Mike,
I went with the LX5 for two reasons, price and I thought it might cut grass a little better. For the first 3 months I had it, I used it as an RFM (I actually mounted gage wheels on the front of it!). The Deere brochures gave me the impression that the LX was better for 'fine cut' applications. Now that I have a real RFM, I wish I had the MX5 just to hold true to the 'bigger, better, faster' rule, but I have to admit that for what I cut the LX is great (I don't have any 4" alder to cut!)
The umbrella is square, so the front corners do catch branches pretty well, but it is built so strong it will bend fairly good size oaks without complaint. The rear edge is in line with the ROPS, so you can back into branchespretty much at will. I like the umbrella so much that anything that gets in its way gets a visit from my chainsaw before long.
The eReverser is really great, and it is just a hoot to run a tractor up through the gears in high range! My main problem with it for mowing is that the gear ratios are not well spread. I get 2.6 and 2.8 mph, and then all the way to 4.0 mph. Nothing in the 3's, which with my heavy Bahia would really be useful. With a 72" RFM, 4 is a little too fast in the summer when it is really growing, but 2.8 is like watching paint dry. I had 2 hydros before this, so I thought I would try something different. I do think the eReverser is a lot more efficient. This thing feels more like a small dozer than any comparable hydro I have ever used. I had a New Holland hydro previously, and the slow reverse speeds drove me crazy.
Is it a big chore to put the 47 hoe on and off, or do you just leave it on most of the time. I mow at least once a week during the summer and I store the tractor without any attachments on the back, so changing it could be a problem for me. (but I'm still going to save my lunch money to get one /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif)
