Let's talk riding lawnmowers for a minute

[d90boy]

I'm using a JD 4310 with a 72" Bush Hog finish mower but I've got a little more to mow. For that size I'd have to look at that new JD 355D, keep it all diesel!

 

[QRTRHRS]

Okay, here's the deal. I did look at both the Cub Cadet Tank and the Wood's today. The Tank has a nice comfy seat and the position is excellant with lots of leg room. Almost like an easy chair. The Woods does not seat as comfortably. However, the Woods has the flip up mower deck so service/cleaning is a breeze. The engine is covered by a hood. The whole hood/seat flips up so it is real easy to service. It has a 61" deck and a Briggs 23 hp V. The dealer will sell me the Woods for 8800. The Kohler would be another 500 bucks and a Kuboto diesel maybe another 2500. I don't necessarily want a Briggs but in all honesty, the 19 hp on my Scott's mower has been going strong with minimal maint for five years. Does that price sound fair enough? Keep in mind these guys will meet me on an off day if I need a part.

 

[smartineau]

Andy,



I have a JD LX176, they made the last of the model in 1998?



$2900 seems high, but I like it, I may be selling mine in a few months if I get a bigger piece of land, so I hope they are worth $2900. As I recall I paid $3000. bagger and all.



The hydrostatic is worth the $$$ IMO.



It is a lighter duty model that is great for finished lawns and not real rough land.



I could get the 38" or 42" mower decks and the salesman said that with the 14HP go 38" and it will be a nicer cut and bag better. I have been happy so far.



steve

 

[juicedcummins]

For the last 2 years I've run a Crafstman 42inch cut, with a 21 hp Briggs. The hydrostatic works well and it has the cast front end. This model also has a real tank under the seat [were it should be] and it holds around 4 gals.

So far I've only had to bomb the airbox and ad another spring to the drive belt to make the hydro earn it's keep.

Now it's a great mower thats cuts as good as any other out there.

 

[Ncostello]

There's only really one zero turn mower and thats a Dixie Chopper. But maybe that's because I'm from Indiana.



On a serious note... if all your mowing is 1. 33 acres I wouldn't spend big bucks on a ZTR mower. Especially if your not sure if your going to stay there. Thats not too much to cut really and any brand name rider with a 40" or so deck will work fine.



I'm as guilty as anyone who has "fun" cutting the lawn. I love to play with my tractors and probably spend too much time and money doing it. I'm a collector of 1960's Cub Cadets... only the ones produced by IH up until 1982. But if all your doing is cutting grass to get a job done... I've seen folks go to Rural King and buy a 44" 16HP Ranchking for $1600 and do the job fine for years and years. Its all in the maintenance. I on the otherhand spend too much time worring about the tractors than cutting the grass.



Nobody is worse on lawnmowers than my dad. Very nice home, nice autos, nice yard... takes perfect care of all that. But the mower (newer Cub Cadet) hasn't had decent maintenance since day one. For the life of me I cant figure why he wont take care of it. It cost a fortune... leaves it outside even though he has a decent sized garage, wont change the oil, wont sharpen blades, wont grease it, wont clean it. Hoods faded, seats ripped, battery's corroded, grass floatin in the gas tank etc. He once had a blowout on the hillside in the fall and left it there. Later in the winter I asked how that big pile of snow ended up on the hill. It was his mower buried!! Froze up all the moving parts with rust and the steering wouldn't budge. I spent a week making it new again and installed alot of new parts. He promised he'd do better. All that meant was throwing a clear plastic sheet over it after use.



Take care of a Ranchking, White, Craftsman etc and it will do the job for you while saving literally thousands.

 

[lschultz]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/index.php has a lot of info about tractors,mowers,etc. Now I have a Cub Cadet 2146 38",a Lawnboy 21" I bought from Lowes several years ago and I just bought a Kubota BX1800 54" cut. That is one fine cutting machine makes the Cub seem like a antique. The BX does not even bog down on tall grass and being a 3 cyl. diesel it don't use much fuel.



