At one time, Troy-Built was a name synonamous with quality. And then........ they got bought up by MTD. Now, MTD is putting out a whole slew of products using the Troy-Built name to infer quality. Time will tell as to whether these products will manage to keep the Troy-Built name where it was prior to MTD.

I have provided you with a link. Keep in mind that these people are not talking about the same year/model tractor as the one under consideration. However, the comments about lack of attachments still seems valid since I was unable to find any reference to attachments at Troy's website. Apparently MTD was listening to complaints about the reverse mowing issue because the new tractor seems to deal with that.

If this line of tractors falls flat on it's butt and ends up as "bad news" in the public eye, then ask yourself as to how much it will bring when you want to buy something newer? The JD line would be my choice over the Troy.

A couple of hundred bucks more for the Deere may mean much more than that amount coming back to you at resale. Potential buyers of used tractors often want to do other things with them beyond just cutting grass. If no attachments are available, then you just eliminated a sector of the buyers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Opinions

If you want it to last a long time, then that to me means more than just mowing. On 1.5 acres other needs WILL arise I assure you...I would absolutely suggest to you to look bigger...you will not regret it.

I was in the same dillema a couple weeks ago and I narrowed it down to the John Deere La100, Troy bilt Super Bronco, and a Craftsman. I now own a new John Deere LA100, I rode all three and picked the Deere just because I liked it better and did notice the LA100 had a stronger frame and front end but I would say either would be a good choice for 1 1/2 acres.

My choice is the John Deere or any other machine with a real trans or hydro. The MTD made Troy Bilt has a vari drive system that uses two belts. What MTD is doing with the Troy Bilt name should be outlawed.

networker

Troybilt MTD has some decent products regarless to what the MTD naah sayers have to say about it.However there lawn tractors are not part of the decent list.Avoid them because of the vari drive transmission.

From the description here, it sounds like the vari-drive is sort of like a poor man's CVT?

My old Lawn Bug's "gearing" was based on how much tension was being applied to the drive belt, and where it was riding on the pulley relative to its diameter. Is this about right?

I'd rather have a real gearbox or a hydrostat than that.

I see a few negatives about vari-drives.
Anyone who owns one care to expand on thier views ?

I have a yardman "shift on the go" rear engine rider that is 10 years old. It has mowed and bagged my 3/5 acre of lawn for these ten years. Only repairs were belts(once),deck spindle, steering gear and wheel bushings. No problems with the tranny. It is going into semi-retirement as I bought a GT to plow snow with. I can only speak to my experience as I do not know anyone else that owns this type of tranny.

I thought it was interesting that that ajaxbro said that he is new to the lawn tractor arena and one thing he did note about the tractors was the 1/2 horsepower difference. It says something about what many people look at in a tractor/mower.

Instead of looking at Troy Bilt you might consider Craftsman. It's very competitive in this price range. I think most consider Deere the benchmark that all others are compared to, but that doesn't mean it's the best choice in every situation.

Vari drives are quite reliable and generally work well but are not a hydrostat. I had a craftsman LT-10 with vari drive for 23 years and never had a problem wuth the vari drive part.
Still going with new owner.
We bought an MTD Yard Machines shift-on-the-fly vari drive. Did lots of work with that in ND over a dozen years.Still going strong with the pully vari drive.

Having said that the tractor you need is Craftsman 28714 with true hydrostat and pedal controls with 46 inch deck on sale right now for $1399. It's better than either other option.

David

The reason I asked was because I have a vari-drive in my Huskee.
Very simple in design and the price is very affordable compared to a hydro.
No over heating worries and completly rebuildable.
I was just trying to see where all the negatives were coming from.

Many of the newer models have a much shorter rear drive belt than in the past and they fail much sooner (edge wear). Pop the battery out and they are an easy replacement tho. Rebuildable, yes. A hydro- like operation- no.

Some years ago I had a MF10 and the vari-drive worked very well.Gave me 20 forward speeds.Vari-drive+ gearbox.Some of the new automobiles have vari- drive too.Perhaps a case of,"Contempt prior to investigation".What if JD starting using a vari-drive system. Then the vari-drive would be wonderful.LOL,,,JMHO tbk

John Deere did use vari drive for many years.The last were the 200 series example 210 212 214.I had a 214 it worked OK but is no match for a hydro.Some guys had problems others did not.I always brought the variator to the slow position before shutting it down.Never mover the variator lever while it was shut down.It helped save the belt.Guys that did not seemed to have more problems sooner.Had to replace the drive belt more often then on todays hydros.They would slip expecially on hills and that was time for a new belt.Mine had a few issues with the belt coming off.Was due for a variator rebuild.

Is the overall consensus that the hydro is the way to go over the vari drive? What about a Craftsman vs. JD when considering $$$$?

Troybuilt makes a wonderful weed wacker, not so in the LT's. If you are going to compare apples to apples then comare the Simplicity Regent to the JD LA140. Do a little research, and check out the reviews on both and then see which way you mighy want to go!

Personally, I'd take the JD with the gear transmission over the Troy Bilt with the Hydro. I looked at the JD and Troy's at Lowes this week, and here is what I saw:

The JD deck seemed to be thicker, but I did not guage it as I didn't have a guage with me, so this is my opinion. The steering mechanism was definitely thicker and stronger on the JD. Sitting on both, I would choose the JD. One JD I saw had a Spicer transmission, probably an excellent unit and I know Spicer makes some good stuff (a lot of truck stuff too). And someone said something about resale, that's true, you can resell a JD when you can hardly get rid of other brands like MTD's Troy, Craftman, etc.

I am just looking for something that is going to last me a long time with our breaking down or apart on me.
Posted by ajaxbro CT
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That hain't a troy built then.

Potential buyers of used tractors often want to do other things with them beyond just cutting grass. If no attachments are available, then you just eliminated a sector of the buyers.
Posted by castoff
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An important factor in why you should never pay as much or more than the cost of a sub compact for a garden tractor.

What MTD is doing with the Troy Bilt name should be outlawed.
Posted by net_worker

I have JD L100, it's basically the same as the LA100 but a few years older. It has been great for me. I use it to mow a 1 acre field a few times a summer when it gets way overgrown. It has surprized me with how well it cuts through this tall grass and even small brush. I also use it to cut about an acre of lawn regularly. I get a good even cut from it.

Before buying this I was borrowing my fil Craftsman. When mowing the field you can feel how much more solid the JD is built.

I have been told but don't know if true or not that the JD products sold by HD and Lowes are'nt actually built by HD, just sold with the name.?????

Guys,
This message was posted in March. He's either bought a tractor by now or dropped dead or a heart attack from push mowing.
But it's interesting that he narrowed it down to my two least favorite "tractors," the clone of my late tin-can Cadet 1170 and the bottom end model of JD's bottom end line. And he lives in Connecticut--you would think he'd want something that could move snow.

My bottom of the line LA100 has been doing a great job cutting and baging 1 acre of lawn and i use a snow blower in the winter time.

Yup my bottom of the line LA120 works great also... must have been real lucky and got a one in a million JD. I wonder what car or suv marineguy drives....my guess is a Ford or something like it.... LOL