My $161.95 early bird service for my JD GT275 turned into $375.81 service. see under posting "John Deere Lawn Tractor Buying Advice Needed: X300 or LA series" Thing of it is I've gotten just as good as life out of my Sears, oh well, The same thing happened when I bought a Lincoln Continental, T-birds were just as good but cost a good deal less. Now retired, I sold the Lincoln 2 weeks before I retired, because of the cost factor. Now, I use my wifes Avalon when I need a car, or just climb up into the Dodge Ram - yeh, it's a hemi. Like I've said I like HP. Enjoy, the cub, dragging that deck alittle at the shed door will do alot less damage than leaving it set out in the weather.

If you're looking for a REALLY good deal, here it is: Scotts S2048 Look closely, it's a 1st cousin of the GT235, painted reddish-orange. For that reason, it will sell for a fraction of its actual value. This tractor will take a tiller, sleeve hitch, or any other ground-engaging attachment the GT series would use. There are only two minor differences that I know of: no zerks on the spindles, a tuff-torq K-62 vice K-71 transaxle, and rumors of a sligthly lighter weight LX style frame (not confirmed). The K-62 in on the border between ground-engaging and lawn tractor service, but it does have the upgraded 1" axles of the K-71, and as you can tell by the two holes drilled at the top of the back plate, this IS a garden tractor, intended by John Deere to be used with a sleeve hitch. Not sure where upstate your are, but this is in Connecticut, worth the drive. Here are some other links: http://www.epinions.com/review/Scotts_S2048_Yard_Tractor/content_35989524100 http://www.deere.com/en_US/scotts/pdfs/010001.pdf http://www.tufftorq.com/prodcomp.asp -Chris Here is a link that might be useful: wolf in sheep's clothing

rcmoser, that was my thought exactly on the borrowed thing. I have left my key on in my lawn tractor and killed the battery several times and it seemed like that probably happened this time. When the first person suggested doing all sorts of testing I just emailed the guy who agreed that I should just jump it (worked fine). I'm now removing the key entirely so it doesn't happen again. If you borrow something that needs repair, you repair it. It's nice if you don't have to tell the person before you return it. Why make them worry as long as things are taken care of. If it's more than what I can handle, you ask. I only asked on the tractor since I wasn't familiar with larger equipment. Anyway... problem fixed. Thanks for the insight.

Been a bit busy with the yard to respond before now. It's now due for another trimming with the Toro self-propelled I ended up with (a 2hr plus task last time that is bound to take a bit longer this time since I skipped one side yard and the front yard the first time round). As for the Craftsman...I've drained the fuel on it (the fuel had stabilizer in it but better safe than sorry) and will be taking the battery out to place it on a trickle charger until I can get it over to the one place that will service it since it doesn't look like they will be picking it up for me after all. Perhaps I was just plain unlucky but the problem I've been having was NOT due to lack of maintenance on my part. I've been very careful to do the recommended maintenance and have had no problems with the engine, etc. A defective safety switch is not a maintenance issue. I just wish the problem hadn't been intermittent for so long or I would have considered coughing up the $50 service charge when it was still under warranty. I was concerned that the problem wouldn't show up and I'd be out the $50 with nothing to show for it (okay and I -was- irked it cost that much when the lawnmower was still under warranty). With just one mower to base this problem on I can't say whether it's a common one or not...just that other people I've talked to seem to have had similar headaches with service and it's something well worth considering when purchasing a new lawnmower. I've also found standard air filters, etc. to be far more expensive than other brands so that's another thing to consider as well. Fortunately the most expensive part, the air filter which runs $25 at Sears, appears to be a standard Briggs and Stratton part that can be obtained elsewhere for less than half that (quite the discount, eh?). Now...to get back to that lawn. I don't suppose anyone has some sheep I can borrow for a bit...say the rest of the summer? Actually now that I think about it...anyone know if replacing a safety switch on one of these things is a DIY project? So far I've heard...it depends... From the way it's acting I've been told it may be the clutch safety. Perhaps I can work on it after fixing the trailer lights...or before since I then wouldn't need it so desperately... Just as an additional point...sometimes the inconvenience of having something like this out of service for so long can more than make up for a couple hundred dollar price difference. Now if one's talking about several hundred dollars...I'd go for the sheep myself...;-)