It's a relatively low end machine, but it may have been sold at L/HD. Course, you can/could also buy them at a JD dealer as well.

The Simplicity has a Kohler, the JD a Briggs....both about the same horsepower...both 1 cylinder vertical shaft engines...both are entry level machines, I don't think ( Could be wrong about this) either has a pressure lubricating system hence not up to hills and slopes...the JD was about 2,900 bucks new according to Tractordata...no price on the Simplicity...I prefer Simplicities, but I think I would pass on both of these and find something a little further up the ladder of quality ...300 hours on each isn't bad at all....it's a hard decision

The Slinger system of B&S will do just as well as pressure at operating speeds on hills or slopes, sometimes better on slops due to the higher pickup point of pump well compared to pickup point of slinger on some models. Calculate the velocity and volume of slinger at operating speed.
Walt Conner

Walt...I have to disagree. My brother lives in Connecticut...he went to a JD dealer...they sent a guy to his house to look at the property...about one and a half to two mowable acres....with hills and slopes...my brother bought the ZT they recommended with a B & S....splash system lubrication ...he went through 3 engines before he got fed up and got something else

Note that I specified at operating speed. Did you calculate the volume and velocity of slinger system at operating speed? Gravity will not have affect at operating speed. I have about 75 years of experience with slinger systems as user and repairing engines. .

By the way,
Welcome from east central Illinois, OP,
Walt Conner

He was using it at "operating speed"...how would you calculate the volume and velocity of slinger?...Sounds like something the design engineers figure out and make sure it is adequate before sending engines out for the public.....you do have about 20 years experience on my brother...he's only got about 55 years of this stuff under his belt 😁

Really? You are 85 and started working on engines at 10?

Walt 2002 said:

I have about 75 years of experience with slinger systems as user and repairing engines. .

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I think Walt is actually about 89 ...and he does know A LOT

Walt is the difference between wisdom and opinion. I will take wisdom any day.

MARK (LI) said:

I think Walt is actually about 89 ...and he does know A LOT

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Why are you even questioning this? I had my own toolbox long before ten. Dad's box was a mess. Older brother and I were mowing the lawn way back when it took both of us to push a 19-inch deck around the yard. If it broke, we tried to fix it. Neither of us were close to 10. Sometimes dad would come in from the field for lunch and ask who had gotten into something knowing fully well who was. Guess those were different days and times.

TrakFan said:

Really? You are 85 and started working on engines at 10?

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How many folks do you know with 75 years of experience doing anything? The guys I have learned to respect rarely tout themselves - what they say and do is all that is necessary.

Ariens93GT20 said:

Why are you even questioning this?

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Although I disagree with Walt...I do know of his experience and knowledge...I don't think he is touting himself.....just reminding us that he is not someone who did work like this on an engine once and came to his conclusion....I had a small collection of tools for working on bikes when I was in 2nd grade...every kid with a bike that was sitting around with a flat tire would bring them to us to fix...their fathers didn't know, or didn't have the time so they would buy us a patch kit and ask us to fix the flats...sometimes had to send them back for a tube

TrakFan said:

How many folks do you know with 75 years of experience doing anything? The guys I have learned to respect rarely tout themselves - what they say and do is all that is necessary.

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Hard to say with just a little information. An acre to mow, whether slopes are present, or if any other duties the "old girl" was doing such as snow plowing, garden work, or yard cart duties. Those other duties are not served well, if at all by a ZT mower. I love my CC ZT2 but it is a bit lightly constructed and used ONLY for mowing the bulk of my 4 acres of hilly land. It uses a Kawasaki engine and Hydrogear ZT2800 transmissions both with oil filters. Those and oils are changed every season. However, I am pushing this higher residential mower hard in my conditions so the engine and trans' maintenance are important to get as many hard hours out of this as I can. It runs about 100 hard hours per cutting season depending on rain and growth.

As far as ZT mowers, I have to say I would prefer a pressure lube system for sure. Constant pressure, and particularly, filtering is always a plus.

For longevity, maybe consider a used machine closer to commercial grade than residential. If it has been maintained, you'd be better off that way.

Again, these are only opinions. Wish you good luck in your search for a replacement.

Actually quite a few. Also a few that have moved on the a hopefully a better place. If I were 47 years younger I would have latched onto a few of those old guys and worked for almost nothing. If not passed on that knowledge is lost forever.
Experience starts young. As in don't eat the gear grease. I think I was four. One of my grandsons at that age was helping his dad disassemble cars. His mom didn't think it was to funny where her new vacuum cleaner feel apart. But the screws were all sorted and in Ziploc bags stuck in the kitchen tool drawer. That was 17 years ago and not funny to his mom at the moment.
So when does mechanical experience start?

TrakFan said:

How many folks do you know with 75 years of experience doing anything? The guys I have learned to respect rarely tout themselves - what they say and do is all that is necessary.

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Mechanical experience starts when you take something apart.
And the usual first attempt results are usually that you should not have taken it apart because you can't get it back together in working condition.

If you are lucky, you learned something about taking pictures or paying more attention to how it came apart, and hopefully your second attempt is more successful.
Then you continue to grow from there.

Even the best mechanic you know at one time in his past did not know how to fix things, he had to learn it all.

Once in my past I asked a truck mechanic if I could ask him a stupid question.
His response, you are trying to learn how to do something you know nothing about.
Learning something new is never stupid.
So the only stupid question is the one you do not ask.

Now here I sit 50 years later and realize he was exactly right.

70 years ago no one cut their grass. You could tell how many people lived in the house by the size of the dirt patch surrounding the house. Everyone would line up and walk around the house pulling anything that grew, then occasionally they would sweep the dirt.

There are electric push mowers older than 70 yrs. Kids tended to use these where I grew up, but kept lawns were much smaller back then normally:

I would have to pasture way more of the acreage using one of those. Even with the 30" deck it an all-day process.

PA318Guy said:

There are electric push mowers older than 70 yrs. Kids tended to use these where I grew up, but kept lawns were much smaller back then normally:

View attachment 2562129

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My brother used to have to use it, there was small (about 20 x 40 ft.) yard just in front of the house that he had to keep mowed with it. I never had to use it as my dad got a self-propelled mower about the time I was big enough to start mowing.

Ariens93GT20 said:

I would have to pasture way more of the acreage using one of those. Even with the 30" deck it an all-day process.

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