A couple of years ago, I bought a new Troy-Bilt lawn tractor with the 22hp Kohler engine, hydrostatic drive and 46 inch dual blade mower deck. Overall, I am quite pleased with it. I had not had a hydrostatic drive lawn mower before, but really like that feature. Hopefully the hydrostatic drive will last for a long time.
On the other hand, the grass catcher I bought with the new Troy-Bilt is probably the worst piece of garbage I have ever purchased in an equipment deal. It works poorly if the grass is fairly short and absolutely dry and then only works if you go very slow. If there is any moisture or if the grass is a little long, the tube will fill up with clippings and become blocked in a very short distance. And after only a couple of years of use, the plastic part that attaches to the mower deck is cracking and will probably need replacement. If I remember correctly the grass catcher attachment cost about $250. I would say that the redesigned grass catcher is the WORST BUY I ever made in yard equipment.
I have had several MTD made lawn mowers over the years. The first was a small "White" branded machine with about 12 horsepower. My Dad bought it new in the 70"s, and when my parents moved to town in retirement, I got the White. It worked pretty well for more than 20 years, but then it started falling apart in many places. I had to weld cracks in the deck several times and then the B&S flathead engine went bad.
So I bought a Yard Machine with an 18hp B&S OHV engine, variable pulley design transmission and a 42 inch deck. I always thought that it was pretty underpowered, but it worked OK if you went slowly for about 8 years, but then it started having engine problems, which I would have fixed. But the transaxle started skipping, like two gears were not quite meshing right. I really needed to mow right away, so I bought the Troy-Bilt.
Both the White and the Yard Machine used the older, larger design of grass catcher. The grass catchers both worked WAY better than the later design on the Troy-Bilt. I had thought that it might be possible to put the grass catcher from the Yard Machine on the Troy-Bilt, but the part that mates with the mower deck is substantially different. I think that the main problem with the newer design is that the opening in the deck is smaller. The other problem is that the later design uses 3 tube segments rather than the much smoother 2 tube segments of the older design.
I don"t know what you will decide to get, but I am fairly pleased with the Troy-Bilt so far as a grass cutting machine. I cut more than an acre--most of it I water so it stays green all season, but some of it does not get watered much and it goes dormant in August.
HOWEVER, if picking up the cut grass is important to you, I would look at something other than the grass catcher that fits current Troy-Bilts and presumably other MTD products that are similar. That grass catcher is JUNK and it works very poorly.
I have read that MTD is the General Motors of lawn care equipment. If that is so, that recent design grass catcher system is their VEGA!!!
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Today's Featured Article - The Day Mom Drove the 8N - by Brian Browning. My Dad was wanting to put in a garden but couldn't operate the 8N and handle the old horse drawn plow he had found and rigged up to use with the tractor. Well, he decided to go get Mom out of the house and have her drive the tractor while he walked behind the plow. You got to understand that while my Mom is a hard worker who will always help whenever she can... she had never operated farm machinery before that day. Dad got her out there, explained how the clutch was the same as in our o
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