[wdfifteen]

Seahawk's comment about engine vs PTO horsepower sent me to the web to do some research on how power is rated for compact tractors. They apparently aren't subject to the Nebraska test protocol, so we're back to the bad old days if you're compact tractor shopping. Compact tractor dealers can report horsepower in any way they want. There is a lot of bad information out there about the subject however. For instance, I came across this gem:

"Horsepower is a common method by which to gauge a tractor’s size. In the old days, tractor horsepower was spoken of in terms of drawbar horsepower, meaning how much power the tractor transferred to the ground. As time went by, marketing departments of the manufacturers decided that PTO horsepower should be used, simply because it’s a higher number. Therefore, if a salesperson was describing his tractor with drawbar horsepower, the competing dealer would use PTO horsepower, a higher number, for the same size tractor."

That is nonsense.

Even before the state of Nebraska established a standard test protocol horsepower was reported as both belt (when pto replaced belt drive it became pto) and drawbar hp. The Nebraska protocol was established specifically because dealers were quoting fictitious or misleading numbers. Through the 1950s you couldn't even sell a garden tractor without it being subject to the test. Now apparently anything under 40 hp is exempt.