I just finished my first season with my first garden tractor, so unfortunately I have nothing to compare this tractor against. I purchased it mainly for the limited slip, as part of our 3 acre lawn is on an incline and shaded, so traction is poor. This tractor handles it well. As others have mentioned, it turns better with the LS turned off, so I only turn it on when needed, though it periodically gets bumped on when I'm busting through tree branches, and I don't notice until I'm trying to make a full lock turn. To counter other reviews, it makes gradual turns fine, even with LS turned on. I purchased my tractor from a great local dealer (Jerry's here in Bend, OR), who happily took my credit card. I did not get a discount on the tractor, but they assembled it with the extra mulching kit, leveled the deck, and gave me a lesson on using it - well worth the paltry amount I could have saved buying it online. They have also been great with extra parts - the mulching kit has a right side cover that leaves a spring clip hanging about 1in out, so if you try to mow up to a chain link fence on the right side with the kit, you're asking for trouble - my experience ripped off the spring clip and broke the rubber strap. Luckily, Jerry's stock the piece, which is screwed in place rather than riveted, so repair was easy. I do not have any issue with an unmowed stripe; I only overlap 6" on my flat field, and get a very uniform cut. If I could change anything, I'd move the throttle and LS switch away from being above the steering wheel, as they get grabbed by branches. I'd also make the steering wheel more precisely center-able - it is canted at an angle when going straight, but is only adjustable in 30deg or so increments, so it will be canted one way or another. Faster would be nice; 5.5mph is plenty for mowing, but sure doesn't seem much when you're driving across the property. I'd change the mulch kit spring clip and also find a better way to latch the cover down - it creeps up in the back to leave a gap that blows clippings out. Lastly, I'd improve the seat engine kill switch to be less sensitive - my 100lb teen daughter mows the field, and around the edges you can hear the engine cutting out when she bounces over gopher mounds and holes (200lb me has no problems). The rubber nubby things on the speed pedal all fell off, so I replaced them with cap screws, which work but aren't as grippy as the rubber ones. I did not use the mower deck wash feature; I let it build up, then pulled the deck at the last mow and scraped it clean while I was cleaning the grass out of the rest of the chassis. Deck came off easy, and looks like I can reinstall it and not lose the leveling, though I will recheck this. I had planned on putting a snow blade on the unit, but was warned it can't push a bunch, so you have to plow in stages; 5" or so at a time. This, combined with the price of a blade, wheel weights, and chains made me change my mind and buy a snow thrower - this winter we'll see if I made the right choice:) That's about it, but in summary, from reading the other reviews it looks like the dealer you purchase the tractor from may make more difference in your satisfaction than the tractor you choose. Happy mowing - I'm going to go attach the leaf sweeper and do my fall cleanup:)
HCSGuy
Bend