"Mike" wrote in message
...
I am about to purchase a brand new Sears lawn tractor, Craftsman 20HP with
a
42" mower deck for $1200.00 (US) It is a Briggs and Stratton twin
cylinder
overhead valve engine. I have just less then 1 acre of land, I know this
is
much more then I need but sounds like a great deal.

Just wondering if anyone may have good or bad experience with Sears
tractors
or the same engine. It is a 6 speed transmission. Sears is having a
special for $1200.00.

Any feedback on this tractor or even any other Sears Lawn tractors would
be
greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Mike

When our 17 year old Honda finally needed some serious service (in the
middle of the season, of course) we borrowed a friend's 20 horse Craftsman.
I don't even know how to tell you how big a joke that tractor was. It was
only 4 years old, and it was in almost inworse shape than our 17 year old
Honda. The fit and finish of the whole thing was like those godawful
Chrysler K cars. The Honda was only rated at 14 horse, but it chewed up wet
and tall grass like butter, while the 20 horse Craftsman bogged down and
quit. No power up hills, and an absolute pain to try to take off the stupid
grass catcher attachment.

Buy Craftsman if that's all you can afford, but be prepared to either learn
how to work on it constantly, or pay someone to do it, or buy a new one
every 3 years or so. It's actually cheaper to pay someone to come and cut
your grass than it is to buy a Craftsman.

BTW, after about $600 worth of parts for the Honda, it's probably ready to
go for another 17 years.

Quality is expensive on the front end. Cheap is expensive it's whole
existance.