Oh as to the size of your deck...measure between tree's. A 60" would be too big for me. I planted a row of trees for a wind break.

sound advice.

I would never buy anything that Husqvarna made.....I've bought 2 Husqvarna mowers and both ended up being a POS.

I actually have an Ariens riding mower with HydroStatic drive that I bought 3 years ago and I love it. I have 3/4 of an acre to mow and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

John Deere. Had it now for 10 years. Only maintenance: sharpen the blades.

I drove by the local John Deere dealership on the way home. They sell the same models there. They were closing an there was not a salesman available. I ended talking to the service guy. He was very honest and upfront with me and would make a terrible salesman lol he lives less than a mile from me. He said the D series is JD attempting to compete with Sears.

We talked about all the different brands I was looking at and he did not say a bad word about any of them. He mentioned he has owned a D100 he bought when they first opened the line. He said knock wood he has never had a problem with it. He added the push button PTO switch is a pain in the ass and disconnected the seat sensor but made me promise not to tell anyone he told me that.

He told me that many people prefer the X series because of the quality construction and the Kawasaki power pack. He also told me that I am most likely putting too much thought into it because of the size of my yard. He basically told the same thing you said as in whatever low end mower I decide on ($2000 or under) will be fine~

i own a LT150 JD mower bought at JD dealer, my neighbor owns a JD bought at lowes, whole different mower, i have already had to weld & fix his deck. i suggest if you want a deere go to the real place, the hood is diff and so is the deck, quite a bit of changes. we both mow a little over an acre so time used is about the same too. hope this helps

1 series John Deere.

The price starts to go up pretty fast once you hit 60" deck size.

. My dad owns a small JD tractor with a 60" belly deck. Granted he can do work that my zero turn can't but when it comes to mowing my mower out performs his. Plus his cost 10k and mine cost 4500.

Mine is a 1986 Kubota F2000 diesel front mower. It is a freakin beast. I mow 6 acres in about 3 hours and if I let the pasture go a month or two, it'll knock it out easily albeit a bit more slowly. It's a 72" cut, hydrostatic, and 4x4. You can pick up the exact model on eBay for about $1500. I spend $200 every year getting it serviced and it runs like new.

Those seat sensors piss me off.

This. I wrap mine with electrical tape so it doesn't keep shutting off everytime you hit a bump!

John Deere

I am reminded of this thread by Buck:


"Are you a Lawnmower?"

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=251260

Cool, glad you are getting there on your project!

As many have said on here, I think the big difference is quality, especially the mower deck, and power plant.
Briggs and Stratton vs. Kohler, Kawasaki etc.

Neither of mine have a switch to turn off the lights, they are on all the time, stuff like that. The oil drain plug location sucks on the new one since they left off the extension that the older one has that probably cost them a quarter, just stuff like that.

I had the displeasure of replacing belts and blades on both of mine this summer (we grow rocks at Tablerock lake) and there is a quite a change in the quality in the 5 years of production date difference. Both have greaseless sealed (Chinese) bearings on the blade shafts, and I would prefer greaseable ones like the better mowers have.

I disconnected the seat sensor on both of mine as well. It is so easy, just a slide off connector and is such a pain in the keester with it connected.

Good luck with your decision.

Went with the John Deere D130 and added the 4 year warranty with John Deere. A mechanic from JD comes to my house to fix anything that goes wrong. It will have paid its self off twice in lawn care fees by then~