Heres another one tractorpoint.com

http://www.jplan.com/gji-bin/tractor/summary.pl

 

[Doc Tinker]

Andy - Home Depot near you?



The Deere L110 looks about the right size for you and it's priced pretty good at Home Depot. You can also get no interest for 12 months, if you buy between July 24 and 27



http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...ID=ccciadcimeffefkcgelceffdfgidgjj.0&MID=9876



Doc

 

[JSmith]

Sears has a 48" deck also, the 5000 series.

It will cost you at least $2400. Good machines.

 

[Doc Tinker]

How did this thread make it back to the top? I just realized that Andy shouldn't be looking for a mower any longer.





Doc

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Buy good and you won't regret it! I have an old Ford riding mower with a Kohler cast iron engine. I bought this thing used 16 years ago (1979 model new), and it has never failed me. The one thing I will stress is to get one with atleast 16hp or more and stay away from the "Throw away" engines. Ditto on the cast frontends and no stamped steel frames. If you are staying put where you are, the extra investment will pay off. Isn't that why you bought the Cummins? Chris

I have an old Ford tractor as well. I bought it 6 years ago when we bought our house. It's a 1973 (yeah, 30 yrs old) with a 14 horse Kohler, hydrostatic drive, hydraulic lift on the deck, 42" deck and a 42" plow. I bought it in the fall from a John Deere dealer who knew it would sit there until spring if he didn't sell it. Paid $500 for it and it's given me great service. Had to put a new carb on it and have had to replace a couple bolts, etc but other than that it's been great. All the parts on it are still available (I have a parts manual). If you can find one they are great tractors and cheap. I mow my acre with it in summer and plow the drive in winter.

 

[fest3er]

Last year, Dad bought a Husquvarna YTH1542 riding mower. It's a 42" deck, 15 HP Kohler engine, hydrostatic drive. We paid a little extra for the doohickey that closes off the mower outlet; it mulches real nice - only tall lawn grass that is at least damp will eave traces of the cuttings. The engine starts every time and runs smooth. I can get our 120' x 120' lawn mowed in about 40 minutes, using the go-fast gear.

We looked at JD and Simplicity, but with JD, one pays for the name, and we didn't need anything quite so large as a Simplicity. But if you are looking for a mower that'll last nearly forever and will do the job well, get the Simplicity.

Fest3er

 

[Ncostello]

This thread is really causing me a problem!! I spent the afternoon looking around at the mower shops instead of cutting my grass!



Here is a little range of price and quality.



Cub Cadet 3235 60" deck, 25 HP Kohler, Hydro drive and lift, power steering, tilt steering, adjustable seat, their best Garden Tractor = $6445. 00



White Outdoor garden tractor (MTD. . also the same as YardMan, TroyBilt models) 25HP Briggs Vanguard, 54" deck, Hydro drive, manual lift deck = $3100. 00. This is the best MTD economy version.



Yard Machine MTD Garden Tractor at Walmart 44" deck, hydro drive 20HP Briggs = $2100. 00



I looked at a Scag Turf Tiger ZTR 31 HP mower with a 72" deck. That thing is SWEET! The deck is easily adjustable for exact inch increments of mowing height. Its Kawasaki gas engine is also fuel injected. The shop owner (and also the Asst. Chief on my Vol. Fire Dept. ) said he would drop it off at my house and let me try it out as it was a demo. Aparently the Scag rep said he wasn't to sell it... just let people try it. Guess what I did!! Mowed my yard in 20 minutes flat and didn't need to trim. It usually takes me 1 1/2 hours. Neighbors were looking at me like I was insane!! First a loud diesel pickup... now a lawnmower three times the size I need and it sounds like a B29 flying fortress on takeoff . It cost over $10,000 so I told him he could have it back tomorrow :{ .



I went to a Dixie Chopper dealer and their highest priced ZTR was a 50HP Yanmar Turbo Diesel 72". $16500 list!! That thing was absolutely gigantic. But nonetheless cool. They also have that twin 25HP Kohler S'Burb'n Turb'n 72" mower that can run on either one or two engines depending on the job at hand. Really cool.



