OK. Lets start over again. Marty, I don't know how long you have been doing this, but it seems you have a lot in common with the way we started out. For instance, we used 21" self propelled mower for quite awhile. In 1987 we caught what appeared to be a break when we found a low hour JD rear engine rider (38") for $1000. A homeowner had it and it probably had 35 hours on it. It was not cut out for this kind of work! It began giving us problems within a week or two. Stuff like spindle, pulleys and belts. Total, we probably got 100 hours out of it and it was trashed. The bad part is that on most lawns I could cut faster with a 21" self propelled. No time wasting backing up and stuff.
At that time mid size walkbehinds were not very popular around here and I had little knowledge of them. We basically wasted $1000 plus a butt load of parts and service on this piece.
I would advise you to stay with a commercial mower
While the 32 Toro would not be my first choice, it would be far better than the JD. Hey, why not a 36" Toro, as far as I know they still make a 36 floater

Even better, why not a 44" Toro floater. I think you would be happier with that. It is easily 3 times as productive as the 21" you are using. Spend the extra and get that. Buy the sulky when you make a few bucks with the 44.
If you wonder why so many recommend the bigger machine, here is probably why. When I finally bought a mid size walkbehind, I had been looking at 36" Bobcats and almost bought one. But I found a three year old 54" Bobcat for $1400. Major difference in cutting time there. Total culture shock. The thing about the 54" is that it was right at home in most any lawn. That was the best decision I made then. It was easily twice as productive as a 36" in most yards
Don't let a used machine scare you, these things are brutally simple. If the deck and frame are good, the rest of the stuff is easily serviced and relatively cheap.
[Edited by Keith on 11-11-2000 at 11:33 PM]