Nothing beats a 2 stroke lawnboy. The engines had a lot of torque and power. When they converted their mowers from their own DuraForce engines to the Tecumsehs, that is when the durability was impacted severely.
I'd go a step further - when Toro switched to stamped steel decks instead of the original OMC/Lawn-Boy cast aluminum (or previously, magnesium) decks, quality began to suffer.
Model 10323 with the larger Briggs & Stratton jets are really nice. I've had my 10323 for 17 years. I ran first tank at 32:1, and switched to 50:1 Motul 710 (my 2-stroke bikes run the same) and have been thoroughly amazed.
Nice video man! Do you run a fuel shutoff on your 10323? I noticed it was running a bit rough at startup and I've found adding a simple inline fuel shutoff to duraforces stops that from happening and stops them from leaking fuel back through the intake when sitting. I've done this mod to all my duraforces, a 10324, 10550 and 22260. Long live the 2 cycle lawn boy!
Just fix up a Lawn Boy model 10605. Same engine and deck but equipped with a blade clutch and no electric start. Seems seems to be just as good as my older Craftsman lawn mower.
