Well there are two brands I would look at if your replacing that Honda which would be John Deere or Simplcicity maybe even kubota. You may want to upgrade to a wider deck since you say you have been cutting several acres. Your honda in 1987 Had a MSRP of $2,889. Well since it looks like you just need a tractor to mow with and not any gardening tasks then I would suggest mayebe a Deere X300 series lawn Tractor Starting at $2,999 with the X300 that has a 17hp kawasaki engine and either a 38 or 42inch deck The X300 series goes up to the model X360 which has power steering and Hydraulic lift and up to a 54inch deck with a 22hp Kawasaki engine the 48inch dek is standard on the X360 and it has a MSRP of $5,099 with 48inch deck. There is also Simplicity Broadmoor Lawn tractor that range from 18hp to 20hp Briggs& stratton engines with 38,44 and 50inch mowing decks and Range in price from $4,300 to $4,950. Then there is the Kuboata T-series lawn tractors that range in HP from a 18hp 1cylinder Kohler to a 23hp VTiwn Kohler and in decks sizes 40,42&48inch mowing decks and from a MSRP price range from $3,350 to $4,850 PersonallY I own 3 John Deere's, 4 Cub Cadets, 2 Simplcities,1 White and 1 ingersoll all but two are Garden tractors. Since you say your have Sevral trees and obsticles on the property I would look at either a John Deere X304 or a X324 both Tractors are All wheel steer avaliable with either a 42inch or 48inch mowing deck. In the mid 1990's John Deere actually produce the Honda Lawn tractors on the Deere LX series frames for Honda. Now you 3813 was shaft driven if I am correct. The least exspencive tractor you will find with shaft drive is a Cub Cadet mid level GT called a 2542 with a starting price of a MSRP of $3,849 with the current sale price of $3,499. But since it looks like you just want a Lawn tractor the Top 3 I mention Deere,Simplicity and Kubota have the best quality in the current Lawn tractor market. If you were going to look a Garden tractors as well I would mention Ingersoll and Cub Cadet as other Tractor to consider. Because the Ingersoll Garden tractor are built like Tanks. The design hasn't change much since the early 1960's. Hopeffully this give you a Idea on a Good quality Lawn tractor to replace your Honda and I have added a link for the Diffrent lawn and Garden tractor mnaufacturers out there. Good luck in your search. Here is a link that might be useful: manufacturers

reply by theodocus struck me as coming from the desk of the ad agency of MTD. No mention of the actual operation that involves rolling over uneven terrain and jarring action from bumps and uneven spots and the fragile fabricated axles that bend and crack easily. Oh, there is also the bushings used in place of ball bearings: bushing use requires higher horsepower to move the newer units. The Deere has points and condenser; cost $5.00 and 9.00 respectively and the sears is a solid state igntion. Newer technology is wonderful as long as it is coupled with quality assemblage in a product. I have a 1968 Sears GARDEN tractor with a 12HP Tecumseh Heavy duty cast iron engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42 inch deck and also have a 1976 John Deere GARDEN tractor with a cast iron 10 HP engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42" deck and use both alternately for mowing two acres and for tilling and moving earth, etc.. Each has cast iron axles and mutli-speed hi-lo transmissions and EACH is used for plowing, snowblowing, tilling earth, hauling 1100 lb loads in attached large carts. EACH will run circles around the new 20 plus HP light LAWN tractors made today. Spend 5,000.00 and you will have a comparable heavy duty GARDEN tractor. By the way, good luck on getting even 10 years of use with the new wonders.

Metal. You don't own this lawn. This is a lawn party that anyone can attend. I certainly did not say that owning a tractor without a RIO makes you comparable to a drunk driver who kills people. Check my post again and see if you can find that statement. As for taking the tags off mattress's and pillow's, that law stops when the end-user buys the product. It is there to protect the end-user from receiving product that does not contain virgin material. Your analogy with the C10 you own is totally off the mark. The issue here has to do with people on this forum telling other members that defeating/disconnecting safety devices is perfectly OK and then giving lessons on how to go about it. And I as I said earlier, if you think that the current RIO configuration does more harm than good, then invent something better, patent it and then licence it to the manufacturers. But if you're unable to come up with a better idea, then why not stop telling others how to disconnect them? What is being served by doing so? It does not matter that your tractor is not equipped with a RIO from the factory. I own 15 tractors that are also not equipped with one but I wouldn't help disable someone's tractor that came with one. What also doesn't matter is YOUR personal opinion about the effectiveness of RIO's. Your opinion is not shared by the people who wrote the law that mandates RIO's. If and when statistics show that the RIO law isn't working, then the legislators will come up with something different. Keep in mind that the legislators themselves didn't design the RIO's. They went to the industry and told them that the statistics showed far too many people (including children) were being run over by lawn/garden tractors when the operator put them into reverse. They then told the manufacturer's to come up with a solution to fix this problem on their own because it is in the best interests of the industry to collectively solve this problem. Every time someone is injured, it costs money to try and undo that injury. Whenever someone sues as a result of an injury, someone pays. More often than not, it is the various insurance companies that end up paying. Now, I hate insurance companies as much as the next guy but the fact remains that insurance companies have to make a profit just like any other company, to stay in business. If they have to constantly pay out money as a result of injuries and lawsuits, then those losses are reflected in the premiums everyone pays. And if someone is injured or killed, then who knows what sort of loss society as a whole may incur as a result? There's a much bigger picture here than just the one that shows your lawn.

It is a matter of exploring your needs. Mowing acres you would want to go at least with something like a large X series Deere or larger Kubota GT. Both make heavy duty zero turns as well. A better investment would be a sub compact or compact tractor , both on what you can do with it and resale market. I'm told that baggers on like the BX are really meant to be left on and can be a big deal to change. I might suggest a forum like tractorbynet and ask the folks there how they like their mowers. Where in Washington are you? Much success for your upcoming business.