Andre's comment above speaks loudly with me. I was in a Toro dealership for a long time. At first handhelds went into the big box stores and not long after the talk was- well, it's coming. We'll market WPMs, but the dealer will still have the edge. It looks good for the shareholders. We all know where the world went for them after that. I think that if you're a Toro dealer yet, you still generally have a line to be proud of. Some will disagree with me when I say I feel they should have held the line and be loyal to the dealer network. Better for the long haul. Look around and not all hardgoods can be bought in a big box store. Many of us will pay more for a product that is better constructed, suits our needs better- or maybe that is simply made on our soil. If Walmart and Depot rock your world, well great. There is a lot more out there that they pale in comparison to. Small cities learned that one the hard way. I remember when the Snapper CEO looked at Walmart and said no thanks, not wanting to be in their store for another year. That was a good moment. Of course, the world keeps turning. We've heard about Deere's thinning of the dealers. Personally, I have no bitterness about OPE dealers as stated by another poster. The dealers that I know work hard, try to work smart and do things so that they are their for the people that depend on them. Will the offshore building of engines continue to grow, whilst skirting environmental and social responsibility? If they were honest with themselves, it becomes a much higher price that we are all paying. What will OPE be in another 10 years?

I'm not so sure that gear and hydro are the same as far as reliability and durability. If the gears are halfway decent, they should be more durable in hilly terrain or pulling loaded carts, etc. The TuffTorq K46 is the ubiquitous hydro found on pretty much every tractor under $3k. I know there are others, but the K46 seems to be the standard and the most durable of the lot. With that being said, its durability is questionable when consistently working steep hills or heavy attachments. You need to bump up to the Garden Tractors to get more durable hydros. Mfrs. will not put an expensive durable hydro in a low-priced tractor as they will not meet the price point they need to keep volume sales - as long as cheap hydros are available, that is what you'll get on a cheap tractor, regardless of durability. The hydros are the weak link in pretty much all lawn tractors.

Thread Update! Made the rounds today... Found a notice on Dixon's website that claimed 1.9% financing for 48 months for Dixon purchases through Sheffield Finance... Some of the Gravely/Ariens websites claim 1.9% for 36 months... My local shop has the Dixon 30" SpeedZTR for right @ $3000.00 + $90 for the mulch kit. $3360.00 after taxes. (I did hear from one of the shop owners that Dixon was bought out by Husquarvarna??? - anyone know if there is truth to this, and if so, should it be considered during my purchase?) A shop about 45 minutes away has both the Ariens and Gravely as follows... Ariens w/ B&S motor for $2499.00 + $80.00 for mulch kit - $2805.00 after taxes Gravely w/ Kohler motor for $2599.00 + $80.00 for mulch kit - $2913.00 after taxes The dealer w/ the Ariens/Gravely sells the Kohler for $100.00 because "in that size motor, the Kohler is more reliable w/ the pressure lube and screw on oil filter". Any thoughts? Probably going to try to make a final decision sometime this week and buy this weekend... Any info/tips/suggestions are greatly appreciated...

I just purchased an Ariens sno blower with a Tecumseh enigne a few days ago for the full price of $3,000, with the resonable expectation that when I have to sell this machine and move because of my age I would be able to get a fair price for a little used machine. A few days after the purchase I learned that the Tecumseh engine is suddenly out of production and the manufacturer, Tecumseh Co. is out of business. When I have to sell this machine any buyer will have to know that the engine is obsolete and no longer produced and that any parts or service requirements could result in excessive costs and many problems. No potential buyer of this very little used machine will even consider buying it. The exclusive dealer where this machine was purchased, without question, had to know of this situation with Ariens and Tecumseh but not a word was said about this problem. There have been numerous meetings with the dealer to try to correct serious erratic running and tracking problems with the machine and machine is now back at dealer for area rep to get involved. But still not a word about this marketing issue which I believe has serious implications as a legal issue inasmuch as the Tecumseh situation was not disclosed. I would appreciate the opinions of the forum.