Guys, thank you for the great advice and insight, both for and against. This is the information I was looking for.
I was pleased to find my dealer had a 60" one ready to take for a reasonable price. While I perhaps could have saved a few dollars by waiting and looking around, there are a few less tangible reasons to get this one from them. The liquor store gift card they send me each Christmas as a customer appreciation gesture might be one of them.
So, I tried it out and it is everything I had expected and hoped for. I was impressed at the first swath it cut - level and flat. What had accumulated within the box was mostly the rocks and sticks I was trying to remove. When I started on a patch of hard packed grass, it peeled a slice off a high spot like a potato peeler, no problem at all.
All that is left is a bit of light raking, and a plan for using this on several other paths that need leveling each spring.
Thanks for the insight and thoughts, as they set my expectations appropriately.
Jon