Hustler has the Kohler motors at that level .
Scott I have heard that the stamped decks have a better air flow which I would guess means less clogging . Just concerned with durability . You know how our environment down here has it's way with anything metal .. I wouldn't be totally against a stamped deck if I knew it would last ...
Drive out to serbring, talk to the lawn care crew. Sebring race track is one of the long-term test sites. Fabricated decks dont last any longer than stamped. Decks. All of the Ariens and Gravely produsts must pass thousands of hours on the bump track and all of them are stress coated and strain gauged.
The residential gravely is the exact same as the ariens except paint color. The Ariens would have a slightly lower price
As far as motors, Kawasaki, Kohler, Briggs, Honda, and Subaru all make motors....they all break down. I would take the Subaru over the Kawasaki over the Kohler and last of all the Briggs. The carbs on the Biggs come from china and suck, they come from the same place Toro gets their whole motor.
John Deere lawn tractors are currently made by Husqvarna just like the Ariens Lawn Tractors (we couldnt build them for as low as we could buy them). Same goes for most of the small 21" mowers coming from Husqvarna. (they private label most of the lawn tractors and push mowers)
JD snow blowers used to be Ariens Pro units, then a while back JD switched to Husqvarna
All 2-stroke and most of the 4-stroke weed eaters come from the same MTI facility in china. Brand is a decal and change in color of plastic parts.
