I exercised restraint

[RetiredAt63]

I have an acre lot and an old 16 hp lawn tractor (old, no oil pump style old) with a battery that does not seem to have come through the winter well.   A friend of a friend has a nice new Troy-built big lawn tractor selling for $1200 (retail $3500).  I went, I tried it out, I walked away.  Yes I was tempted.  It was nice, but not enough nicer to splurge.  I would have had the lawn cut faster with it, but I find cutting the lawn sort of zen, so that is not a priority.  Instead, I will spend a small fraction of $1200 for a new battery for the old tractor, if it continues to have trouble holding a charge.

[Rezdent]

I think this was a wise decision.

[fishnfool]

I don't know, I think that Troy built sounds like a steal. I'd be thinking how much I can sell my old tractor mower for and jump on that deal. Yeah it seems like a chunk of money, but in the long run that brand is a top quality mower that will last you many more years. It doesn't sound like your old one has much life left in it.

[RetiredAt63]

@Fishnfool
I went fully expecting to be coming home with a new lawn tractor, even though I hope to be here only one more year (see my journal, BC is Calling Me).  My tractor is old but the mower is fairly new, very energetic, and I have two mechanics near me who can both do wonders with old tractors - an advantage of a farming area, everyone coaxes a longer life out of old equipment.  I found this one hard to drive - I am used to changing gears on my lawn tractor, not adjusting how hard I push the gas pedal (and yes, I know that is how we drive cars, but this was very stiff).  This one can't be backed up while the mower is running and in my yard I back up a fair bit.  I found it just as stiff to go from neutral to reverse or neutral to forward as my tractor is, so no improvement there.  It came with the grass baggers, which are a major nuisance when attaching and towing a garden trailer (I move a lot of soil).  I have actually taken them off my tractor.

And, re the selling - I asked and got a vague answer for mower width, never got an answer for HP, was told the price my friend told me was wrong ($1200 not $1000), and he had just cut all his yard so I couldn't really test it on longer grass.  I also found out later that he has trouble going over a hill (the blade scalps it at the drop), and I have a lot of hill thanks to my septic field.

So someone else can enjoy it, and I will keep on trucking with my old workhorse.