Joelk, I don't think many members will have what you are looking for on here. Have you tried MTF to see if anyone could help you over there. Cub Cadet struggled to build a good garden tractor and didn't last long in the scut market. Sorry but that is my view on them.

From all the links I've read, I don't think it matters how hard you use it. Just THAT you use it.

If you like it, keep it. When it breaks, deal with it then. I for one wouldn't own something that had a bad reputation of failure for the simple fact that I don't want to deal with it.

Any update on how the tractor has performed for?

After addressing some issues my 5252 had when I got it, I have had good results with it.

Good enough that when I found another one, at what I though was a reasonable price, I bought another one.

I also considered the poor reputation that the 5252s have and thought I might need to have two of them to have enough parts to keep one running at some time in the future.

I really like having a FEL. I never had one before and have found a lot of uses for it.

I also like the way it mows and did not want to mow with FEL attached or deal with D&R of FEL all the time(although the FEL is easy to D&R). My plan is to use my first 5252 exclusively as FEL and my second 5252 as a mower.

My 5252 mows about the same as my GT3200 with a 60" deck, but I like the ROPS on the 5252 and it seems to get better traction. I have a steep bank to mow and appreciate the extra traction and ROPS.

This is good to hear. Thanks for the update. Always good to have direct experiences shared.