might need a taller mower and/or to mow more frequently.

I have an older version of this Troybilt 33in walk behind. Better height adjustment than smaller mowers and generally does well in my back yard where the grass also grows thick and fairly fast.

http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDemo?storeId=10001&catalogId=14102&category Id=&langId=-1&virtualTestDriveURL=http%3a%2f%2fwebapps.easy2.c om%2fcm%2fmasterflash%2fgeneric_index.asp%3fpage_i d%3d36260091&partNumber=12AE763Z011

As the drought set in, mowing slowed from once a week, to once every other week, and finally I didn't mow the grass for five weeks from the last week of July all the way through June. It stared to rain again in August and throughout the month I saw mowing times start to creep up.

Friday a week ago I spent 2.5 hours mowing (or roughly double what it should take). Saturday and Sunday last week Hurricane Isaac sat over us and dumped over three inches in under 48 hours. Thursday added another 1.5 inches of rain. I figured I was in for a full 5-hour mow again this week.

Friday a week ago I walked into our local Toro dealer, and lo and behold, they had EXACTLY what I was looking for. The Toro TimeMaster is a 30", twin blade, consumer-grade lawnmower.

I did some research over the week, and determined that my local dealer had the best price. Yesterday I bought one. The dealer said that most of these were being sold to contractors even though they were "consumer-grade". I can see why. This thing is built much stouter than any "consumer-grade" lawnmower I've ever owned.

Weighing in at 132 pounds, being self-propelled is a must on this thing. Also, my lats are aching after turning this thing. I may not be getting the mild cardio workout I got with my old 70 lb. Craftsman mower, but steering this beast is a workout by itself. The engine is also MUCH more powerful than the one on my old Craftsman, meaning it doesn't stall in tall grass.

Toro | 30" (76 cm) TimeMaster

How big is your yard? I know I'm only mowing 10,000 sq feet, but you basically have to bag this type of grass.

lawn-baller!!