Same old question, probably-:tango_face_smile:
We have 7 acres in the Puget Sound, about 5 of which is wild. The other 2 are mostly flat, with a couple of inclines- one around 10- 15 degrees, the other 15- 20 degrees. (I have never dared to mow the 20 degree slope) It is mostly a weed lawn,up and down, some bare areas, some small rocks and roots, a few dirt double track trails, etc.
Anyway, for the past 20 years I have been chewing it down with an old single cylinder craftsman manual transmission riding mower. I have put new tires on it, new steering rack, new solenoid, etc. Problem is, the deck is now gone- rotted so bad the spindle mount is in question and the blades are impacting the deck.
So I need a mower. The manual transmission on that cheap mower, apparently non serviceable, got so dry it would not shift. (peerless brand) I found the factory fill plug and poured in a pint of 80/90 gear oil, and it came back to life. Spits oil out of the axle seals, but runs fine. I have spun the tires repeatedly, used it to pull huge clusters of limbs with a choker, and just generally abused the mower hard.
I have great doubt any " automatic" transmission on any box store mower will hold up to this abuse.
So what to do? I was tempted to buy a cheapo CL used manual mower and just beat it for another 20 years.
Or I could buy a Cub x3, or a JD upper line, like a 500 series. 42" deck would be preferred because of tight areas and storage.
A local dealer has a X475? and a x724? for sale, but big heavy machines and without baggers. And 1500 hours on each.
I am going to buy a small tractor one of these days, so the mower is going to stay a mower, mostly. Might be nice to have a blade for snow.
Any thoughts?