I have rough, rocky, treed land and invariably screw something up every time I mow.
- Break a ROPS knob
- Bend a fender
- Wallop a fence post
- Scar a tree
- Crack a water shut-off cover
- Explode a plumbing clean-out
- Lose a scalp roller nut
- Hit a thousand rocks...
Not to mention the operator constantly getting clobbered by tree limbs.
It's true when in doubt steer clear and come back with a trimmer. But something still gets tatered every time I mow. Once I resigned myself to that, it became a pleasant experience, albeit a war of attrition.
My (BX) deck seems to be the most robust part of this equation. I just flip it on end in winter and fix what appears to need fixin. My blades always look like **** at the end of the season. Spindles and gearbox have held up great (so far).