What light duty hydrostatics do not do well is fairly steep hills. CV transaxles are less effective at steep hills than the hydrostatics.

Craftsman L&G tractors are not rebadged Husqvarnas. Husqvarna contracts with Sears to build certain model L&G products to Sears' specifications and price points.

A garden tractor will always be better at negotiating other than flat, golf course type terrain than a lawn tractor.

IMO, a TuffTorq transaxle is more desirable than the alternatives because the company has been around for a long time providing parts and support and will continue to be.

Repairing a broken K46 is not always cheap or EZ and that's why some people upgrade to the K66 but the cost is often more than the price difference between a lawn tractor and a garden tractor at time of purchase.

Low end Cub Cadets are Cub Cadets in name only. You don't get the quality products that are really Cub Cadets until you go up a couple grand and get shaft drive.

Service after the sale is a big consideration. With Sears the service is not timely and most parts need to be ordered after an inspection visit so there's a return call to actually make the repair. If you have a Cub Cadet dealer in the area that may be a big plus, if they are a good dealer.

Don't overlook the entry level John Deere products. Starting @ $1500 they cost the same at the big box store as at the JD dealer and the dealer will be doing the warranty work anyway.

A common axiom that gets great support from buyers is always buy one step more L&G tractor than you think you need.

Thanks for the insight. I agree with you that you should buy one step more than you need on the mowers. The only problem is 1, 2, 3, and even 4 steps above what I think I need are still basically the same tractor with minor differences like larger decks, deck wash ports, V-twin vs single engine, thicker steel, more comfortable seats, etc. So really the next real step is a garden tractor and even some of those aren't really a step up. They just have the paint and price tag of a garden tractor and the quality of the highest lawn tractor.

I know I'm being a bit of a tightwad but I know that a $4k tractor will have it's fair share of problems too and I'd rather spend $300-$400 every few years fixing a $1500 tractor than $100 fixing a $4000 tractor. That's my reasoning anyway.

You forgot to mention how big your yard is and whether you'll be using it for other than mowing. Dragging around a small garden cart with mulch, etc. is understood.

You mentioned "abuse" are you going to have a kid running this? Most of us don't abuse our equipment or we wouldn't be in this and similar forums.

Another consideration, how steep are the hills you'll be mowing? What have you been using and what was good/bad about it?

Good Luck,

Ev

I had this same dilemma a couple months ago and decided to take the good advice you have received here of always getting one step above what you think you need. I was looking at Deere too but in the end I thought the price did not justify what I was getting in return.

What I needed and what I'm sure would have served my purpose very well was the the same one you are thinking of buying - Craftsman 4000. I have a 3000 that is about five years old, has done the job I've asked and never had anything major go wrong so I wanted about the same, just the next step up.

When I started to look around I found that the next "step up" was actually the Craftsman Professional, 42" #28980. The 2011 is the same as the 2010 and that model is on closeout which represents a great value. I think they have another special for a limited time that includes free shipping right to your door. I don't doubt that an independent dealer like John Deere would be better for service but if I have to take a tractor in often enough to be a pain I'll sell it anyway and get something else.

I've had good luck with Craftsman for many years so I thought I would stick with them. Take a look at the specs of the Pro model and compare - you might be surprised at what you find.

My entire property is .65 acres with about 50% of it being a 5-10% grade, 25% being area that isn't mowed, and the remaining 25% is between a 20-30% grade. It's that last 25% of my property that causes all the problems. I was using knobby ATV tires on my last mower. I may pull a trailer with a light load a couple times a year and I'll pull a core aerator once a year in the easy part of the yard. I don't attempt using the aerator in the steep parts. So basically all this mower does is mow the lawn. I don't plan to use any ground engaging equipment other than the 1 time aerator use.

It typically takes me about 45 minutes to mow my entire yard and about half of that is spent carefully negotiating the hill you see below. As you can also see, the only logical method for mowing is up and down. If this yard was flat a zero turn would be my tool of choice but everyone says they're awful on hills. It doesn't look terrible from this view but it's a good 30-40 foot drop over 100-150 feet depending on what side you're on. Normally I mow the easy part of my yard first and then tackle the hard part. Not sure which is easier on the transmission though.

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Sorry I forgot to answer some of the other questions. I'm the only one using this so it doesn't get abused in terms of carelessness. My term abuse was used because it has to tackle that hill over and over. The ground is hills but not bumpy and I don't have roots that will jar the deck or anything.

I had a used Troy Bilt automatic belt drive mower before and it was good but the crankshaft let loose so I decided to get a new belt drive Ariens. The Ariens was a CVT style and the belt would slip going up and down the steep parts so I sold that after half a season.

I agree with milacqua. I've looked at John Deere but for what you pay and what you get in the sub $2000 mowers, the value just isn't there. Most of the parts are the same as cheaper mowers but wrapped in John Deere stickers and green paint for almost twice the price.

