this is my 4th summer on a cub cadet 48"
i mow 11acres w/it
kind of small, but the wife likes the grass mowed short
takes 3-4 hours
keep the blades sharp and the oil changed...that's all i've had done to it
it's a mowing machine on the flat ground, but a pain in the ass on the ditches and the pond banks. don't really care about that though, because she weed eats those.
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edit to add i'll raise the deck all the way up to mow the trails in the woods to my deer stands/blinds...pretty handy for that too