Well, I will now throw in my .02 on this once again. I have a two yr old Z-two 60" 25 Kaw, and have not had one second of problems with it mechanically. I also know of at least five other units same story. I will grant lightning that yes at first I did gouge a few, but I figured out how to avoid that with experience on the mower. I have mowed props from 3/4 acre to over 10acres and have been pleased on all. In my opinion this mower does an excellent job of not scalping uneven yards and has been extremely reliable. Although I changed my oil and filter every 25 hours for the first 100hrs, and than as needed. Blades take about 15 min to change and greasing takes about another 15 min. Yes, clean off the fans about every 2 hours of cutting or after every prop. Also get plenty of foam prefilters and change every day. I payed $6200 for mine and got a Kaw trimmer thrown in the deal (@$400). My service center has a mech on duty and he has helped me on several occasions (water in fuel, safety switch knocked off after washing) for no charge. I would buy another one in a heartbeat if I needed it, and know of at least 5 other solo operators with same feelings. Compare the deck, eng and hydros to other models and see if the equip is substandard. I don't care who makes it or where it is manufactured, I care about the quality of components. A GM 350 is the same as A Chevy 350 engine, but one costs more. Anyway I like my Lesco, and I'm sure there are better machines out there, but for this solo operator, at that price and the service I've gotten out of it, you can't beat it. Also to the guy who mentioned the suspension seat, I saw a suspension seat on the Cub Cadet site for their Tanks, I am going to stop by and see if the seats mount the same and if so, I will probably get one, that would sure help me out as I cut a few props with long runs and it would be nice to not bounce.
Reg