A rarely seen tractor that is built like a tank is the Ingersoll 4021PS. Its totally hydraulic powered. The 21HP Kohler is directly coupled to a hydro pump. Steering, Drive, Lift is all hydro. It also has hydro outlets on the front, rear, and a rear hydro PTO. It can run snowblowers, rear tillers, log splitters, rear brush mowers, rear finish mowers, chippers etc... all the attachments are hydro powered. It also has 32"x8" tires on 16" rear rims. Kinda like mini tractor. They used to be known as the Case 444's.



Meantime I'll keep pluggin along on my Snapper Comet 30" 8HP Rear Engine rider. My three older Cubs (1960's models) are in various states of restoration. I love talking about lawnmowers!

 

[Andy Perreault]

Originally posted by Doc Tinker

How did this thread make it back to the top? I just realized that Andy shouldn't be looking for a mower any longer.





Doc

This topic died last summer, and I was surprised to see that it has come back to life! I ended up buying a Scott's (made by John Deere) 17 hp mower from Home Depot for... hmm... I think it was $1500. It doesn't have the hydrostatic drive, but it does the job just fine. I just used it today, in fact. I bought a catcher for it, but now that summer is here and it's not raining (which means the grass isn't growing much), I took the catcher off and put the mulching blades on. Now I can buzz around the entire yard non-stop without having to mess with emptying the catcher.

Anyway, the mower I bought isn't one of the top-of-the-line jobs, but I'm happy with the way it runs and runs. I haven't had a bit of trouble with it except for a front tire that has a slow leak in it. I put the wheel and tire in a bucket of water and saw no bubbles coming out, so I have no idea where the leak is. I snugged up the valve core, but that didn't help. No big deal, I just have to put a little compressed air in it every two months or so.



Thanks again to all who replied last year when I was shopping for a mower.

Andy

 

[QRTRHRS]

I did it.

Originally posted by Doc Tinker

How did this thread make it back to the top? I just realized that Andy shouldn't be looking for a mower any longer.





Doc

I was doing some research and brought this thread back to life as I thought it had some good content. I suppose I should have just referenced this thread with a new one. Okay, I will go to my room now.



By the way, for better or worse, I bought the Woods Mow-N-Machine.

 

[Andy Perreault]

Nothing wrong with bringing an old topic back to the top. That benefits those who may have missed it the first time. I think it's better to continue on an old topic rather than starting a new topic, because all relevant information is in one place.

What's great about these forums is that, no matter what subject you ask about, you will get replies from many members who are very knowledgeable on that subject. Guns, chainsaws, home improvements, welding... you name it, and there's at least one expert here on it!

Andy

 

[QRTRHRS]

I agree. Anytime I resurrect an old thread, I put "Back to the top" in the post subject. I guess the members who responded did not catch the dates.

 

[Andy Perreault]

Originally posted by Andy Perreault

This topic died last summer, and I was surprised to see that it has come back to life! I ended up buying a Scott's (made by John Deere) 17 hp mower from Home Depot for... hmm... I think it was $1500. It doesn't have the hydrostatic drive, but it does the job just fine.

... Anyway, the mower I bought isn't one of the top-of-the-line jobs, but I'm happy with the way it runs and runs.

Thanks again to all who replied last year when I was shopping for a mower.

Andy

Just thought I'd mention that I used my little 17 hp mower as a tractor today. I pulled two abandoned refrigerators out of the berry bushes/weeds/saplings that were left way at the back of my land by the scumbags who lived here before I bought the place. That little thing has some torque! It wouldn't bog down or die, instead the tires would spin in the dirt. My pop weighs more than me, so he got on it and pulled the fridges out while I guided them and rocked them back and forth to keep them from digging into the dirt and tree roots. That's one tough little riding mower (or I guess I should say "lawn tractor")!!

Andy

 

[KHART]

John deere 325

Purchased new in 99 had less than $50 worth of problems with it. Wife loves to cut grass with it. Cuts 2 acres weekly. I just keep it serviced.