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We all know that they are not the best made mowers, since they mostly target lower priced, consumer products. MTD makes a LOT of different brands ,too. Comparing MTD makes of lawn tractors, let's say with 42-48" decks , rate the current name branded from BEST to WORST, in quality.

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Easy without risking a lible suit.
List them from top to bottom in RRP order
That will be close enough.
You never get more than you pay for

The best brand would be the one you can buy at a servicing dealer. For me that's Cub Cadet

bertsmobile1 said:

Easy without risking a lible suit.
List them from top to bottom in RRP order
That will be close enough.
You never get more than you pay for

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I don’t understand your reply.

Charlie8d said:

I don’t understand your reply.

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I think he is taking round about way of saying they are all the same so just pick one by price point

I am not going to say that X is worse than Y because both X & Y have lawyers on tap .
Next it can be pot luck and you will get a Y that is better than X .
When you start a process, say pressing bodies, the first few will all be of poor quality till everything warms up .
These are usually scrap but some factories will put them aside for "cheaper" brands because on paper they are written off as process scrap .
When you fit a new set of dies to a press, they have to be broken in .
You do this by running thinner sheet through them which again is written off as process scrap but can be set aside for a lesser quality brand .
Once the dies are broken in then you make your premium product with the full thickness sheet till the dies start to wear , then you go to thinner steel and thinner steel & thinner steel .
The thinner the steel the cheaper the product and the shorter the service life.

I see a lot of stuff out of the AYP factory ( Husqvarna ) that are substantially inferriour to stuff out of the MTD factory .

Now to further muddy the waters , each brand from each factory have a range in both price & quality so it is not a case of saying all Cut Quick branded mowers will be better than all Cut Fast mowers, it just does not work like that .

However mowers are not made by the elves working for free & assembling them from pixie dust .
The difference in manufacturing cost between the top price & the lowest price is quite small .
Now some of the smaller volume brands will do things like fit surplus engines that they get for knock down prices and the same with the trannies so you can get this years bottom price mower that has last years top shelf components .

So you can not write a list as you asked.
But the best guide to quality of seemingly identical mowers is the recommended retail price ( RRP) which negates the discounts volume dealers get & pass on to the customers.
The next best way to rank them is to walk into the dealers showroom and note the models on sale then walk into shops where the only thing they advertise is lowest price or biggest discount .
The mowers that are in these joints are the BOTOM end models of each brand.
The dealers usually will have the same models , they are the ones to avoid .
Also there is also BS advertising .
"Cheapest price or we will discount a further X % " so these retailers use exclusive branding so they can claim that an identical specification mower painted a different colour or with different decals on it that is $ 100 cheaper is not the same mower .

Add to that the exact same mower can have different branding depending upon where it gets sold
I have just serviced a YardMachine ride on , but the parts were listed as Ryobi

Good post, Bert.
If I wanted to buy a new riding mower...I'd buy a 1980s - 1990s garden tractor with minor problems and fix it.

I really don't see the reluctance of posters to answer my specific. question. You can go online & see reviews of different cars, appliances, computers, etc., etc., everywhere. I can't see lawyers lurking in the background wanting to sue someone who states their experiences with different brands of mowers.
A lady friend, who is on a budget, is looking at mowers & is totally confused. I offered to help check the MTD line out for her.

I wouldn't go for anything less than a Cub Cadet XT2 46 inch deck. It has several advantages over the 42 inch like electric blade engagement and a bigger Kawasaki engine. You'll like having the Kawasaki engine as well as front wheel bearings instead of bushings that come on less expensive mowers. The CC XT2 46 is a good compromise between price and quality. If budget allows I would definitely look at a John Deere x380. That's what I would get if I had it to do over again. I don't recommend Husqvarna.

Charlie, the guys you’re talking about are part of the heart and soul of the service industry. They have a reputation to protect and aren’t going to jeopardize their relationships with companies or lawyers. You referenced the auto industry, so why not do the same with the Landscaping industry. If you can’t find an answer to your question online the same way, there might be a reason for that. These guys CYA the same way company’s do, so stop your negative comments.

I can't see ANYTHING negative in Charlie8d's comments. He's just trying to get some information about mowers.

Look, you can go with one of the well known brands from a reputable dealer and generally be very happy. You can go to a bog-box store, or Walmart or a million other places and buy the brands they are selling. Chances are all those brands at these types of stores are made by MTD. If you take the first route, you'll get what you overpay for, the latter right will get you less than you overpaid for, but cheaper. Find a good named used mower and get what you pay for.

You might not see anything negative, but he’s complaining that service individuals don’t want to provide the info he wants. If you don’t like the answer, don’t ask the question. If the DYI guy wants to answer, that’s their choice, but as I said reputable industry people are not about to put themselves in that position.

Charlie8d said:

I really don't see the reluctance of posters to answer my specific. question. You can go online & see reviews of different cars, appliances, computers, etc., etc., everywhere. I can't see lawyers lurking in the background wanting to sue someone who states their experiences with different brands of mowers.
A lady friend, who is on a budget, is looking at mowers & is totally confused. I offered to help check the MTD line out for her.

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Well you are going about it in the absolute wrong way.
There is no such thing as the "BEST " or "WORST" mower from any brand .
And if there was it would make no difference because if you were a real friend then you would looking for the "RIGHT" mower for her.
And the RIGHT mower is the one she can drive comfortably, is a size suitable for her yard with a blade system suitable for the type of grass she has growing in her lawn . Then there is the question of what else is she likely to use the mower for .
So if you really want to help her then provide the information that would allow the people on here to make a sound suggestion as what would be suitable.
And don't forget the actual budget.
In reality if she is spending less than $ 3000 the just choose the colour she likes best as the difference between any of them regardless of the maker is minimal.
They are all build down to a price with a service life of around 5 years depending upon the amount of maintenance done ,

The comment I made was NOT negative. It was an honest question to something I didn't understand. We live in a very rural area & wanted to save both of us some time in travel & shopping. I am a disabled vet & her friend, no matter what you might think, B !

Thank you " F" for the recommendation of the CC XT2. Someone else [ not from here ] mentioned the XT2 in 42" . I looked up both & will forward the info to her. John Deere is OUT due to the horrible service/attitude from a couple of dealers, that are the closest.