John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower (Model # BG20444) Review

My husband has ALWAYS wanted a riding lawn mower.  I mean, what man doesn't want to mow the lawn while sitting down?  Unfortunately, we never had the money to purchase a riding lawn mower on our own.  Most models cost $ 1,000.00 or more, and if you want to own a John Deere, it can cost a lot more. 

What would I do without my parents?  They own a home with a very large lawn and they purchased their John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower a few years ago.  When they were ready to upgrade and buy a new riding lawn mower, they gave us this one.  For Free!  We love it!  It is my  husband's cherished possession, and he treats it and cares for it like it is a sports car. 

What makes the John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower so great?  There are a lot of things that makes this riding lawn mower special.  In fact, it is much more than just a riding lawn mower.  It is actually a riding lawn TRACTOR.  The difference between the two is that with a lawn tractor you have the option of attaching different things to the back.  If you wanted to, you can pull a bagger or a tiller or any number of different things off the back of the lawn tractor.  It's a simple matter of hooking it up and dragging it behind.

It is SO EASY to cut the lawn with the John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower (Tractor).  Even if the grass is really tall, this lawn mower just glides right over the grass and weeds and cuts it to a short even level.  What used to take my husband almost an entire day to mow, now only takes him an hour at the most.  Having the ability to sit and ride on the mower has really taken a lot of stress of my husband's knees.  He had knee surgery several years ago, and since that time cutting the lawn has been very painful for him.  Now, he can get the job done without all the pain and stress that he felt before.

I really like the safety feature that makes the motor completely shut off if you get off the seat.  How cool is that?  If you lift yourself off the seat, the motor will automatically shut itself.  While that may sound a bit annoying, it is actually for your own protection and a very good idea.  Imagine if you became overheated and fainted while you were cutting the grass.  With this safety feature, you would remain completely unharmed as the engine would stop itself to protect you.  With the blazing North Carolina heat that is horrible to deal with in the summer, I feel safe knowing my husband won't somehow get ran over accidentally by the mower.

With one push of a lever, you can change direction to forward or reverse.  It's easy to turn, easy to maneuver around things in the yard, and if you get stuck....you just push it into reverse and back out safely.  There is no delay between gears.  It may jump a bit when you put it back into forward gear, but it's completely tolerable.

If you are cutting the lawn at dusk, and it suddenly becomes dark, you don't have to stop cutting the grass with the John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower (Tractor).  A headlight is located at the front of the mower, which will help illuminate the area fairly brightly right in front of you.  You may not get as good as a "cut job", but you will have enough light to finish what you started. 

The John Deere 42" Riding Lawn Mower (Tractor), obviously, runs on gas.  It doesn't have an extremely big gas tank and we usually have to fill it up every two times we mow the lawn.  Typically, we do not have to add more than $ 5.00 of gas at a time, so it's not what I would call a gas hog.  It doesn't cost a lot to maintain it either.  When my husband is done mowing the lawn, he rinses off the bottom of the mower where grass tends to become stuck, and that is about all he has to do. 

We don't have a garage or a shed to keep it stored, so we have to cover it with a large waterproof tarp.  Although it is still exposed to the elements, it does remain covered.  Even though it is not kept inside, it still has not rusted!  The tarp does keep it out of the rain, but I would still expect to see some form of wear and tear on a mower that is left outside.  Not with this one!  This is a really good, dependable lawn mower that I think we are lucky to have.

Bottom Line -  I highly recommend this riding lawn mower!  John Deere is # 1 in tractor equipment for a reason.  Mainly, because it is durable and dependable.  It may cost a little more to own a John Deere, but you are paying for a high quality piece of equipment that you will have to do virtually nothing to keep up.  My parents used this mower for a few years before they gave it to us, and it was still in like-new condition then.  Even after owning it for about a year on our own, it is still in excellent condition.