Just a quick update to my thoughts on the new mower after the first day of mowing with it this morning. We have 3 adjoining lots now that I mow that are close to 2.5 acres. About half is wooded with many sticks and roots to mow over and crap to mow around, the other half is open field, but hilly. The 46" cut old garden tractor I mentioned hydro-tranny went out many years ago, and I have been using a cheap 38" cut riding mower since, but when we acquired the extra 2 lots in 2013, that cheap mower became less than adequate, but it got the job done although it took awhile. It was not unusual to spend 3 hours or more bouncing around on that thing every week. I even bought a 5’ rear finish mower for the tractor, but due to the obstacles in the yards, I was still forced to use the rider, so I seldom used it if I had to change attachments and just spent extra time on the rider.
So, today I mowed all three lots and went from 0 to 1.6 hours on the Husqvarna hour meter when I finished. I took me an hour and 45 minutes from the time I walked out the door and back into the AC this morning. So this has about cut my mowing time in half. So that is a definite big plus for me.
Operating the YTA24V48 took a little getting used to as I have never had a foot operated transmission like the General Transmission R800 before. While this does have a clutch & brake on the left side like I am used to, it gets used very little. I’m still getting used to not having to look down to find which peddle I need to mash. Overall, the speed and ease of use for the transmission is another plus. The mower also has a cruise control, so I do not have to hold the Go peddle down with my foot continuously. I should also mention, this thing will move along at a darn faster ground speed than any mower I have been on before, but only if you want to. Speed is very easy to control and it will happily creep along in old man speed also. If I stop on a hill, just releasing the right Go peddle will not stop the machine and requires the use of the left brake peddle. I have read other reviews that complained of the slow reverse speed which is about half of what top speed is in forward. I don’t think that will bother me much as I do not mow backwards much and until I get a little more used to this, the slower reverse is just fine with me.
The deck throws out dew wet grass at least as far as the deck is wide, so I did not have any windrows to steer by on my next pass like the little rider used to do.
Ride comfort was very little improved over the other mower, but a big plus for the retractable arm rests this Husqvarna has, as I am no longer sliding off sideways across the seat on steep hillsides when mowing. That other mower seat was slick as deer guts on a doorknob. Bigger tires could improve the ride over bumps in the ground I think.
This new mower also has a very tight turning radius advertised at 16”. My 38” mower would barely cut around our brick boarder in the grass around a Pin Oak in the front yard that is about 6 feet diameter. That helps to cut mowing time also, by not having to back up to turn tighter.
I have ordered a Husqvarna front brush guard/bumper to add to this as, all my other mowers and tractors that I have owned have had some kind of either homemade or factory bumper in front to protect the sheet metal and my superior driving skills facade. We are also thinking about buying/adding the bagger attachment. It sure is nice in the Fall, to mow up the leaves instead of raking them by hand.
I ended up with mine going faster in reverse than forward. However, the forward speed is faster than I'll ever mow, so I'm leaving it as it is. Instructions? Heck, I don't need no instructions 
