The one I looked at was a beast. I ended up buying it at a nice price-- which is hard to do in KY, mowers are the price of gold in the middle of cutting season. I don't know where you guys live, but offering $300 would not just get me a laugh in the face, but probably a kick in the [censored] on the way out. But I didn't pay much more than that. 50" cut, solid half-box (or rolled C-channel) frame, cast iron front axle, it's made to mow, everything was good. That's where the fun ended.
Now please laugh with me on this, not at me. I don't frequent BITOG often because of the bad attitude many people portray-- I planned on unloading it on a steep hillside by the road where I could use short ramps, as it was in the back of my pickup. In the midst of it, my annoying neighbor came over and suggested another spot. My mind was focused on keeping my young son out of the way of the truck while I moved it, and in the process of going up a slight hill, the mower rolled backward and fell out of the back of the truck. Never thought to close the tailgate, I was rushing everything because sun was going down, and my thought was the parking brake would hold it okay. Bad decision. The mower landed on its back end and did a sort of flip upside down, which I quickly turned it back over. Luckily I had the deck taken off (needed to fit it in my truck) and the only damage I was able the ascertain in the few minutes I had was bent sheetmetal on the front end (hood cover) and it caused the seat to slide forward (it's adjustable) to the max. It landed right on the fuel tank cap, but surprisingly the plastic tank held up well and everything looks good when I did a quick look around.
Long story short, I put the deck back on and started mowing as a quick test and nothing seems out of the ordinary. There is a deck support on the rear that is bent about 90 degrees, such that I can't put the bar on it. But it's a removable support that I can take to work and bend back with a torch before I start mowing with it, and with luck all will be fine. I'll keep you folks updated on how it does, hopefully it's no worse for the wear. I'm sure I'm not the only person to do such a dumb move; mistakes happen, you can only learn from them.