One thing that I'll say, since I own both....
I have a Home Depot "special" LT1045, and it is a great
LAWN TRACTOR. It is in no way comparable or should be compared to a GT. I had my LT for about a year then I got my GT2544. Now the GT and the LT are totally different machines. When I got my '09 GT I had no clue about "old iron" then I got educated.
Now is the '09 the same as an IH GT? No, but I do think that MTD is making steps to put out a better machine. A few years ago they switched back to a cast iron rear, no, it's not the IH rear, but it's better than aluminum... Yes, there's a lot of plastic, but there's still a shaft driven transmission. I do think and I know several die hard JD fans agree that for the money CC's 25XX series is by far the most capable NEW GT on the market today. I've plowed gardens with it, pushed snow like crazy, mow about 10 acres a week and I love it. I also can't wait to love what I'm going to be able to do with my 127 once I get it back together. I've been reading all these posts time and time again and I really want to see side by side what an "old muscle car GT" can do against a new one.
I was and still am in awe of my 'O' and 127. The 127 just looks "heavy" sitting there.
Hopefully more and more guys will get new machines and get interested and learn to respect and want something more. I know I do...