Hi John and welcome to Tractor Forum! :friends: :cheers: Great to have you aboard.
I don't own this particular machine. In general the Jinma line of tractors are good little tractors but you need to understand right up front that they do require a bit more maintenance and up keep as compared to other brands sold in the United Stated. (ie: leaks, head gaskets, adjustments, etc.) It is also a VERY good idea to immediately drain the Chinese factory lubricants and replace them with quality brands sold here in the states. The Chinese factory guys use the cheapest stuff they can and it is of poor quality.
Does this make them a bad machine? Certainly NOT. They are much more value priced and for the dollar spent, provided you can do the majority of the up keep and repairs yourself; they are good little tractors.
For owners who prefer not to "roll their own" with respect to maintenance and prefer a more established support and parts infrastructure; the more established brands may be the way to go.
hat having been said, we all end up working on our machines reguardless of brands at one time or another. Just be sure and make sure the dealer you buy from CAN and WILL provide you great customer and logistical support. I cannot emphasize this enough.
With respect to the choices you mention on tractor model; the 200LE is 2 wheel drive. Not always the best option especially if you are going to work on slopes and in areas that may require good traction. For run of the mill residential mowing on fairly level land, it should do fine.
The 204LE is 4 wheel drive which gives it a tremendous boost in traction and braking ability. This is CRITICAL on slopes and steep hills, not to mention muddy or soft areas. It will also give you a much better pulling ability.
Either model should be able to turn a 48 inch rotary cutter with 20 hp gross. My preference would go to the 204LE and if you can swing the extra cost; I would suggest the 254LE which is among the most popular and widely owned of these tractors as well as 5 extra hp.
I would strongly suggest that you demo all of these models and compare them to other competitive lines of tractors. A fair comparison would be a Jinma 254/284 with a John Deere 790 or a Kubota B7610 for example. Try to get a look at some of these tractors after the owners have put a 100 or so hours on them if possible. This is the best measure of how the tractor will perform and hold up in the long run.
Anyway, hope this was not "TMI" and was helpful in aiding you towards a tractor buying decision which is a VERY big step. Good luck and please feel free to post any other question that you may have that come to mind.
Here is a good link to give you some comparision and specification info. between the various Jinma models
Jinma Tractors
We also have a dealer that is a member here who posts from time to time. I am sure Chip will see this and provide a great reply.