Well I've owned Deere's and currently own one of the tractors, they aren't perfect no manufacturer is, however the dealer network, is certainly much stronger, and inventory I know for a fact on machine down parts have a certain criteria that must be stocked, I know this because I used to work for Deere and Company. My gut told me from the beginning to stick with Deere, but the suspension on the Ferris kind of made me want to go with that, I should have just rolled the 4 acres smoother and stuck with a company with a strong dealer network, and not one that abandoned theirs in Canada last year.
Just maybe Trump was right to do so. Darn near everyone knows that the quality of the metal and parts coming from China are inferior; but, alas they are cheaper due to labor costs. So, the issue becomes a Fram oil commercial, i.e. "You pay me now or you pay me later". Just maybe it's time to start making things back in in the U. S. of A. once again and start paying the American worker reasonable wages to do so. I may be wrong, but in the long run the overall costs to the consumer will probably be close to the same as buying from China. Just a thought . . . . .
BS, and I don't mean B&S. There is PLENTY of political blame to go around, especially where covid is concerned...so its best to keep this repair forum to repairs...