SJ:
I'm in the market for a mid range lawn tractor ($1000-2000).

I've been researching for a week or two and here is a synopsis:

Troybuilt, Cub, White, low-end Toros are all made by MTD, they all share
parts and are similiar design.

Husqvarna, Poulan and Craftsman are made by AYP.

Snapper is still made by Snapper as far as I know.

Unsure about John Deere. Many people think John Deere still make their
own low end tractors but I compared them to the MTD Toros, Cubs, etc and
there are many simularities; they look almost identical to me. They all
have the exact same frame, almost identical front ends, very similiar
decks, etc.

I have a 14 year old Toro Wheelhorse HXL and all the new sub-$2000
models appear to be heavier duty despite the HXL series being $2500+
tractors.

Ignore HP for the most part. It means very little.

Just because they call it a hydrostatic transmission, doesn't mean that
it is. Hydro usually come in the higher end models but the term is
getting tossed around to mean anything without gears which isn't true.
According to the salesguy at JD, the only Deeres with Hydro are the
heaviest garden tractors, the rest are belt drive.

I broke down and bought a John Deere 115 for $1599 because Consumer
Reports rated JD as most reliable and I've never heard anyone regret
buying a John Deere. They gave no reliability rating on the Toro HXL
despite the model being one of the oldest in the test. I think CR is
overrated but they are the closest thing to an impartial tester we have.
--
Mac Cool