We've owned a Simplicity and a Cub Cadet. John Deere is a never.

I've had a John Deere the last 20 years. Go with the Kawasaki engine. Not the ones at a big box store. No snow blowing experience, but I switched out my bagger for a mulch kit and it works much better on taking care of the leaves.

My sister really likes her Cub Cadet mower. She has someone else plow her driveway.

I thjnk john deere sucks

We just purchased a Zero Turn Bobcat. It's ONLY a mower, 48" cut, commercial grade with a roll bar. It's super fast, 10mph...our neighbors, about 10 of them call themselves the "Green tractor Brigade", John Deer owners They own the 4x4 diesel and plow their driveways. We have a 2-stage Toro snow blower, 36". I've driven the neighbors John Deer tractor....it's bumpy & slow to mow with it. My Bobcat has a bouncy seat that's like a Lazy Boy..super comfy! Just depends on how much you want to spend. Neighbor just went to Illinois and paid $13K for his used John Deer. My one neighbor has a Kubota. He helped haul dirt in the bucket for me ...today. He loves it!

Houzz’s other forums might help

When we redid our kitchen i got very useful help about lighting on the kitchen remodel forum. also irrigation advice on that forum. that was back in Gw days so no idea what its like now on Houzz

Look at reviews on this old house and google will brig up opinions from many places. Some are sponsored by manufacturers and retailers so stay aware of the slant

you know, goood old consumer reports ……many libraries have on line subscriptions and you can access everything for free with yiur library card.

its a big purchase…its worth doing your homework , which you are doing! let us know whic resources are helpful

Can't believe it was 5 yrs ago when our JD died and was beyond repair, so we shopped for a replacement...just looking for a mower these days. We went with Husqvarna and he's been very happy with it. Mainly he got it as it mows in reverse... really important for doing the side hills. The old one didn't have the hydrostatic transmission which has made mowing so much faster for him. We decided to go with a separate snow blower as swapping out the equipment became too much of a pain for him. We made sure to get a 2-stage that really throws the snow. In the old days we also used the tiller and the sickle mower. But those days are gone.

Our cub cadet throws snow fabulously. The simplicity we had a blade which was great for evening out the driveway each spring. Now that we are all paved we don't miss it. All riders (tractors, not zero turn) can accomodate a blower and a mower attachment.

My only take on this is 1) it's a highly competitive market and 2) you get what you pay for.

Kubota and Bobcat don't sell at big box stores, and Kubota no longer makes inexpensive home tractors like the T1770. If we just look at zero turns, their cheapest are around $5700. I personally suspect there's going to be no comparison with whatever ~$3000 gets you at Home Depot.

Oops! I was wrong, they still do https://www.kubotausa.com/products/mowers/lawn-garden-tractors

Not sure why I couldn't find that on my first spin through the website. I only saw zero turns.

There is a difference in quality between what you buy through a dealer vs a big box store. So we only buy through authorized dealers....one reason we quit JD ... the closest dealership to us is hours away.

My JD z track’s hydrostatic drive had a catastrophic failure at only 200 hrs. Overall JD mowers are low quality trash. I am going to get an exmark or Toro

I hate snow blowing because my driveways are so big so I plow using my 2001 Kubota farm tractor 3010, and built a copy of a western plow to put on my 50 year old John deere 265 lawn tractor. I also have a Toro zero turn timecutter I bought in 2005 to mower over 2 acres a week, and another 2 acres every month and still running strong. The mower was $5200 and a lot of money for a zero-turn twenty years ago, but my point here is buying the right sized equipment to do the job if you want it to last.

Porkchop, I'm guessing your zero turn repair involved replacing one or both of the hydrostatic transmissions to cost $2400. Maybe the motor, but in most cases the hydrostatic transmission(s) are the usually the most expensive part in mowing power equipment and should be the most important thing to consider when buying any mower, and not the brand. Few ever consider this when shopping for a mower and end up like L Clark. If you mow a half acre, buy a unit designed with a transmission good for 2 acres and is serviceable.

Most big box store mowers have entry level transmission(s) where the Oil can't be changed and are considered to be a "lifetime fill" which means a lifetime of less than 10 years. An over worked Transmissions to small to do the job will get very hot destroying the oil viscosity and the transmission. THESE are the units to stay clear of and will not have the durability to push snow very long.

You can't pull a 6000 lb trailer with a economy car long before the transmission burns up and the same can be said with a mower. I look at mowers at dealerships and see the same deck, motor and seat on the same frame but one is a $1000 more than the other, the difference is the transmission. Look for a transmission rated at more than you'll need, or a few notches up from the bottom even if it means paying an extra grand.

It's not the brand but the parts inside that matters so do a little research on the transmissions to pick a good lawn tractor best for your application, then try to stick with Kawasaki engines or at best Kohler, and finally the thickness and quality of the frame and deck. Some deck metal can be as much as 7 gauge (lower number thicker metal) while others can be as thin as 14 gauge steel, rust eats these decks for snacks. Good luck.

John Deere products are are far from trash, they control almost 40% of the agriculture equipment market and the John Deere 9RX 830 tractor runs about 1.2 million dollars. Buy the mower that fits the application but in the case of a zero-turn if you don't disengage the hydrostatic transmissions and push or pull the unit it will destroy the drives.

L clark, why did yours fail?

Roxol, seeing those first few photos of yours, I thought it sure looks very Canadian prairie province, then I seen the snow and Canadian flag :)

FrozeBudd, and big blue skies! N. Central Alberta. And you?

Hey, Roxsol .... yes, Alberta here also! I'm located in the beautiful rolling hills of acreage country just west of Edmonton. How's your summer been, I really can't complain, although a slow spring and at times not the warmest of summer days, moisture has been good and the garden a productive bounty of veggies, large tomatoes are ripening and potatoes set to be a bumper crop!

This summer has been pretty darn good. I think the weather has been perfect. I’m not a hot weather person. Today is 27 c. Too hot! Cooling off tomorrow. At least we haven’t had all the rain this year like the Calgary area.

Great news about your garden. Enjoy your bounty.

I was told the hydrostat pump and motor s failed. Sorry, I’m not a mechanic. I only learned the basics just barely of how a hydrostatic drive works lol. It is under warranty, but I do not like the machine anyway. Cheap plastic parts on the blower and bagger , as well , imo.

My 18 YO Craftsman lawn tractor (48" cut/2 blade) is still chugging along. I have done some repairs over the years (replaced starting gear, steering rods, front tires, etc) along with the usual annual maintenance (oli/filter. air filter, gas filter, spark plugs). It has about 600 hours of use on 1 acre. Youtube helped a lot with the repairs, without it I probably would have given up when the starter gear broke and would have bought a new mower ~ 10 years ago.

I cant speak to snow blowing as I live in Georgia, but our Scag Zero turn was the best. We had it at least 10 years and sold it with the property. Our place was 12 acres and probably 8 acres of it was grass that got mowed weekly from April through early November. We had a Kubota with a bushhog for the rest.

Roxsol. yes, has been a very good summer with the timing and amount of moisture, only have needed to do a tiny fraction of the watering compared to last years intense long drawn out heat, as well have experienced many fewer smoky air quality days, the fires shifting more to the provinces east of us. Now, though, let's hope for another long extended summer.