just bought a troy bilt pony. the deck has no gauge wheels and i wasn't happy with it. scalp city. i returned to lowes, full refund.

now i'm researching ride on's in the 1000 - 1400 range. no very many good reviews from customers for troy bilt, craftsman, or john deer.

any recommendations on a good, lower priced ride on. i'm not interested in getting scammed again by a customer service guy at lowes or sears.

just bought a troy bilt pony. the deck has no gauge wheels and i wasn't happy with it. scalp city. i returned to lowes, full refund.

now i'm researching ride on's in the 1000 - 1400 range. no very many good reviews from customers for troy bilt, craftsman, or john deer.

any recommendations on a good, lower priced ride on. i'm not interested in getting scammed again by a customer service guy at lowes or sears.

Have had my jon deere for over 6 years. Bought it new. I never brought it to be serviced. I finally changed the plugs,filters and oil last year because it started backfiring. I think I mow 2.5 acres and I used it to plow the driveway this past season. I also drag my 2 year old son around the wet grass on a boogie board:)The thing has been PISSAH!!! Knock on wood.

I'm riding a 17 year old Toro. Will not die. 8hp 32inch. Pulls my fat ass around fine.

Nuff said.

I have a craftsman 15.5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine, 42" cut. The thing is 15 years old and the only thing I have done is oil, plugs, belts, sharpen the blades and install a drink holder.
I mow about 3/4 acre at a shot, if that tractor rolled over and died tomorrow it doesn't owe me a cent.

if the deck has wheels on it, are you pretty much avoiding the lawn scalping situation? i've read some reviews on all those mowers and some guys still say their lawn still gets scalped when they go over a crest.

The wheels don't do crap. They look cool and convince people. You raise and lower the deck and pick a point your happy with. It takes a quick second to raise or lower the deck
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Tough to see how you are not going to "scalp" a crest with a ride on rotary mower if you drive over the crest... Any wheels that are not on the peak are going to lower the plane of the blade. Golf courses use multiple axle reel mowers on a trailer. Landscrapers will most often use a walk behind rotary, but don't push it over the crest.
Your yard is a relatively flat plane, so maybe just need to adjust where you are placing the wheels as you approach the crests and do multiple passes instead of a straight line single pass.