Zero Turn: John Deere Z345M or ARIENS Edge 42

I have the Z335E and have zero complaints about it. I got the mulch kit and am very thankful I did so. The regular maintenance is a breeze as well. You can also buy the pedal attachment to raise the deck. That and the mulch kit are easy to install yourself.

Do yourself a favor and buy from a John Deere dealer instead of big box store if you go that route. The ones from a dealer are a higher quality that will make a difference in the long run. If you do routine maintenance on it, it will last a very long time.

In my area the Z345M is cheaper at the JD dealer than at Home Depot. You could go up to the Z345R for the same price at the Z345M at HD and that comes with the foot pedal and rubber foot mats or you could jump up to the Z355M which is just the 48" version of the Z345M also for the same price.

I've decided 4 times already which one I'm getting....gone back and forth.

It seems like a 22HP John Deere would be awesome. I can add the foot lift and start wearing all kinds of John Deere hats unironically.

The apparent quality of the Ariens (just from visual inspection and comparison) has just got me second guessing.

I wouldn't say the john deere i have is any kind of pinnacle of hand built craftsmanship or anything like that. Its just a reliable reasonably priced lawn mower that cuts my 3 acres really fast. I've ran it over ropes, an old hammer some a-hole threw in my yard, I never pick up sticks unless I can't pass the mower over them. I treat it like a bush hog and I've only changed blades and a belt in 100 hrs.

I do like the foot pedal a lot, but its only really necessary if your yard is uneven, has tree roots etc. For a smooth nice lawn it would be largely unused.

I have an Ariens Ikon. Been good enough for me. But it's the only ZTR I've owned so I can't compare well with others.

It doesn't handle hills very well, but I believe that is typical of ZTRs.

Ariens all day. Have IKON XD. The deck is worth getting over JD alone.