As for John Deere, I think there are four things that lead to their popularity. One: In my opinion they are a high quality tractor. There have been some who question the JD tractors sold in the big box stores, but I know they have the same JD warranted as those sold by the dealer. I have 14 year old JD LT-155, that has received regular service all of its life. It runs when I need it and has never (Knock Knock) needed major repairs. Two: JD has the service centers to handle any problem with their tractors, from my lawn tractor to the biggest they make. The good thing about this is the a dealer sees a lawn tractor as profit so you get good deals when you do need repair or service. I just bought the spring service kit for the tractor from a JD dealer and it was cheaper that buying the same parts in a discount hardware or big box store. I don't know for sure about this, but I think there are more dedicate free standing JD service centers than any other brand Three: JD has building and servicing tractors for nearly 180 years. They are well thought of in the agricultural and construction communities which flows over to the lawn tractor community. Four: JD markets their tractors like Harley Davidson markets their bikes. When you go into a JD there is something for everyone. If you are looking for a tractor of any size there is someone there who knows the product you are buying. (This goes for service as well), If you are looking for clothing, the stores will sell you all types of JD branded clothing and hats. If you are a child there are all kinds of toys from the motorized child vehicles to a full line of small indoor toys. As part of your report, you should find some one with a JD and find out how much fun it is to drive a small tractor. There is one of the prime rule of owning a small tractor, "Don't let your wife know how much fun they are or you will never get it back."

A few observations which may help in your decision. The Sears tiller is built by AYP, now owned by Husqvarna so the Craftsman is a rebadged Husky. It is a decent tiller for the money but only has one wheel speed, slow, which may not be an issue for you. The tines rotate backwards which is great for breaking ground but the downside is the machine gets stuck easily and needs frequent rasslin' to keep it moving. Poulan, also a Husqvarna company, is a light duty tiller and the chaincase is not serviceable, it fails you are buying a new one.

Old thread, let us fast forward to update it: Briggs now intentionally makes plastic carb throwaway small engines called Briggs EXi or "Just check and add oil" engines... No small Briggs for push/self propelled mowers have an iron sleeve now, not even Pro model engines have it anymore.. According to Briggs site there is none being built today, what iron sleeved engines left on the shelves is all there is left!! Pro 850 was the last to have it. All Kohler engines are made China. Briggs Vanguards are made in China. Kohler's head gaskets still fail (fixing my sons 3 yr old cub now) & also suffer oil seal leaks from poor machining today, all are made from cheap grade materials in China and won't last long anymore! Very soft aluminum & plastic abounds them. Regardless where anything is built it's made by people who never even knew nor do they care about our American pride or our history of quality or about the products longevity! Anyone 30yrs old and under today simply grew up replacing products not repairing them unless they were dirt poor like I was and always tried repairing first but hey it was the 60's and everything had nuts/bolts/screws then and was steel. So why would today's engines have so many problems only after a few yrs running when they once ran for many decades without majors? Well' it's called "Planned Obsolescence" and its a fact most corps have now adopted this. Google it to really understand it well if you never heard of it, you'll be so thrilled. So everytime I read about engines online I'm really glad I'm a pack rat and keep everything. Well' I keep stuff until problems show up so I still have my 76 B-100 8 speed Wheel Horse tractor with the cast iron Kohler K series engine. It's engine/trans has never been apart once and not reached its first ring job yet & if it ever does I'll never worry about it again in another 30+ yrs or in my lifetime at least. It still burns no oil and cuts just as good as anything today without any of the mechanical problems. Why people keep buying these junk newer mowers again & again instead of buying the old brutes for a fraction of the cost that have outlasted them all by several decades idk? Restoring these if needed, is a lot cheaper than new mowers now days and it's an all new cast iron brute again ready for decades of service! I see some very nice cast iron garden tractors on craigslist all the time. Real garden tractors because GT used to actually stand for Garden Tractor but now it's just a sticker slapped on them and they can't even run anything, example: My Wheel Horse runs 23 different implements including Generator, side sickle, snowblower, tiller etc... Visiting websites about old Wheel Horses, old JD's & old Cubs (non MTD) tractors etc..and everyone is bragging & very proud of their mowers longevity and still use them regularly, sold or scrapped their newer ones they bought just after a few yrs usage. Been there done that with a Husqvarna myself! Visit any site like this one about newer mowers and what you'll always find is its junk, its in the shop, motors bad after 3 yrs, hydro rear ends out second time around. I'll sue them all! Lemon Laws anyone??..ect.....lol Even the expensive Zero turns have very costly engine/hydro repairs I read about them and have friends who own them too. In fact I'm good friends with people who care for football fields and cemeteries here so I hear first hand but they are very fast cutters while they are problem free, rarely make a complete season without a shop visit though. Expensive upkeep no doubt. Sorry but its just ignorant to me to pizz away money for landfill delight. Simply amazing and very sad for the old crying indian too. Now that really shows my age huh? *Peace

Both tractors are made by the same company Husqvarna(AYP)