Yeah, one of the "must have" options I suggested to Bob. Although service intervals for the pump can almost eliminate pump failure is my experience.

I hear you on the tractor thing. Already bought a Can Am UTV and I have been using it as a workhorse. My wife and I have been clearing brush and Vines for the last few weeks. Saw Briars are crazy thick here and many have climbed the trees and choking them out. I tie a rope to a bundle of them, then pull them out with the Can Am. Then we burn them on the burn pile. It has been a work in progress. My yard except for a small patch around the pool is rough sandy terrain and not flat at all. I also have some narrow areas through trees that I would like to be able to run a mower. Speed is not one of my goals, but something rugged that won't get mired in the sandy stuff and can chew up small sticks. I plan to head to the Alba Tractor place that sells Kubota stuff and look around.

It is just a pleasure having good equipment. I might spend 20%-25% more than what the box store is uncrating and putting out in the parking lot but I'm happier about it. And again, I mow much more than 1 acre.

When I first bought my acreage I bought a used Ford tractor that had thousands of hours on it. I worked it hard but there were some fricks and fracks with it, then I bought a POS Farmtrac 55hp. Yeah, it was relatively inexpensive. Took 3 years and I traded it in on my 52hp Kubota. My lesson on equipment, buy quality and buy once.

I also bought the standard Craftsman 42" lawn tractor and 5 years later added a Husqvarna 42". Both mowed for 10 years (15 on the Craftsman) but I was always working on them. Sold 'em both for $100 and was happy to see them go.

13 year old Hustler FasTrac 48" in 2011 and then added a 54" SDX in '15. They get used hard. I actually do light bush hog work with them sometimes. They both rock and only had issues with the SDX (front wheel bearing and later a spindle bearing. It is extremely sandy here to the point that my blades eat away the tips every 50 hours and I think that might be the root of my bearing issues. The Fastrac has 1200 hours and the SDX around 1500. They are worked hard !

Mark and gbl are both correct. There's no reason to spend crazy money for an acre. Most anything in the $5k range will hold up for a decade with that amount of mowing. The $8k machine I linked would hold up for twice that.

I will say - if you're retired and just want to take it slow, a Scag would be my 2nd choice on a bumpy yard. Their seats are pretty comfortable. It's definitely far worse than a Ferris, but if you drive slow it won't be too bad.

Past that, they're all made of the same basic engine/transmission components and you won't find a meaningfuly difference in that department. Suspension and seats are the areas where some companies really spend a lot of money and others don't. The super expensive units obviously have full commercial duty engines and transmissions. My ferris has the vanguard B&S engine and zT-5400 transaxles, but you have zero use for that on your property.

Out of everything I've had (scag, grasshopper, gravely, kubota, ferris, cub cadet, hustler, etc.) the Kubota was actually the worst riding machine of the bunch. It was awful. That's the only one I'd 100% recommend against based on your description of the lot.

Gravely. Put a different seat on mine and it is much better. The mower itself has been good, bearing are easily replaced and available.

I bought an ariens I have a couple of hundred trouble free hours on it with no problems. It has no suspension, I'm a 1" shorter know but I found a memory foam cushion that took most of the pounding away. I change the air filter, fuel filter, replace the blades and change the oil yearly. I had a limited budget at the time and I used cc points to reduce the cost it starts everytime first or second try. I am not recommending it just letting you know what I had to do I'll change at the end of this year.

Yeah, I have been spending cash like a mad hatter lately and since I am getting real long in the tooth, I don't know if I need a 20 year mower. I bought a Craftsman rear engine 36" cut riding mower in 2007 and I still have this and I ran it yesterday to mulch up a ton of leaves. It has a 13 hp Briggs engine that I changed the oil on 2 times in 17 years. Paid $980 for it brand new. But is way light duty for what I have now.

The wife is mowing right now on her monster Ferris. I gassed it up for her. With that mower suspension and the soft riding suspension seat, she zooms around with a smile. I don’t use that mower, since I’m the tractor guy here.

One thing of interest regarding the Ferris. The blades last a long time. When we had the ExMark, I replaced the blades every Spring. They were worn down. Year 3 on the Ferris and the original blades are fine. Same driver and same yard, but much less blade wear.

Bought a Toro Timecutter? with suspension. It is like mowing on a cloud. Awesome!

42" non stamped deck which is stronger.

Bought last year with no problems yet.

Don't like:

When you turn too sharp, the inside wheel locks up and smashes the grass as you turn. Work so hard on yard and then have turn marks if you turn too sharp. Tractor never did that.

Been running an Ariens Ikon 42 for 7 years now and have only done routine maintenance on it and replaced the deck belt and battery.Been trouble free and an excellent value for the money.