This is true of many items at HD or Lowe's verses buying them at a dealer. Even down to hand power tools like Milwaukee and Dewalt. Go to a real tool store and they are higher priced for a reason.

Hmmm radio silence from Kubota dealer. Shouldn't take long to figure out trade in value for two 35 year old tractors ☹️

I have the Kubota signal lighting up the sky for Cabmotoman now...

On my 'balloon kyphoplasty thread'..Cabmon recommended the Ferris line, just as Matt Davis. Post #24
He linked their whole line of zero turn mowers.
That particular one looks real nice...some of their others use Briggs engines.

I just bought a Scag Liberty Z with only 40 hours on the clock. 48” deck, Kawasaki plant, 2800 trannys, mulching system thrown in. Still under warranty. Paid $4,000. That’ll do fine for my small yard. Not sure how the Scags do on a slope. They’re kind of compact.

After listening to folks here , watching videos online and talking with dealers I have decided that a zero turn is not a good fit for my sloped/steep lawn .

I successfully mow my lawn with garden tractors so will replace with similar. I am very surprised the Kubota dealer hasn't called me back . Strange as we had a verbal deal just waiting on trade value to finalize the deal .

FWIW, last week my JD 430 blew the steering cylinder seals. End of last year started seeping. This year started leaking, then more. These cylinders are not rebuildable. New replacement @$650+............for a 2" bore X 5" stroke light duty, low pressure unit......mmmmm.

So Last week, cut it apart at the weld, dissected and found the end and external seals were 'proprietary' as in, unique to that design........shocking, I know. I found this out by carefully measuring everything and calling a major supplier whos says they stock seals to solve any situation.........................except mine. So I order items that are as close to spec but cannot find the exact style. I assemble all the bits Sunday, weld it back up and last night failure after reinstalling. Turns out JD made the outer seal bore with a step in a way that does not require a circlip. The inner seal design incorporates a weird metal shell casing.........that no one has.

There are no new aftermarket generic cylinders to fit this as it also has class "0" swivel ends welded on. So I called my local dealer this AM, have a new one on the way. So why tell this story? Well, this is an excellent machine in every way and to replace it with similar JD's would cost $15K. It is restored, functions as new, looks almost new and best of all no payments or large outlays of cash for a less than comparable machine. Do I like spending the time and money to do this? of course not. But I tried the best, only alternative, did not work out. In the long run, relatively small price to pay for upkeep / break-fix VS a new machine.

My understanding is that the stuff sold as places like Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes, etc... are built to a price point. I've been told that the John Deere stuff that you can buy at Home Depot is not the same quality as the JD stuff that you buy at an independent dealer. I'm sure that is probably the case for 98% of the stuff that you get at HD, Lowes, etc....

look to see if one has a thicker deck than the others.

Kubota dealer called about an hour ago and gave me trade in value . Less than he " ballparked " so I have to think it over .

i would rather buy (and i did) a good used one vs a lower end new one.

Have 3 acres and a John Deere; it does a good job and is easy to operate and turns nice and tight.

Now one of my trade ins won't start ☹️ . John Deere 430 I don't think the glow plugs are lighting . I get no glow plugs light when turning the key on . But when I turn the key to " test " position the glow plugs light comes on .

I took a jumper cable from positive on battery to one of the glow plugs but she only puffed gray smoke . So now I have to dig into this issue but it blows my deal with the Kubota dealer 😡

On your 430, it has a relay for the glow plugs, left lower side panel near battery. Also should be fused, that is in back top of battery just under the dash panel. Also there's a glow plug timer that can but rarely fails. PM me or ask here if more help is needed.

I will dig into it this weekend , I may be sending you some PM's . Thanks

Relay failure is most common. It's not like a Bosch 4/5 pin. It is unique and cannot be substituted. JD part @$100.

I have a JD 332 which is also a 3 cylinder Yanmar . If it uses the same relay I can swap for diagnostic purposes . Is the relay behind the left engine side cover ? The relay plugs into a harness or board ?

Yes, just inside the left engine cover. But first check the fuse panel

In the fall, all the mowers usually go on sale as the winter is slow for cutting. So if you can wait a month or so, you may get a good deal on a new one.

Two fuses on the right side of console . A 10 and 25 amp . Both look good and not corroded . There also is a push button circuit breaker ? I pushed that with no change .