further comment: after the fuse is checked, examine the wires that power the solenoid clutch. These are located right next to the drive belts and sometimes can be tagged by the belt flexing.

I would recommend looking at a ZTR, they are coming on strong now, and there are some good ones for around the $4000 range. In the $3000 range, you just get consumer quality and they don't last. For that much ground, look at a commercial grade. Do a search and look at all that has been discussed in the past year on this topic.

I'd see about hiring everything I could initially because after it's done, you're stuck with expensive toys that you've used only a couple of times. Maybe you can buy used box graders, etc. and resell after you're done. If you buy new then resell to "recapture equity" you're going to lose a lot of $$. Also, you might need a bigger tractor initially which is also more $$. After you've got the initial "ground breaking" done what you need/want in a tractor will be pretty evident. You said "horses" as in plural and "5 acres." You've touched on a pet peeve of mine. City folks buy a "country estate" so they can have horses. Horses need to run, with 5 acres, subtract out the area for the house, lawn, driveway, horse barn, and equipment shed/barn, maybe a garden and what do you have left, 3 acres? Not a lot of room for a horse, singular, never mind plural. With three acres one horse will have it grazed down to nothing within the first month, you'll be feeding hay all year round, and hay is for getting livestock through the winter, not a year round diet. Not being mean or trying to destroy anyone's dreams, but around here I see a lot of 3-5 acre estates with a horse or two in a "too small" area which they've grazed off and this time of year the whole thing is a mud hole. You also mentioned hauling manure, in a cart or are you going to get a spreader? Bigger tractor and even the small spreaders are pricey and don't work very well. You also mention hauling hay, square bales or round? Round bales you need a decent sized farm tractor which doesn't really lend itself to pedestrian stuff like mowing the yard and plowing snow in the driveway. A budget was mentioned by knuttle, look at that aspect very carefully, from experience, you're looking at spending a lot of money, even if you significantly decrease the description you initially posted. I have a farm with large and small tractors and appropriate equipment for each. e.g. There's a 65HP JD diesel with a rear mounted blade, very useful for coarse leveling. To plow the driveway, I have a 26HP GT, weights, chains, and front mounted blade. The big tractor would deposit all the gravel on the side of the drive in the lawn. I honestly wish you well, just carefully evaluate your finances and what you really want to do. 5 acres sounds like a lot, but as soon as you bring any livestock into the equation, it's way too small. Good luck, Ev

My wife bought me a Craftsman lawn series tractor for Father's Day, 20 hp, 42" cut. It broke after just a few uses and I realized it was going to be an ongoing issue so I took it back to Sears. The deck is plastic and the blades are very weak. Sears was pretty good about the return. At first I was threatened with a 15% restocking fee but they eventually gave me a full refund. With my lawn half mowed and fall approaching (we have lots of leaves to contend with) I was on a mission to find a replacement for around $1,500. I went and looked at models at every big box and mom and pop shop and scrounged around on the internet reading loads of reviews. I concluded the entry level JD, and Cub Cadets are all junk and the companies should be ashamed for selling this stuff. They both make good machines but you need to spend about $2,500 or more to get into something quality that will stand the test of time. My search came down to two models, the Husqvarna 2246LS (22 hp and 46") for $2,000 and the Snapper LT-100 (23 hp and 46")for $1,800. I ended up going with the Snapper because Sears sells it and they will do 0% financing for 12 months. Plus they did me right on the return of the other one. I also got $100 off as the tractor had a small split on the seat. Husq. has a financing program, but it is kind of a scam, the paperwork for the financing ends up costing you about $100 and you have to pay 5.9% interest (I think that was the rate). Granted I just brought it home and have only used it once, but so far I am thrilled with it. The deck is 12 ga. steel and very sturdy. The twin motor is much quieter than the other one was. The cut is very smooth and the machine has all kinds of power. I am sure it will have no problem pulling a lawn sweeper, aerator, or dethatcher. I know there is a lot of talk about this not really being a Snapper, recent changes at the company, new ownership, it is a low end knock off unit, blah-blah, but for the price, this in my opinion is the best thing out there. For a few hundred more you can go from a machine that may last you a handful of years to one that should very well last many years with little maintenance.