wrote:
I am looking at giving a gift of a lawnmower to a first time home
purchaser. I can fully remember my first house and how relatives
were very generous in giving us the help we needed in establishing
a nice home. It's now my turn to be generous so hopefully I can get
some first hand knowledge from the people of this group. Here are
the details.

The property is four acres in size and hilly. It is in a northern
climate and has a long driveway.

So.........I need a riding mower that can have a optional snow plow
or blower attached to it. I favor hydrostatic drives over standard
transmissions and because of the hills the mower should have a low
center of gravity.

I have never owned a riding mower myself so fill me in on what may be
a good choice and let me know what to stay away from.


FWIW, I've racked up many hours over the years with several models of
Simplicity. Dealer service and parts has always been top notch and
they seem to have an edge over others in snow blowers, maybe because
they re built in Wisconsin. Currently using a 18HP Sunstar hydro with
SB and deck, getting close to 1000 hours on it. The rest of the fleet
is a pair of 13 HP 30" plain mowers. Still have an older 10 HP version
of these that plain wore out after only a decade of use, our spare
parts source. IMO, Deere is OK, but overpriced, Toro is not too bad,
others are dubious designs meant for little flat suburban lawns. HTH

Joe
Thanks.