Well, you can pay a lot-such as a Cub Cadet, or a John Deere, and they will do a good job of mowing, and while you are riding along, impressing your neighbors with your fine high priced lawn tractor, you can think of how much you paid for that satisfaction!
OR:
You can buy one of the lower-priced lawn tractors, such as a Craftsman, and it will do the same thing as the fancy, higher priced one! And your wallet will look much fatter.
But, if you do much mowing on a steep hill-side, then the mower/ tractor should have a pressurised oiling system.

Thanks for confirmation on pressurized oil system. Any thoughts on other features such as engine type or traction aids for the hilly portion. I just read most of the postings about when is a deere a real deere. I am not brand loyall as yet, but did find a few nuggets of useful information in there. I assume "box stores" are Home depot; Lowes and the like. I also gaither $900.00 is considered to be too cheap to get a good machine. I did some repair work on a former neighbors Craftsman riding mower before I moved. He got many years of service from his machine and mowed a lot of grass. It was rarely down and did not get much above minimal care. I would like to get by without overbuying, but appreciate the value of good tools. I am also guilty of mowing only because it has to be done and not to create a showplace. I would keep using a push mower, but it was hard this summer at the new place with a larger lawn. Upkeep should not be a problem as I am a fair mechanic. Thanks for the timely reply.

I would look close at the Craftsman "garden" tractors, GT5000 series for around $2600. It's overbuilt for just a lawn tractor but will also last longer than the others when you look at steering components, transmission, etc. Bigger wheels, deck and tires too.

If you have around $4K, I'd buy the John Deere Z425 zero turn. Your lawn cutting time would be halved....that's the one I have.

Speaking of Sears, I went to their lawn tractor site and was shocked to see a $6K garden tractor. Yikes! When did that happen? It has power steering and a 30HP motor but come on.....where's the value at that price? I must be missing something I guess

When you buy a tractor dont undersize I went from 38 to a 54 inch cut and shaved 15 minutes off my mow time, may not sound like much but add it up in a year mowing 2 a week.Also warranty is important and service , while I am out impressing my neighbors and they impress me. my DEERE, has a great warranty , I looked at all the competitors and Deere offered the only mower of this type .
And also price....

Thanks for the new thought. I have not considered a warranty. Can anyone say what a typical warranty may be and who might have the best coverage? One other new thought. Which brand has the best parts availability over time? A friend has a 1965 Cub Cadet. We replaced the engine, which then overpowewred the old clutch. The clutch parts could not be had, so the Cub Cadet shop south of Knoxville TN. had to fabricate some pieces. 45 years is beyond expectation. Has anyone experienced a company not supporting their product in a short time?

Here is what I have found so far. There are three types of engine lubrication; 1) splash - least desireable and not good on hilly yards. 2) partial pressure - only pressure on bottom end of engine. Not sure about hill use. 3)full pressure - best for hill use and engine life. This seems the best choice. There are several transmission choices; clutch, automatic (hydrostatic) and disc. I am leaning toward a clutch type as that reads as the best choice for hills. I do not know much about a disc type (Snapper). Disk type may have good qualities, but I just have not found out yet. I am also leaning to a twin cylinder over a single. The craftsman warranty is two years. I have not checked on any others yet. I think a 42 inch cut is enough. The sears salesman seemed to think that fuel efficency is worse in the more recent models. Good fuel economy is important to me. Some posts talk about seat comfort, but with limited experience I do not have a valid criteria for comparison. Thanks for the help so far.

Based on your findings, I would again recommend the Sears GT series garden tractor, with the three speed gear type (clutch engagement) transmission and hi and low ranges (that's basically 6-speeds forward). That tranny is rugged and tested over years of ground engagement duty. It's also the least expensive GT model vs the hydro tranny.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have also learned that there is a difference between LT and GT, with GT being more robust. I will look into the Sears GT series. From what I know at this point, it sounds like a good mower to check out. The hi and low range is news to me, but I have been around trucks with that feature and have some understanding of how it works. I am going to open up my neighbors carb on his 18 HP B&S soon. It is running rough and the plugs showed it to be running rich in one cylinder. I replaced the air filter, cleaned the battery posts and found one plug to be only finger tight. It runs better now, but needs some more attention.

Unless your lawn is very smooth with no dips or lumps a smaller mower deck will give you a nicer looking cut.

I have a craftsman dyt 4000, I think cost $1259.00. I am just finishing my 5th summer with it mowing about 1.5 rough acres. The first year or two I went through 2 or 3 spindles and about 7 blades. I have my second belt on order now and replaced the battery about a month ago. It has the hydro and 20 hp kohler single. It uses about a gal. fuel per hr. and about 1/2 oz oil per hr. It has been used like a back-street call girl. I have the place fixed up much better now and my next mower will be a better one (I hope). This one has done very well beating all the stumps and rock down. I came down on a 12" walnut stump and It does not cut as smooth as it use to.

I have a ditch along the hwy that I mow while I set on the finder on the high side.

I think craftsman is a pretty good mower for the money, but please dont use any mower the way I do.

I ownen a Craftsman with a 15.5hp Kohler engine and got 8 seasons out of it before it started to wear out (not the engine and transaxil though, they were solid). I paid about $1300 and the down sides were things like stamped front (axil which actually started to rip appart and had to be replaced before I sold the mower)and non-greasable deck spindles. I bought a John Deere LA115 from Lowes for about $1600 and with the exception of the engine it is a far superior machine. I have a very hilly 2.5 acers and was always having deck supports pins and other small parts falling off the Craftman but not with the JD. The JD also has the solid front axil and greasable spindles. The engine is a 19.5 HP Briggs with full presure oiling and seems to perform well although I'm sure the kohler was a better quality engine. Overall it seems like a quantum leap in over quality going from the craftsman to the entry level JD, I will never buy another craftman lawn tractor. Hope this is helpfull.

Thanks for all the comments thus far. I have benn helping a neighbor with a very used machine he picked up late in the summer. It is a Craftsman 18 HP twin with a 5 speed manual and has a 42 inch cut. He has been alowing me to mow with it in return for my working on the engine. He was able to rig the deck so that it no longer burns up belts and I have managed to improve the engine. I am learning from the machine, as it is the first rider that I have had more than a passing experience with. We are soon finished with mowing here in north eastern Tennessee. I find the 42 inch cut to be about right. The cut is not as good as with a pushmower, but I plan to sharpen the blades before the next mowing. Are there any special rules to sharpening these kind of blades over a pushmower?

No real difference from a push mower, just make sure they are balanced. If they are the combination blades with the curved cutting surface sharpening can be a bit tricky.