Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Durability of quality-built machines is fine--

Agree w/ other comments so far but would add if have a significant slope
you may find the solid gearing beneficial as the variable speed drive
may not have sufficient braking on downhill slope to avoid significant
speedup...found this on a trial JD green unit in TN so went w/ the
manual shift for that application.

On the speed control, agree they're of minimal value unless have really
large, uninterrupted areas of going 'round 'n 'round for quite a long
time w/o obstructions--not particularly common for residential lawns
outside an estate-sized place.

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