Do you have a budget for this mower?
Has your wife operated a nice, modern diesel powered 4wd SCUT with a belly mower? There is no perceptible difference in 'smell' that I can detect from the operator's station. The diesel has a lot of advantages. It's quieter, uses much less fuel, more torque. I don't care for ZTR's, but gas powered lawn mower tractors are not my favorite, either. I own a JD LX172 with a 14 hp Kawasaki engine. Yes, it's an older JD, but it is a JD 'premium' factory built tractor (or was). It still sucks. Big time. Transmission is pitiful, deck is too small and built too light. I'm sure the newer JD's x series are built better, but they still have 2wd and a gas engine. Those two features are an absolute deal breaker for me. I bought a JD 2210 with a belly mower and loader that will work circles around that old mower tractor. Diesel, 4x4, HST trans - a real tractor but smaller. Better in every way for about the same price as a new lawn tractor. Yep - I paid 4500 for it.
Quit thinking logically, men! SHE DOESN"T WANT A TRACTOR. She wants a riding lawnmower. SHE DOESN'T WANT A DIESEL - not in anything, including but not limited to pickups, cars, boats, lawnmowers, weed killers, or cologne. She hates the smell of the fuel itself.
If she wanted a tractor, I'd have already bought her a BX or similar. If a ZTR could handle rough terrain with 20 degree slopes and sharp grade changes, I'd consider it. She wants a machine similar to the POS L120 we have now in size, controls, and operation, BUT with more usable power on slopes. She doesn't want power lift, power steering, 4wd, 4 wheel steering, Bluetooth, keyless start, 3pt hitch, loader, snow blower, ice cream maker, microwave, backup camera, or fine Corinthian leather. She has been known to mow our lawns with an excellent Honda walk-behind, and enjoy doing so, but she'd like to have a gasoline-powered riding lawnmower of extended capability for the native stuff that grows on the slopes in several large patches of the property.
Given those parameters, there is NOTHING on the used market that meets them. Hasn't been for the three years I've been watching. Anything that's remotely suitable is priced like it was new. I know in some parts of the country, excellent used equipment is readily available, but not here. That gets us into new, and the box stores are selling new riders at a brisk rate - none that are superior to what we already have. That Kohler Command engine in the L120 has been bullet-proof! In true dealers, the Deere dealer dominates our area, and as much as I hate dealing with their sales morons, the parts guys have been outstanding in their service to me. Husky is sold by Lowe's here, but they sell to price point - no improvement over what I have. The lawnmower shop I deal with in Tehachapi, CA is taking on Husky soon, and there have been a few posts here on TBN singing the praises of the model I'm looking at.
This gets me back to the original post. If the Deere was the same price as the Husky, I'd buy the Deere. Of course, it's not. Neither of the machines I'm considering are physically present in my vicinity, so I can't even look them over. ON PAPER, they are pretty comparable, but spec sheets don't cut grass - and the Deere is just over twice the price of the Husky: $2850 vs $6000. If $2850 will do what I need it to, great, but if I spend $2850 on it and it comes up short I'll not recover my investment and still have to pay another $6k. Decisions, decisions.....
