looking to buy first garden tractor. Our two main choices are the Cub Cadet LT 1040 or a John Deere LA 100 or 110. We have less than an acre of level ground, but there are a lot of oak trees. Our main reason for buying a mower is so we can suck up and bag the leaves. Any experiences with these two mowers would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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.

I would stay away from the one-lungers. The JD LA 135 is one I have ridden and like. I like the two blade deck on it and the V-Twin engine. If you don't mind the single cylinder noise, I do like the Cub. If only it had a better engine than the Courage single cylinder.

fcarp63, How do you like the johnny bucket setup on your GT225? I've been on the fence about buying one of those for years, and now that I'm a week out from returning home from Afghanistan, I think a johnny bucket and a hayes electric sleeve hitch may be in my future. After living in a desert wasteland for nearly 9 months, I'm pretty excited to get home and do some landscaping work (and other things). tomplum, You should tell your buddy about the piranha deck if he's considering a freedom. Do the search on the bottom of the page and you'll see the writeup I did about mine. It's a pretty amazing upgrade, and simpler than the counter-rotating freedom deck. virginacowboy, I can't say enough about the Deere garden tractors. My GT225 is by no means too big for my 2/3 acre, but when it comes to gardening chores, or pulling, it's a tank. I've pulled my 10 cu ft cart heaped over with sand uphill with no problem at all. Consider one thing when buying a mower: even on a 1/2 acre lot you'll benefit from a 48" deck, since it shrinks your uncut radius slightly and allows you to cut up close to things better than a 42". I think most salesmen would tell you that for a 1/2 acre all you need is a 42", but I would disagree. I have a 44" mulching deck on my GT225 and a 48" deck on my GT262 which is a backup workhorse on my father's property. I was not really happy with the original 42C my GT225 came with, mainly because the deck is no wider than the wheels (on the wide setting) which makes it tough to trim up against my landscaping.