Wait till Sears has a sale going on their garden tractors. you'll get a GT class transaxle and if you look under the seat for a sticker it will say "TuffTorQ" or "HydroGear". Pick the one with the TuffTorq. It will be heavier duty all around and superior to the 4000 class lawn tractors. It will still have price point compromises like non-adjustable steering links, short lived sector and gear steering, an inertia starter instead of a Bendix style, and other things you may or may not notice. It will have the generous Sears return policy and all the indifference of their contracted out service.

Pound for pound the JDs at the entry level price point are competitive with the other brand entry level products and have a big edge in service after the sale with dealers who stock parts. The parts may look the same to you as installed in other brands but in many instances sub assemblies are manufactured to more rigid specs for JD than Sears or Ariens.

The bitterness of poor quality (or service) lingers long after the sweetness of low price is gone.

Hmmm, I see your quandary and feel your pain on this one. Let's see, subtracting 25% of .65 acres leaves .4875 or a half acre to be mowed. The "classic" wisdom used to be that you didn't need a rider until you were mowing over half to three quarters of an acre.

a 30% grade will require a strong trans, and you've already discovered you're going to have to upgrade tires as the turf tires they come with are useless on grades. Another consideration is that the lower end units probably aren't going to have the best brakes and if a belt breaks going up or down.....

It almost seems that you're going to be forced into buying a much stronger and bigger unit than you need.

I've known folks who had similar situations who used a self propelled walk behind while wearing golf shoes (pegs) and it seemed to work OK, not that I paid a lot of attention. I have no personal experience with self propelled walk behinds as to their traction ability. Since they have solid tires you could easily add the screw in studs which are becoming more and more popular. Save a ton of money and get a good cardio workout every time you cut the grass!! Unfortunately one of those won't pull a garden cart or an aerator.

I think if I were you, I'd be looking around for a used GT, personally I have a strong preference for the Craftsman 6 speeds, but there's a ton of folks who swear by the hydros on slopes as well. I like the manual trans as I'm comfortable taking it apart if need be, but that's just me.

If you bit the bullet and drop $2500-3000, you'll probably get at least a 50" deck and have your mowing done in about ten minutes...:-). That leaves $3000 sitting in the shed 99% of the time. Not a wise allocation of resources.

I think I'd be looking into a used machine, save more than half the up front cost, and if you're careful and test it out well before purchase it should hold up. Again, beating the "manual trans" drum, I'd be more comfortable buying a used manual than a hydro.

Keep us informed,

Good luck,

Ev

Thought I'd update everyone...

I ended up getting a turn tight Craftsman mower with a hydro transmission. I chose the 42" deck because it fits in a couple places that a 46" mower won't. It is basically a YT3000 mower which is lower on the scale but the guts don't really change between the 3000 and the 4500. It originally comes with 20" rear tires but I had some 18" knobby tires already. The 20" tires made the mower go incredibly fast to point where it felt out of control on any kind of bump or dip. So I put the 18" knobby tires on and adjusted the deck accordingly. The hydro does help control my descent on steep hills. It's not perfect but it's pretty good.

I'm hoping that the smaller diameter tires will provide more torque while easing the strain on the transmission. I still rarely use full speed on this mower for more than a couple seconds. I've been using the mower for a little while now and so far haven't had any fade or slipping from the transmission yet. Time will tell though...

I don't know what action you are taking when you descend a hill, but if you are backing off the throttle........stop that.
Instead, leave the throttle at high speed position and back the travel lever toward neutral.
Neutral on a hydro is not exactly neutral (in the sense of "coasting"). Neutral on a hydro is more akin to "dynamic braking". So leave the engine speed up and feather the hydro toward "neutral" to get the best retarding effect.

Congrats on the new machine!!

Agree with mownie, if you're mowing, WOT (wide open throttle) is the way to go. The biggest problem I have with the small tractors is remembering to open them up. If you're used to farm tractors, you give them enough throttle to comfortably do the job and that's all.

My brother has a cub cadet...don't remember what they're called, anyway, it's like a JD Gator ATV. It just seemed WRONG when going down a hill to rev up the engine to make it "hold back." Logically, it's a centrifugal clutch driving a hydro trans so the engine rpm's have to be up for the hydro to be operating. First time I drove it, I went up a pretty steep hill "at power" then backed off to go down the other side and it started to sort of free wheel. I started to ride the brakes, but my brother said bring up the throttle, when I did, the trans kicked in, slowing us down. Logically or intellectually I understand it, but when you bring up the rpm's and feel the trans kick in and you slow down going down a hill.... Weird.

Anyway, don't know what hydro arrangement you have on your tractor, just sharing an experience with a hydro where speeding up(engine) translates to slowing down. ALso, for you cub fans, don't know the exact hydro arrangement on that either, just going by what he told me.

I've driven LT/GT's with hydro's and some held back well on slopes at an idle, other's wanted to free wheel-sorta. Probably had to do with the price point of the machine. Leave that to other folks here more knowledgable on hydros than I.

Ev