Don't buy John Deere riding mowers for home lawns -- some lack shear pins

Don't buy John Deere home & garden tractors for mowing unless you have a VERY smooth, grass-only lawn, with little chance of ever hitting anything substantial by accident.

They don't always bother with shear pins.

I have lots of paths and borders and uneven ground to work around, and lots of leaves in autumn. While riding my model 125 riding mower I hit a small tree stump (maybe 3 inches diameter and little higher than the blade) hidden under some leaves.

The blade bent -- $10.
The belt broke -- $20.
The idler pulley mangled -- $6.
The steel idler pulley bracket bent out of shape -- $66 plus some serious labor.
The steel deck itself bent out of shape so the blade on the left cuts lower on the left and higher on the right -- $??? (I'm putting up with a raggedy lawn because I assume the repair, if even possible, would be over $200.)

$302 of damage.

$302.00 or more of damage, not even including all the labor or shipping costs.

Instead of one single $0.25 shear pin (which is an old, old idea the designers at Deere are surely familiar with).

I advise all homeowners to avoid buying John Deere lawn and garden products.

Notes:
The riding mower was purchased new at Lowes in 2006.
Prices shown are estimates based on Google Shopping (froogle.com) searches made on 24 May 2011 . The part numbers are:
blade: GX22151
belt: GX20072
idler pulley: GY20629 OR GY20110
idler bracket repair kit: GY20718
whole new deck is available for $395: GY21027 OR GY20855