I would lean towards the Deere, assuming there is a Deere dealer near you
that will service it should you need service. Occasionally, I have heard of
Deere dealers who have issues with servicing equipment bought at HD.

But I'm partial to Deere. The DLT line at Sears (actually made by AYP, a
division of Electrolux of Sweden) is not bad.

Sears likes to put (or have AYP put) mega horsepower engines on their
tractors - far more than anyone really needs. It's mostly a sales gimmick.
You don't need 25HP to cut grass. My JD LX277 has a 17HP Kawasaki engine
and I cut and mulch 2 acres with no problems, and I can haul a cart and blow
snow. Take a look at the Deere web site, at their higher end lawn or garden
tractors (LX, GT, and GX series) - none of them have 25HP engines. And the
GT and GX series are garden tractors (meaning they accept ground engaging
equipment like tillers).

But if I were buying the DLT, I would lean towards the Honda engine. Not
that there is anything wrong with the B&S and Kohler. But I have a relative
in the landscaping business and he says Honda engines are top notch.

"M. Osborn" wrote in message
...
I'm getting ready to buy a new lawn tractor for our .6 acre lot in
Charlotte, NC.

Initially, I thought for sure I'd buy a new John Deere L110 at Home Depot
for $1799. It looks like a good unit, and they are advertising their
mowing
deck to be better for reducing the grass buildup underneath it. It's a
17.5
HP mower.

Then, I stopped at Sears to see what they had. The salesman there was
touting their DLT 3000 tractors as better than the John Deere units.

A couple of questions he

1. Any opinions on the quality of the Sears DLT 3000 tractors vs. the
John
Deere L110?

2. I see the DLT 3000 tractor comes in 3 "flavors"....(a) 25HP B&S
V-Twin,
(b) 20HP Kohler Pro, and (c) 16.5HP Honda V-Twin (which also has cruise
control). Oddly enough, the smallest engine (Honda) costs more than the
largest engine (B&S). Any opinions on which of the three is best?

Thanks....