I don't think you can go wrong with a Deere....you just may pay more (I may be slightly biased because I grew up in Deere town). I have heard the mowers with the Kawasaki motors in them tend to be more reliable.

I have had an old standard Craftsman riding mower that I bought from my in laws and it does the job, but their's nothing fancy about it.

My Dad has had a Troy Bilt for 10 years and never had any problems with it...

Really, I think mowers are somewhat similiar to cars as long as you take care of them and perform general maintenance, they should all last a long time. If I were you I would just get on CL and find a cheap riding mower for a couple hundred bucks....then put the savings into the 2gnt. When it comes down to it, it's just a mower...my two cents...

My neighbor has about half an acre and bought a zero turn radius mower brand new (can't remember brand) for like $4,000 and I was like, why?