Hell everyone.

I'm considering investing in a lawn tractor. I have 1/2 an acre to mow. Not many obstructions, pretty flat with the exception of one slope on the front corner of my lot. Currently I use a Toro self propelled 6.5hp Personal Pace mower which is great except it has become increasingly difficult to start even with new air filter & sparkplug.

I regularly spend 2+hours on the weekend doing yard work. The mowing is taking upwards of 75 to 90 minutes. That is starting to feel like a lot to me, even though I love the exercise. My wife would rather I pay someone to do it since we both work ALOT, have a 1 yr old, and wouldnt be committing to buying a tractor which would necessitate me making a commitment to keep on mowing for 5+ more years.

Like everyone I would like to spend the least amount of $ possible. I visited the John Deere dealer, who greeted me as I walked in the door by asking me if I was interested in their long life tractors that built their reputation or their entry level units available at all the big box stores. Nice pitch. Really, he spent the next 15 minutes trying to talk me into spending $2800 on a X300 which is complete overkill for our 1/2 acre lot which is currently maintained with a push mower!

He did such a great job with his pitch and disparaging lawn tractor units that I'm questioning the need to pay the premium inherent with a green & yellow lawn tractor since by his estimation they all will sh*t the bed within 5-7 years. He didn't have anything for me to test ride.

At the big box store I rode a Cub Cadet with a 50" deck (too big for my needs). V-Twin, 12" turning radius, seemed pretty sweet taking turns in their parking lot. Also rode a fender mounted hydrostat Ariens. I didn't like that at all, but it was dirt cheap @ $1199

I came really close to wanting to put money down on a Craftsman YT4000, V-Twin 24hp B&S engine with 46" deck, pedal operated hydrostat. Nice value @ $1599. I could save $100 and go with the YT3000 which downgrades to a 42" deck and a slightly lower rated 22hp V-Twin. The Craftsman YT's seemed really well spec'd when compared to the Deere's.

I haven't ridden a one cylinder engine. How much of a drop-off is there with a one cylinder versus a VTwin of similar hp?

$1499 buys a pretty well equipped VTwin YT3000 with 42" deck with a 16" turning radius.

That same amount of money buys the cheapest Deere. The least expensive Vtwin in a Deere is the 135 and that comes in @ $1999. The Deere has an 18" turning radius.

What am I not taking into consideration? The box store refers customer to the local Deere dealer for service. I think you have to pay someone from Sears to come to your house.

Other brands I should look at? Tractor Supply Co has Huskee, and White Horse brands on top of Cub Cadet.

I looked into 32'-36' walk behinds but they cost $1200+.