Bolens was once a great company, but now it is just the bottom line for MTD. The 20 inch Bolens is a very basic mower that comes in two versions, the difference being the engine options. One has a traditional 148 cc Briggs flathead. The other a more modern 125 cc Briggs OHV. Basicly just an engine on a stamped steel frame. The older Briggs flathead will run a long time. Not much experience with the OHV. Good mantainance of the engine and keep the deck clean it will serve you for a long time. Two major problems, the deck will rust through if you leave wet grass clippings clinging to it and the plastic wheels will need replacing after a few miles. I used a similar mower that I bought in 1966 from a Roses store for $38.88 for 28 years. Did quite a bit of patching on the deck tho.

Pretty much all of the simple rotary push mowers have an electronic magneto type ignition, so they tend to run well, once started. Most of them have a manual primer button made of synthetic rubber. Using the primer, it is possible to start up a dead-cold mower on the first pull, even if it has been sitting out in an unheated garage all winter. Living in Wisconsin, I consider the manual primer button to be essential equipment, on a pull-start small engine.