I had a 129 with 44 inch deck for 10-12 years. It was actually good on gas for how much ground it could cover. And with the hydro I'd creep into tall weeds and brush and mow places you wouldn't think a lawn mower would go. You would think my 982 and 50C deck would be a bigger version of the 129 but actually it struggles sometimes. I over-seeded the BACK 40 about 10 years ago, mixed 5 pounds of grass seed with a hopper of fertilizer the fall before when I fertilized. I didn't realize it till I mowed one day the following summer about a month after the last mow. The new seeding grass was as tall as the frt tires on the 982, that's 18 INCHES! I was creeping along, no weeds, just lots of great Fescue and that 20 hp Onan was struggling, then I noticed a blue haze blowing out the grill, I first thought it was exhaust smoke but then realized it was smoke from the mule drive belt slipping, I backed off to only half a mower swath after that. The TANK zero turn with the 54 inch deck and 27 hp Kawasaki has a big enough discharge chute it spreads a even blanket of clippings over the 54 inches of the last swath. No way the 44 or 50 inch IH decks compare to the 54 inch fabricated deck on the TANK.