Shopping for a large walk behind mower - any advice?

[Steve St.Laurent]

Well, it's finally time to retire my 1973 Ford 14 horse tractor. I'm spending as much time fixing it as I do mowing. I also got a snow thrower this winter so I don't need to use the tractor as a plow any more (have a blade for it). I just finished mowing my 1 acre lawn with a push mower - blech. Anyone have input on relatively affordable walk behind mowers? I'd need something with around a 36"-42" deck and it needs to mulch it up - cause there's NO way I'm bagging it. Don't have much extra cash lying around with being mostly out of work for 4 of the last 6 months. Any advice?

 

[dieselpilot1969]

If it did not have to be that big I would suggest a honda, man I love mine, might wanna check out a dr, look down to field and brush mowers



www.countryhomeproducts.com

 

[GFritsch]

An acre is a lot to push. Sounds like your back is better. Maybe a used rider? It takes me about 2 hours to mow our acre with our rider.



good luck

 

[JSmith]

Steve I`m glad you are back on your feet. I also own an acre. I cut the lawn with a riding mower. Sears has some for $1000. 00 or less. Mine has a 42" deck. Cut, weedeat, blow grass off concrete,= 1 1/2 to 2hrs. When I first got my place I used a push mower, TOOK 4-6hrs. NO MORE:--)













Get a rider if you can.

 

[apkole]

Mebbie try to get by for the summer, then look at the auctions or consignment sales this fall. Of course, with all of this rain, grass has been growing pretty fast and mowers have been selling, so mebbie there won't be that many left in dealer inventory to move. Have you checked the equipment version of the auto-trader mags? Maybe look for a good used Toro or Scag. Be careful of the over used ones though.



Are you getting up to the dunes this summer, or is the back going to limit that activity? I just purchased a dump trailer (6'8" x 14') for my roofing business. Of course, the criteria wasn't the tonnage of shingles, but if the jeep would fit.



Andy

 

[PJereb]

#ad




Sell your pickup and buy a dixie chopper

Mow the lawn at 13 mph... ... .

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I've been using a rider for years and it takes about 2 hours to get it done normally. I'm actually liking the idea of getting a little exercise walking behind it - kill two birds with one stone. Here's what I'm looking at right now - http://www.swisherinc.com/walk_behind_mower.html . 42" deck, zero turn radius, walk behind - I can get one for around $1100 brand new shipped to me. I'm also looking at used commercial grade walk behinds (scag, etc).



Andy - not sure yet whether I'll be able to go to the dunes this year or not. It'll all depend on what the neck surgeon says when I see him middle of June.

 

[Hammer]

Well if walk behind is what you seek then there is only one way to go. . Scag... ... ... . Andy



http://www.scag.com/walkbehinds.html

 

[KBennett]

The only walk behind I have ever used is a Scag but it worked awesome. They are really nimble if you need to get around trees or other obstructions. Once you compare a good walk behind with a standard rider you will probably decide for yourself.



Auctions are a great place to find mowers at good prices. I have seen some in used but excellent condition go for half the price of new.

 

[DaveN]

ever thought about outsourcing?

The neighbor kid mows mine for $20 a week (for one acre)- if you do the math on that, by time you pay $1000 for any sort of decent mower, you cut your lawn 50 times to pay it off. At four times per month for 4 months (Michigan, some weeks are missing due to the usual late summer "burn") it takes a little over three years to pay it off. That doesn't include your time, gas, maintenance, etc. From a financial perspective it's not a bad investment, but that's not including your time.....



In addition, if you assume your time is worth $10 an hour, and it takes two hours to mow, then your "charging" yourself $20 a week to mow it.



I'm not a lazy person, but at least for me I was able to justify to myself that the kid's pretty much mowing my lawn for free, and I can take the $1000 that I would have spent on a mower and bought truck parts... . like a John West bumper

 

[midlife crisis]

A few years back I stopped in the local Deere dealer and bought their used demo/ shop mower. It was a 48" walk behind with a 14 hp Kawasaki engine, and if I remember correctly it was 4 or 5 years old when I bought it. This was a machine!. After getting used to this- there is no going back to little residential mowers. Regular oil changes, and blade sharpening is all it ever needed. A commercial mower doing 1 lawn a week will last forever. 6 fwd speeds,1 rev, and able to pull a sulky if desired, plus a 5 gal gas tank seemed to go all season! When I went to 5 acres, it was time to sell- took less than 3 hours out front, got what I paid for it-$800. Money well spent- Good Luck- Drew

 

[Rosco]

Steve,



Up until this year I owned a small landscaping business (20 accounts) to supplement my FD income and I used only Scag mowers. One was a belt drive 48'' and the other was a hydro drive 48''. IMHO Scag makes the best walk behind mower in the industry. You should be able to pick up a decent used belt 48'' for around 1200 bucks.