I had a terrible time with mowers for a few years and I went thru about 3 different ones in 4 years I just kept breaking them. I finally bought a used craftsman and it mowed great for two weeks then started acting funny I did everything I knew to do. Carb tuning etc finally I was adjusting the valves and noticed the intake side wasn't opening ad far as the exhaust side. I pulled the engine apart it the intake on the cam was completely rounded off. It was just opening enough to idle anything other than that it was just to much load and would kill the engine. I replaced the cam and rebuild the engine and so far 3 years later it's running like a champ still. The body looks like **** tho. I broke the hood so it dont have a hood on it anymore lol