Back when I had 1.5ish acres to mow I bought a $300 old john deere on CL. 46" cut, that weird flat-2 engine. Had to charge the battery every month or two, and eventually it needed a $25 fuel pump and belt, but that's it for 3+ years of mowing.
Dad bought a shitty brand new JD from home depot and had nonstop problems with it. Head gasket, fuel pump, spindles all the time, and hydrostatic started making bad noises early, like 300? hours. LOL junk