Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Hydro or not ??

I currently have a hydro lawn tractor, That i have had lots of problems with. Thinking of buying a new tractor but am a little gun shy on the hydros. Thinking of a fender shift. I guess i need some opinions on this buy . Hydro or gear.

Thanks for any opinions. :wall:

Hydro's Are Nice.. They Cut Down On Cut Time For The Easy Of Shifting... Hilly Terrain And A Big Guy Can Play Hell On The Small
Ones... Cubs Hold Up Pretty Good And The Craftsmans Are A Little Shakey... It All Amounts To Why You Got 1 In The First Place.. Tuff To Decide...

I personally would pick a hydro every time. They seem to have a lot less trouble and are so much easier to use. I like fender control. For the record, I've never had to replace a craftsman hydro in all my years working on lawn equipment. I was even a sears lawn equipment service man for a while. I have replaced and repiared several of their standard shift trannies through the years though.

I'd have to agree with Cheese, even in my short time doing lawn equipment repair, I have worked on several gear drives, some not worth repairing, however not one hydro unit.
I have one rider Powerkraft with a hydro drive. I aquired it from one of my customers, this fella is 6'5" 300+ lbs, had unhooked the reverse safety switch and only knew fwd and rev at full throttle, never touched the brake at all. Well the drive literally ripped itself out of the frame from all the torque. The frame is toast but the drive still gets it on and that 15HP Tec is an iron horse :D