Sears Craftsman model # 37645
by Theresia
(Lenoir City, TN)
We purchased this lawn mower to be a convenience for me to assist my husband with the parts of the yard that I could easily mow in order to get some fresh air and exercise.
The starting system and the horsepower of the engine were great selling points. The $350 price tag was a bit steep so we watched for it to go on sale and went to pick it up. Right off of the bat we had difficulty getting it into the car.
The box was enormous so we had to take it out and leave the box behind hoping everything was in working order and we would not have to return the product. Starting the mower was a piece of cake. The engine was great and I easily made my first rounds around the perimeter of our lawn. The bagger was alright, it served its purpose but had to be emptied often. So far, so good.
My first bit of difficulty came with the self-propelled system.
After letting go of the bar to pull the mower back to realign where I would mow next I had difficulty getting the self-propelled system to engage. This mower weighs A TON and without this feature it is virtually impossible to move it. Next I had trouble with the small wheels causing difficulty in adjusting my mowing path.
After hitting a few of the "pot holes" in my front yard, the wheels would not stay at the height my husband
had set them and they would fall down whenever I hit a bump. This was frustrating. I don't think the grooves where deep enough where you raised and lowered the wheels. I thought maybe I was not operating the equipment properly so we re-read the manual and my husband gave it a whirl to see if he would have any problems.
He really liked the way the rear bagger caught the debris and didn't blow up clippings or dust in his face. He seemed impressed with the power of the mower also. After mowing the level side to the left of the house, he went over to the right side which has a slope to it.
Soon he was as frustrated as I with the difficulty in maneuvering the mower to go in the direction he wanted. When the wheels began to fall he quickly decided that this mower had a glitch or two that needed to be worked out. We were concerned that we would have difficulty returning the mower (since we had no box) but when we called our local Sears retailer and explained the problems we were having they told us to simply bring it back along with our sales receipt for a refund. Sure enough, the return was that easy.
We are waiting for the glitches to get worked out and we will probably try another mower like this again in the future because the overall concept and features are what we are looking for.