It is sad..but who is
really to blame?
I don't blame the manufacturers, they are only providing what people want to buy..I blame the buying public.
If Ariens/Toro/Deere/MTD etc. *dont* offer a really cheap low-end tractor with plastic gears, the Chinese are happy to do it.
and Walmart/Home Depot/Lowes/Sears are happy to sell them..Which means Ariens/Toro/Deere/MTD etc. would lose a lot of money, and could potentially go out of business if they don't play the low-end game..and there is a LOT of money in that end of the lineup.
Because people want their cheap junk..
90% of buyers don't care about quality..they buy on price only.
If Ariens/Toro/Deere/MTD etc. made only better quality tractors with higher-quality metal gears, and they sold for $1,500 (im just making up numbers for the sake of the argument) and their $1,500 machines are sitting on the Walmart floor next to a $900 piece of junk from China..guess which one sells 9 times out 10?
And, to be fair to the manufacturers, im sure they *Do* say clearly in the owners manuals for these low-end machines are meant to be used to for mowing *only*..they cant tow anything, or plow snow, or do anything except mow..but then do owners push them beyond those limits? of course they do..because they expect the low-end machine they bought to do anything..because that was actually the case 40 and 50 years ago..the bottom-of-the-line tractor in the 60's was still a very robust and quality machine..but no longer..because why? because people demand cheap junk. The manufacturers often must provide it if they want to stay in business.
I blame the buyer for buying a machine based only on price..should have done more research first.
Those buyers are the reason the plastic transmission gears exist in the first place.
I have been mowing the lawn for seven summers now with my $250 1964 Wheel Horse:
53 years old, and working fine.
I bought it on purpose because I knew what it was and what it could still do, even at half a century old.
that's quality!
Scot