PeteFree.com2008 Craftsman Series 550 22 Inch Side-discharge/Mulching Lawn Mower: Model 917.385142 Review
© 2010 Peter Free
02 July 2010
Update regarding the redesigned 550 Series — 29 August 2011
Craftsman/Sears cheapened this 550 Series model in 2010 by making its front and back axle housings out of plastic. Consequently, I no longer recommend this model.
However, if you can find the below all-steel unit in good condition, it remains an excellent mower. Mine now burns a little oil at startup, but it still works as capably as it always has.
Cheap Craftsman mower has no negatives
For its sale price of $153 in May 2008, this flimsy-looking (but surprisingly tough), non-propelled power push lawn mower has no negatives.
Test conditions (two tough seasons plus)
I use this (non-California emission) lawn mower to mow approximately 0.66 acres (of a 1.3 acre parcel) of rough, hilly, very uneven ground.
It routinely has to deal with concealed tree stumps, raised roots, fallen branches, rocks, vines, tall grass, and other obstacles. Soil erosion often raises previous non-obstacles into becoming invisible blade-catchers between cuttings.
Engine hours average four per week during the February to early November mowing season. In springtime, with heavy rain, engine hours sometimes reach eight per week.
I always use the mower in a mulching mode.
Engine and cutting performance
The Briggs & Stratton engine always starts easily, even when hot.
Under my terrain conditions, bending and destroying cutting blades by hitting obstacles is unavoidable, yet the Briggs & Stratton engine’s crankshaft remains mostly straight. (Unlike a previous commercial Honda that destroyed two crankshafts and valve trains within a few weeks.)
The 5.5 horsepower engine continues to run dependably, although oil consumption is now noticeable (probably due to sudden engine stops when hitting impediments).
The engine’s foam rubber air filter is easy to wash clean, and the engine runs well ─ even when the filter is almost completely clogged. Under the dusty, pollen-heavy conditions it faces, I have to clean the filter with every use.
Grass cut is relatively smooth, even in wet Bermuda grass. Mulching is adequate, but no more. One can tell that the mower was designed to be a side-discharge model. The mulching option (which consists of a cap for the deck) was almost certainly added later.
A bonus is that the engine ─ when beginning to stall in tall or wet grass in mulching mode ─ usually gives me enough warning so that I can tip the deck upward by pressing down on the mower handle (while the engine is running) to let the mower flush the clogging grass out.
This mower, although rated at 1 horsepower less than two 6.5 horsepower Honda-engine mowers that I have owned on the same property, does not bog and stall as easily as they did.
In side discharge mode (which I have not used), I would guess that this mower is very difficult to stall.
Non-engine performance
The mower is surprisingly light for its size. The lack of a drive mechanism helps.
Deck height is adjusted with flexible levers at each wheel. The levers are sometimes difficult to move from setting to setting, so I usually use two hands with the engine turned off.
The wheels and handle have been durable (even when undergoing forceful pivots), despite their obvious cheapness.
Side-discharge mulch cap is poorly designed
The mower comes with a cap to disable its side discharge feature. The cap is plastic and has a tab that flexes to fit into the deck’s discharge opening.
Unfortunately, the plastic cap eventually deforms (under conditions like mine), so that mulching mode regularly blows it open.
I fixed this in a way that OSHA would not approve. So I won’t tell you how.
Highly recommended
This cheap, no-nonsense mower has outperformed (and outlived) three other lawn mowers that each cost three times as much. It is the only mower I have owned in recent years that has been completely reliable under any conditions.
Admittedly, its low-end Briggs & Stratton engine is probably not going to last two more full years because its cylinders are not lined with more durable material.
However, I would much rather have a reliable, inexpensive mower like this one, than expensive, temperamental, and pansy-butted ones like the Ariens, Honda, and LawnBoy mowers that I use(d) on the same property.