never taken the backend out of one of those models myself but herd it was tricky esp compared to the 219 models, any easy way to do it or video?

Well the Kawasaki has a nice set up for tuning. I don't believe any mower will last a season on factory settings esp when it comes to bagging wet grass. Unless it has a plastic box. So to be able to tune the engine and adjust the choke etc all to suit and for it to produce so much power and last a while it's awesome. The fj180 has a nice party mode. Cold start up it smokes a bit. I like that.
Briggs you bend bits to make it rev and that's a bit naf. Honda gxv has a range of holes and a funky screw to adjust which is ok.

Other than that the build quality is great. Lots of metal. Little amount of cheap plastic.

Oh wow. Have fun with the scraper or jetwash.

Thanks Mick

Ok I'll look into it. Thanks

found the 56 made a rattly metallic sound when blade engaged. this 56 pro with variable speed box isn't comfortable to use. top speed too fast for me. thats why I prefer the prostripe when it comes to bagging esp in damp or worse conditions, in the dry its no problem.

So what mowers have the best chain covers? The stihl is plastic with a metal strip on the bottom edges. Weibang are metal with a thick bit of metal from the same spec of metal as the blade on the corner that gets worn more. Hayter are just plastic and I've seen from my local dealer they are replacing them like mad. NEW 56 pro had a hole big enough for a golf ball to get through and that's only a season, appalling. It should be made so after 2 years off use that's when you want to start thinking about replacing belts and chain covers.

Got them all    far too quick, the previous 56 pro (566) was just about bearable but useless in the wet. I did the speed reduction kit on the 41, easy to do. Had it done on 48 pro, new crank pulley and gearbox pulley. Seemed that the chain cover was exactly the same to me. However I did use the new one. Problem is Hayter did a lot of market research when developing the mowers which is great. But if you are asked in the summer when its bone dry do you want a quick mower or a slow one. 9 times out of 10 you are going to say quick, pro users anyway. The vari speed seems good for domestic but I would have preferred to see a 3 speed box in all the harrier pros, just like weibang and luckily the glorified 56 the Prostripe. So it allows you the freedom of going very slow and nice walking pace which helps in the wet then fastest when its bone dry. If they done that I doubt they will get everyone moaning its too quick as you can change the speed, where 41,48 are single speed so its a bit limited. And the 3 speed box wont fit the 48 deck.

Never heard about cobras drive before but suggests pretty shabby testing used when designing the mower. Think the 2 beefiest gearboxes out there are the hydro from the hrh 4 wheel and the weibang 3 speed. Both different designs. Hope hayter have better luck with gearboxes than in the past, my 41 pro has lasted 3 years so far...