Craftsman 6.75 HP Power Propelled Lawn Mower
by Pauletta Melago
(Willoughby, Ohio USA)
I purchased this Craftsman Model number 917.378490 power propelled rear discharge mower for $299.99 in May of 2003. The mower is now 5 years old. Every year it gets a tune up with a new spark plug and oil change. Last year I had the blade sharpened.
This year I needed a new V belt because the self propel feature wasn't working. The V belt was easy to install and my husband did it himself. All in all this Craftsman has been a reliable and good running mower now for 5 years. I would recommend it to anyone with a small to medium sized yard.
The Craftsman is easy to start. The primer is located in the front near the air filter. 6 or 7 pumps and holding down the control bar, a pull of the starter handle and you are off and running.
The drive control controls your speed and it's just a matter of how fast you want to walk behind the mower.
There are 9 wheel adjustments on the front wheels to allow the lawn to be cut from very short to around 5 inches.
This mower came equipped with a grass catcher. I use it rather then mulching because I empty the grass clippings in my garden for mulch.
For those people who want to mulch, the bag is easily removable and the mower comes equipped with a special mulching blade that recuts the grass clippings many times and reduces the size so that they will fall back into the lawn and not be noticed.