I had a Craftsman mower. It was okay. Had it for 10 years and little things would go wrong with it. At one point, I couldn't pull start it because the while crank would lift up when I yanked on the rope. I found a couple of screws to stick in there and that held it down. The real problem was priming it. It took some real priming to get it started the older it got especially the first time after being stored all winter.

Finally, I bent the blade when I hit a stump and rather than repair it, I bought a $300 Toro and what a difference. You don't even have to prime the Toro--just a pull and it starts right up even after sitting all winter.