[AT] Yard Man mower 1 year update

[Indiana Robinson]

	Weather note: I recall a wooden (with glass tube) thermometer that my folks had that 
said (from memory) "What a blamed infernal thing this pesky weather is. First it blew, 
then it snew and now by jing its friz"... Its been that kind of week after being quite 
warm for a while. Raining at the moment.

	I thought a few might be interested in a one year update on the Yard Man (MTD built) 
lawn tractor I bought new last spring. Some may recall that I said then that as a past 
lawnmower / small engine mechanic I had been a long time non believer in the stuff like 
MTD, Murry etc. stamped out cheap mowers. I had gotten to looking and decided that MTD 
had grown up a lot especially if you moved up a few models from the bottom of the pile. I 
had talked to several owners that were quite happy. I last bought a brand new mower back 
about 1966 and had since been buying older better line tractors and fixing them up. Last 
spring when the deck on my old Wheel Horse was having a total nervous break down due to 
the patches being 4 patches deep and still coming apart I bit the bullet and bought a 20 
HP Yard Man from Wally World. I wanted something ready to go out and mow without 
repairing it first. I started looking at the $999 special and moved up a couple of steps 
to the 2 cylinder with the cast iron front axle model. IIRC I paid about $1300 for it.
	We have used it very heavy now for a year and I am happy to report that it has been 
absolutely great. It has been almost completely trouble free. I said we used it heavy... 
We mowed about 6 - 7 acres with it and last year we were cutting a lot of tough old stuff 
that had only been bush-hogged in the past. There were some areas and lots that last 
spring were as tall as the hood of the tractor and a lot of the yard was over the front 
tires before we bought the tractor. That kind of mowing was really tough on the deck belt 
and I wore one out last year. I also replaced one tiny spring on the deck. I must buy it 
a set of blades this year as we have about worn the originals to a frazzle. The cutting 
edges are not all that bad but running all of that rough material through it has worn the 
paddles off of the top of the back edge so it does not throw out the grass quite as 
aggressively in this wet weather. Everything else seems to be just like it was when we 
bought it. I forget how many "name brands" are now produced by MTD but it is a lot of 
them. Troy-Bilt for one. I think Cub-Cadet too. Lots of store brands too like Huskee 
(TSC) etc.
	I had planned to just keep this one one year then buy a new one and sell this one. I 
looked it over this spring and can't find a reason to replace it. Maybe next year... At 
this point I would buy another like it in a flash. I recently looked at the model that 
replaced this one and I believe it has 2 more HP and an improved seat adjustment. My 
daughter in TN just bought a new one (with the Troy-Bilt name) last week. Hers came from 
Lowes.
	One note. I do not consider this a load pulling/snow plow tractor except for maybe a 
small cart. If pulling is in your needs give that careful consideration.
	I know some will never buy an MTD built product (though a few may have and not known it) 
and others are stuck on one brand or one color. That is fine. I just posted this for some 
that have maybe been looking and wondering and maybe don't have quite as deep of pockets 
available to them as others...

	What else can I say, I'm happy with it.   :-)

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. In America 100 
years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net