Just my 2 cents, but the Kubotas are real nice machines, and they're easy to work on, too.

I bought the cheap john deere model LA145 I beleive last year from lowe's with the rear bagger for like $1,700.00.I should have done it years ago,kicks butt on the ole early 90's craftman I got from my grandma.My father in law has a 20-22 year old cheapo deere that will not die no matter what I run over with it @ the monte property.
SZ

Ask yourself this: How many old John Deere's do you see as opposed to other brands ?

I highly recommend getting one with the Hydro transmission.

I order parts here. http://www.mowersdirect.com/
Service is good, prices reasonable

Just one more pitch for the ZT. Once you have one, tractors become a "never more".

Kubota's are nice... but you can buy two JD300's for the price of a similar Kubota. Plus... parts are CRAZY expensive. We have a $9K (hand me down) Kubota... just lost the bearings on the deck... $1490!

ZT's are nice too...especially if you are just mowing. BUT...if you ever want to rig up a small utility trailer to haul piles of leaves, branches, maybe a little gravel for the driveway... get a tractor style like the JD.

I'm very disturbed to learn that so many fishermen p!ss away valuable fishing time mowing lawns. You guys need to see a therapist.

Sg

I concur Sg, but I am also a hippocrite. I just moved into a house on Main Street. Now everyone I know drives by my house 2 or 3 times a day and I have to mow the lawn 1x a week!

I roll an older JD C130 (I think). I like the tractor I put that thing through hell and it just keeps on going. One time (the day I bought it) I rolled (upside down) it off the end of a flat bed trailer, and I just turned it upright, started it up and kept going.

True story. Don't know if the guy was a fisherman or not, but the story fits with Sg's apparent mower allergy.
There used to be a place on Camano Island, not far from Madrona Beach Resort that was an eye-catcher. The place was impeccably kept. The lawn and gardens were incredible to see, and the house was without a blemish. I enjoyed it for a number of years.
Then one day I drove by expecting to see this immaculate representation of "Lawn and Gardens", and I almost drove off the road. The entire yard....entire yard....was graveled over, and in the middle of it all was a concrete block about a foot thick and four feet square. In the middle of the block was perched an old reel-type mower, painted gold, with a sign hanging from it reading......"RETIRED"

A hard core fisherman friend of mine in Seattle graveled his entire yard back in the 1970s and hasn't owned a lawnmower since. I've owned a lawnmower but hope never to own another one. We have lawn service thru the condo association, and my landscaping goal for the new house is zero lawn. There's some grass and weeds starting to grow up around the new house and garage, but fortunately there's a kid next door who's trying to develop a landscaping and lawncare business. Best $30 I spent this week.

Sg

I guess Bucket is one clever dude then

NA---I gotta set the timer on the irragation, she just won't do it for some reason.