Okay, well I finally had a couple seconds to take a couple photographs of the mowers in my life.
The first is a Sensation 21" cast aluminum deck with a 12-year-old Tecumseh 5HP motor. The original motor was a 3HP Briggs. My parents purchased this mower new in 1973. They used it for a couple of years, then gave it to my grandmother. She gave it to my uncle (father's brother) who let it sit on the side of his house for 10 years after it wouldn't start. Needless to say, it would have cost more to refurb the 3HP motor (I still have it) than it did to fit the 5HP one. The wheels are not original. The original wheels were cast aluminum as well and lasted until two years ago when the right rear suffered a blowout. I still have those as well. I'd love to find a single one in nice shape so I have four nice ones. Needless to say, the current ones are very nice. I used this one this morning before work, but didn't have a chance to clean it, as I usually do after use. The grass catcher isn't pictured, but it hangs on that bracket behind the deck, leaving a 6" gap for various things to fly out and hit me while I'm mowing. It also features a handle which pivots in the center, so it makes mowing certain areas easier, though having a rather-full grass catcher makes maneuverability difficult, and is best left in the conventional mode. The ride height is lower than stock. It does not have a very compliant ride, though. It's really a sports mower.
This mower was purchased new by my parents as well. It was bought to replace the green one in 1975. It is a Sensation Landscaper. It uses the same 21" deck the green one has, but it has a different handle assembly (which is fixed). It also has 12" rear wheels to aid in maneuverability. This mower is all original excepting the wheels which were just fitted last week. It has the original 5HP Briggs motor with a Cast Iron sleeve. This mower is at the stock ride height. We were having some mowability issues with it, so it had been sitting for the last five years. Carb cleaned, tuned up, etc and it is now slated for use at my house.
I'm also working on a deal to pick up a 2000 model Honda commercial mower. It sat for a while and couldn't be restarted. Instead of paying to have it fixed, my neighbor bought a $130 electric mower on Amazon, so he casually mentioned putting it on Craigslist for $50. I'm trying to get him to stick to that and skip Craigslist. It's a $950 mower.
