On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:15:22 -0700, panabiker wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead after
only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for no more
than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut the lawn,
that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to a car, it's
about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage.

Yeah, they do seem prone to failure. I gave up putting a battery in my
lawn tractor at all - I just jump it from a junk car battery whenever I
need to start it; the only things it needs the battery for are starting
and the lights, and I never cut grass in the dark anyway :-)