That's only 2 years, that's nothing. I want to see how many hold up or have problems by the time they are at least 25 years old. They are still too new yet to proove themselves.
I don't care if they sell over ten million, that doesn't say if they are as good or will last as long as the old ones.They haven't been tested long enough yet. It doesn't say anything as to how many they sell, just that they sell a lot of equipment, nothing more.
You also have a lot more parts to go bad inside of them like the steering clutch dogs, how long before they wear out and jump out of gear or start slipping under a load? And when they do, do you know what that's going to cost to replace? Especially after the warranty runs out?
When you have the experience that I and many others have, then you can tell us how they are perfect, trouble-free and will never break down and last for well over 25 years at least without a problem.
They are still too new yet and Hydro-Gear does not have a very good reputation for longevity in the commercial and homeowner market as some of the other manufacturers have.
Where you are from, I don't think you have lawn equipment that has the hours on them like we have, to really get to see how the Hydro-Gear units perform and how long they last. We have many customers who have well over 10,000 hours on their equipment and some much higher, so they expect something to be built to last, and they end up getting rid of equipment that is Hydro-Gear equipped because they don't last as long as other drive/power-train equipped units do. They get upset when they have to bring them in for repairs and replacements all the time, and the machine is down and not making them money, it is costing them money instead, for repairs due to failure of the Hydro-Gear drive/power-train.
Our first Honda dealership opened back in '61, our second around '64, with motorcycle, ATV, power equipment and marine, so I have been around Honda for a couple of years now, besides all the other brands we sell and service.