MTD Lawn Tractors and Garden Tractors: What's the Difference?

You may have considered indulging yourself with a major upgrade if you're in the market for a new lawn mower. Maybe your head has been turned by the MTD brand of serious lawn and garden equipment

Is my lawn big enough for a riding tractor, or do I just stick to the conventional walk-behind mower?

The general rule of thumb is that if your lawn exceeds 100 ft. sq., then it might be worth it to consider the time saving investment of a riding tractor. A riding mower might be more than you need if your lawn is any smaller, but there's no law against opting for the easy chair if the idea of shaded, derby-style mowing is just too tempting.

MTD riding tractors come in two varieties: "lawn tractors" and "garden tractors," but what's the difference?

The biggest difference between lawn and garden tractors is size:

• Lawn tractors are designed for smaller acreage and lighter-duty mowing needs that don't require extra horsepower or heavy-duty mower construction.
• Garden tractors, on the other hand, are bigger all around, with larger wheels, more horsepower, heavier frames and transmissions, and are made for large acreage jobs and high torque applications.

The more specific differences between MTD lawn tractors and MTD garden tractors have to do with attachment options.

• Lawn tractors can use work attachments that do not engage the soil, like dozer blades, grass catchers, mulch kits, snowblowers, and tow-behind assemblies.

• Garden tractors can use all of the attachments that lawn tractors can, plus attachments that engage the soil. This is because attachments like tillers, plows, harrows, and cultivators need the extra power that garden tractors offer.

So really, the choice between garden tractors and lawn tractors comes down to what kind of work you need the machine to do.

When it comes to attachments though, the varieties that MTD offers do not stop at those we've mentioned here by any means. Other accessories include things like:

• tire chains
• grass collection systems
• ramps
• tow-behind carts
• sunshades
• and more

Some patented MTD riding tractor options actually affect the compatibility of some types of attachments. Many models of MTD tractors include their special AutoDrive™ system that makes driving a tractor much like driving a car.

Attachments for MTD AutoDrive™ models are made for fast installation by virtue of another patented design feature, FastAttach™, which makes attachments changeable without tools.