bt3, I love Lawn Boys too for all the same reasons that you do, especially the lightweight part. That 8255 has the self propelled feature but I never bother to use it. My lawn is level and the mower is so light, there is no need to engage it. But if my leg power starts to give out with age, maybe it will see some use. On the subject of the DuraForce--I don't know where you live, but around here, there seems to be at least one DuraForce on CL everyday. I recently visited a lawn equipment bone yard about 30 miles from my house and saw at least 5 of them in pretty good shape. I would be willing to bet that some of them only needed a coil and some TLC to get going. That is another thing I like about 2 stroke Lawn Boys. If they don't run, it's usually a simple problem to diagnose and fix.
Personally, I prefer most Lawn Boys from about 1980 on back, especially F engine models with no safety features and aluminum decks. But to each his own. If I could just find a good brick top model for cheap, I think my collection would be complete (maybe).
Happy searching and mowing to you.