The original articulated rider was designed by Jonsored for Europe and it is a joy to work on although you rarely need to touch it because it was made so well .
All the little things like the 3 springs all have hook hoops to make them easy to remove
The substantial frame around the deck prevents the deck stoving in when you bash into something
The overlapping blades give a cut as good if not better than a drum blade machine
The out front heck makes it easy to see where you are cutting & easy to see obstacles on your lawn
The articulated steering works perfectly and never ever goes out of alignment
The wheel bearings never end up going floppy like all of the tractor front ends .
Deck flips up for blade replacement
No tool belt replacements & blade replacement only requires a single spanner for the spindle bolt .
Engine has clean access on 3 sides so is a pleasure to work on
Got 5 in my run & never ever had any problem with the transmission
Idlers all have replaceable bearings
True zero turn that does not rip up even the softest lawn
What the hell more would you want from a ride on mower ?
Down side is they were designed for lawns above the snow line so fine leafed grasses
They were also designed for lawn that were flat or only have gentle slopes
They were designed for slow growing grasses and have low capacity decks , even the ones with a rear catcher will get overwhelmed cutting anything more than 2"
To get it on & off your trailer you should flip up the deck and reverse it on
Instructions are printed on the inside of the plastic nose cone which has to be removed to get access to the deck rollers which are small so will get stuck on mesh ramps & trailer floors .
The external deck frame means that it can not cut any closer than 2.5" from a wall
Husqvarna introduced them into the USA where no one reads the owners manual so had a spate of legal suits due to idiots doing tight turns on slopes & rolling the mowers over, so existing stocks were dumped onto Australia followed by an Idiot proof redesign for idiots to use.
Thus there are 3 different series
the Pro-Riders ( for the rest of the world ) and the Rider-Pros for idiot Americans followed by the much larger & more expensive Flex series ( hoping that the more wealthy customers would actually RTFM or at least their wet back gardeners would )
Both USA designed series are cheapened to the nth degree so have idlers with fixed bearings, no spring hoops thinner plastic wear with screws rather than the original Dutz fasteners on body panels and a much bigger turning circle.
Original ones will turn around a 13 gallon drum
USA ones can not turn tight around a 44 gallon drum
Stiga do a similar mower caller the Park and it is their biggest seller .
In the EU there is also a 4WD version.
They are popular down here in the cooler south but because Husqvarna dumped them on us they were very cheap so there are a lot of them around
The only PIA job is replacing the control cables that all run in the central tunnel .
Older people & women seem to really love them because they are low to the ground & easy to swing your leg over
And yes the deck is noisy .
The level of wind noise varies with the style of blades used
If there is any noise other than wind rush then one of the blades has broken the shear pin .
The transmission is spring loaded to reverse so if the F-R cable breaks it will automatically go into reverse & stay there which at least allows you to get back to the shop.
And of course being articulated you have to DRAG it around not push
I pop a hold down strap either side of the deck and they usually pull really easy
When you have finished repairing it take it for a spin around your yard
A pure pleasure to mow with and because of the articulated out front deck design you can wiggle the deck between things too close to mow between.
Just do not try a tight turn at full speed although the US version goes slower & turns wider you can still flip them if you are not careful .
I will be surprised if you don't love it .
This is the one & only Husqvarna ride on I would recommend to my customers to buy