"Carl Hollomon" wrote in message
hlink.net...
This is a twist on the old "what's the best rider" question that
periodically appears here. I have about two acres in Southwest Virginia,
not a lot of obstacles, most of it a large hill. I don't want to spend
more
than $3,000 - $3,500 for a riding mower. Should I look at the Deere L130?
I know I've heard some not-so-great things about this series before. I
also
like what I"ve heard about the Husqvarna models with the mower deck up
front. Another model I looked at is the Deere LT160.


Carl,

Here's my $.02 worth. I really think you should probably be looking in the
$5,000-6,000 range. I'm in charge of buying equipment for my employer. One
of our sites is on 2 acres with a hill and in a very nice commercial area,
so it needed to be mowed on a regular basis as would a residential lawn. At
first we went with a high-end Deere rider with a 42" deck (I don't remember
the model number). The mower was well maintained and stored in a garage,
but was worn out and needed constant repair after 2 seasons. It was also
bad because it took a very long time to mow 2 acres. Now, I'm not saying
John Deere makes a bad product because I truly believe they do. But when
you have 2 acres, you're going to wear out a mower at least 4 times faster
than using one to mow 1/2 acre.

Then we went with a commercial model which cost us about $6,000 or so. It
has a 48" deck, is much faster than the Deere, and has been running strong
for the past 5 years.