[legion]

This weekend while my wife was picking out flowers to spruce up the house, I went and looked at riding lawnmowers. Should we buy the house with the 4-acre lot, it would be a necessity.

Anyway, I noticed a huge disparity in price between "hardware store" and "dealer" mowers, even of the same brand.

For example, a 3-blade, 50" John Deere mower was $2,900 at Lowe's. A similar mower was $9,000 at a dealer. I realize they are different mowers and built differently.

My question is, do I really need to spend 3x as much to get the "professional" mower for one that will be used once a week (as opposed to once a day)?

Which brands are okay? Which are crap. Are any okay to buy at a hardware store? I looked at Cub Cadet, John Deere, and Troy Bilt.