We mow over 2 acres on our property and purchased the grass blower/bagger attachment because we live in the Pacific Northwest and the spring and fall mowing's are often on wet grass. Let me start by saying that this is a Great Mower, starts fast, plenty of power, comfortable, tight steering radius, much quieter than our Sears rider, etc... but the blower attachment design is poor at best. In our case, after only 6 hours of operation the drive belt for the blower began to slip, which obviously resulted in the belt smoking and failing prematurely, so after removing the belt covers and a close examination of the idler design, I decided to remove the blower and seek help from the servicing dealer in our area. Which leads me from the General Comments to the Service/Delivery Comments section of this review...

fishwckr

Stanwood, WA

Starts easy, fairly quiet, great handling. I LOVE the locking differential. The mowing deck is a BEAST! I was worried if it had the power to use a dozer blade. Ha, more than enough power.

John

East Freedom, Pa.

I needed a powerful mower to make it up the hills and uneven terrain in my 1.5 acre yard. I looked at Zero Turn mowers and other riders and really like the specs on the Husqvarna garden tractors and felt it was a great fit for what I needed. The locking Diff is wonderful and I can tell when it is engaged and it powers up the hills and does everything I have needed when it starts. I would have given this 5 stars across the board but it will not hold a charge between mowing. I mow once a week and do other things with it on the weekend and by the next weekend the battery is almost dead. I am able to usually get a start and mow but this week I started mowing and got to the furthest end of my property and had to shut it down to move some trees and it would not start again. I ended up mowing with my old reliable JD 48 in walk behind in 90+ degree temps because I had a window and it needed to be mowed. If it is necessary to charge the battery between use it should come with the trickle charger. Could be a great mower but I highly recommend purchasing the charger for the port right away to avoid any disappointments.

BEA

Fort Calhoun, NE

i have tried two of these machine and cant get past 7hrs. all have fuel issues causing it to flood. for the money I would expect it to be right from the start.

mechanic

viginia

Definitely a lot of mower for the money. I've used it four times and have 8.5 hours on the unit to mow my 1.8 acre lawn that was previously a hay field. My lawn varies from flat to some hills and it performed flawlessly. I have a swale at the front of my lot and it has no issue going up it or cutting it at all. When I mowed with it for the first time the grass was around eight inches tall and again, the mower didn't skip a beat, never stalled and the mower deck never clogged up. I love the rear locking option, definitely nice to have when you need it. During my research I noticed reviews on other sites that referenced missing spots and having to mow twice. I only experienced this in spots where the grass was around 10 to 12 inches tall and I was going too fast, if I went the correct speed it wasn't an issue. It definitely wasn't an issue when the lawn was mowed with normal height grass that was cut more regularly. Turning radius is nice and it barely needs to be choked on a cold startup. In fact I think I have started it a couple times without even choking it and it fired right up. Only a couple of minor negative things, fuel level window is a little hard to see the fuel level. A gauge on the dash would be nice addition. Also, if you spill any amount of fuel while filling the paint for the numbers on the deck height level will come off easily. If that's the worst I'll take it all day long.

Cowmans Manor Ninja

Mount Airy, MD

First the disclaimer... only 1.5 hours of use. However, I own 2.5 acres of an estimated 75% of the mowing area varies from 4:1 slope to 2:1 slope (horizontal to vertical ratio... Civil Engineer lingo). This yard has always been challenging for my previous two riding mowers with theTuff Torq K51A and K46 trannies successively. Those two tractor trannies only held up 8 and 6 years respectively. I bought the GTH52XLS largely because of the Hydrogear 730 trannie (Tuff-Torq K66 equivalent), the rear differential lock, and all the durability features because of my challenging yard terrain The first use of the GTH passed with flying colors. The first thing that I noticed was the build quality. The steering wheel felt solid. The seat was comfortable. There are grab bars on each side of the arm rests. I started out without the differential lock engaged. I noticed that the forward pedal had a very solid feel to it. I also noticed that there is superior control with the hydrostatic pedal, because when you abruptly take your foot of the pedal, the slow down is abrupt as well. Almost all the slopes that typically were problems for both my previous lawn tractor were not a problem for the GTH. I only had to engage the differential lock twice... once on a sloped turn, and another when I started slipping on a 2:1 slope. On the latter, I did not get any significant slippage downhill like I encountered with the K-48 trannie. The rear diff lock put a stop to the slippage in both instances. Up until this point, I would not let my wife or daughter mow for safety reasons. I will not hesitate to let them mow with this tractor. The combination of the 52" deck, hydrostatic and rear diff lock cut my mowing time from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours. While I still have a bit of a learning curve to avoid scalping and tearing up turf with the rear diff lock, I'm really impressed with the performance of the mulch kit and deck. I am very pleased & expect this to last 15 years or more.

SlopeHandler

Boring, MD

Very good power, went from a JD LA130 to this. Looked for the k66 tufftorq transmission and this has is. JD had a k46 light duty which would burn up on an unlevel lawn. Went through two transmissions on the John Deere. The gth52 is faster and more powerful, with the auto locking rear wheels it gets me out of trouble. Drawback is the fabricated mower deck. It's huge! So much that I will drive it into the lawn and scalp the lawn if I am not careful. The mower deck wheels in my opinion are located in the wrong spot. The deck radius of the blade is further outside of the wheels which allow the deck to dig into the grass/ground on anything less than level ground. I Wish Husqvarna made an extension bracket for the deck wheels to extend them out to the end of deck blade radius. I would buy it. All else is great. Quieter, more comfortable, faster, more powerful, better turning capabilities, just fix the deck.

JD TO HUSQ

Portsmouth, nh

Cuts awesome, turns very well, plenty of power. Only use locking diff when needed, do not leave on, hence better turning radius. I have hilly, steep & flat land, it conquers it all with no trouble. Nice big tires, headlights provide lots of light. Sturdy deck. Comfy seat. Only downfall I've encountered is the cup holder, it's not deep enough to hold a water bottle, it bounces out. Please rethink, I need hydration when mowing. I've only owned mower for 1 month. So far so good.

PMN

Clintwood, VIrginia

I have an 8 yr old YTH2454 that has been an excellent mower for me. Because it has been such a good mower for me, I have no problem handing it down to my son. To replace it, I bought the GTH52XLS. I was really looking for the Kawasaki engine, but also wanted the electric locking differential. Chose the GTH52XLS for the locking diff. I plan on keeping this tractor for 20 yrs. so I thought that in the long run the diff was the best choice. Have read 50-50 reviews on cut quality with the fabricated deck. Now that I own one, and have mowed with it, I can say I am "giddy" with happiness! I am pretty fussy about how a mower cuts, an I am very pleased. Did a little adjusting with the deck level and all is well. Very happy with the elec diff and tractor overall. Have always been happy with Husqvarna products. It is probably too late for me, but Husqvarna, how about a tractor with a Kawasaki engine, locking diff and power steering!!!

Rob

Laingsburg, mi.