Hey guys & gals I just purchased my 1st tractor-LS J2023H. Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. Any pros or cons to an LS.
Congrats on the new LS! I think that size machine is really very handy (and let's fact it, cute too). I did a couple of landscaping jobs with the R4047 for my wife last year...it got the job done, but I was worried about things like knocking down brick walls, and it was a tight fit in a few places.
I don't see any drawbacks to LS other than that they don't have as many dealers available as some of the old guard.
The one thing I would suggest is to be a bit more proactive than the manual suggests when it comes to initial maintenance/checks. After you have maybe 10 hours on it, I'd take some time to go over the whole machine checking for nuts and bolts that have loosened up (especially FEL mounting bolts and lug nuts). The manual suggests doing that at 50 hours....I think doing it at 10 and 50 hours is a lot better. It's free, doesn't take long, and can't hurt anything.
If you're new to tractors, take things slow, keep FEL loads as low as possible while moving, and don't get lazy and run around with the FEL folded down like so many folks do. You can be on totally flat ground, and have something crazy happen that leads to a rollover. I'd like to say I wear my seatbelt all the time, but that would be a lie....I do, however, use it any time I'm doing serious pulling, lifting, etc on uneven ground (like in the woods), or there is almost any kind of slope to deal with.
The vast majority of accidents, and incidents happen when we get lazy, or don't think things through. I like to keep my cell phone in my pocket in case I do something dumb, and need help.
Other than that, have a blast!