"I mention before that my reverse stopped working. It turned out to be the frame rails broke on both sides. Had them welded back and worked fine then the drive belt broke. Didn't have time to order one and after calling Sears (no help) and asking where I could get one. They said only way was to order, which would take about 3-4 days to get a new one, ask for the size, and they had no clue. So I went on a search for a new one found out it was a 1/2 x 80 inch belt. Works fine. "

"I have replaced the steering rods twice now! And now the reverse gear went out. Hoping it is just the filter, which is very expensive. When it ran, it is a strong work horse. I'm mowing about 3 acres with very steep hills and over the winter I used it to plow my driveway, which is about 1/4 mile circle with broken concrete. It performed well. Like the tractor for ease to work on! I'm able to perform most of my own work. and love the fact if I need parts I can go online and order them and there shipped to my door."

"I first used the tractor to mow stuff high enough it should have been brush hogged, 18" to 24". Mostly grasses but also some thicker stemmed weeds. I took it slow with small overlaps. I did this with the standard blades and side discharge. The discharge spread was good, especially considering how much grass was being cut. I then put on the mulching kit which I have used since. It works well but will sometimes dump some clumps when mowing in reverse. I am mowing at 4" high once a week so there is a lot of grass being chopped up. The deck lifts easily with the handle on the left fender. I presume they are safety features for people who have small children but there is no key and you MUST have an access code (it can be a single number) to start the engine and you must push the "mow in reverse" button to do so. If you put the tractor in park and get off the seat to clear an obstacle, the engine will still run but the blades stop. You need to disengage, then re-engage the blades when you sit back down, lower the engine revs first. I'm still trying to get used to the reverse pedal. Sometimes it easily goes to higher speed (3 MPH max) and sometimes it sort of sticks at slow. Not sure about this just yet. I find the armrests are not very useful. Perhaps it is my height vs. the "average" person. I leave them up. The cup holder is on the same side as the discharge chute---not so useful when the wind is blowing from the right and grass ends up in the top of the cup. I have no "attachments" so I can't discuss using it for tilling, etc. I did get the poly dump cart, much easier to move stuff using that and the tractor than with the garden cart. I've moved brush, downed limbs and a fair bit of stone needed to fill in the "valley" leading into the barn. I have also not had occasion to take the deck off since with a bit of effort, you can take the blades off for sharpening with the deck on. Thus I can't comment on the ease or difficulty of removing the deck. I can't say anything about long term reliability just yet as I've only had it a couple of months. I have also not had to service the engine. But the oil drain is easy to get to, as are the spark plugs, unlike my old garden tractor. The air intake has a vertical "shroud" that does a good job of keeping most of the grass off the "screen". One of the people at Sears that was helping when I bought the tractor has a slightly older model and commented on how it would be nice to have this feature. Pros: - Good consumption rate - seems to burn about 1 gallon/hour while mowing - Good turning radius - Wide deck shortens mowing time. - Seat easy to adjust if you have multiple people who use it - Seat is pretty comfortable for a small mower Cons: - Must set the height of the 4 corner deck wheels with wrenches. Very inconvenient if you want to mow some areas short and others long. It should have quick adjusting deck wheels. - Deck wash doesn't do a lot, at least not with the mulching kit. I have to manually remove all the thick mats of grass first and I always wait until the grass is dry before I mow. Seems better suited to short height frequent mowing. - The "view port" gas "gauge" is pretty useless. - Not the tractor but the mulch kit: -- The instructions are wrong in some areas. -- The kit comes with a washer for the outside of the cover for the screws that hold the straps on but not the inside. I had one pull the screw head right out of the plastic cover because there is a lot of tension. I probably caught the cover on something but I have no idea where the strap, screw, washers and nut are. Sears was more than good about it, the person helping me took the parts I needed out of a new kit because, of all things, the screw was not available for her to order. I bought 2 fender washers at the hardware store for the inside of the cover. "