I need to get a riding mower

Dave P. said:

Almost never see a customer come back in and say " I bought too big of a machine"

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Except some people have gates, etc. The bigger the mower, the less maneuverable. I mowed ball fields with a 54" and it was to big to make the fields look their best. 48" would have been better. The bigger the deck, the more you run your string trimmer.

harley08 said:

Never buy a John Deere! trash, Buy the Cub or a Honda!

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Ummm...Honda? Riding mower or ZTR?

bobski said:

whats a 'gravley?'

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It's a mower brand. That's the topic. Try Google.

wildwilly said:

For the same amount of money you can get a better grade of mower tractor.A zero turn of the same quality will be a lot more.For what you mow a homeowner grade will be fine if you mowed a lot the homeowner grades wouldn't last.A true commercial grade zero turn will be $10,000 plus on some the plus is a lot.

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Sure but you'll also sit on it 5X longer for the same job. As stated earlier, my dad's mowing was cut from all day to a couple hours going from a JD 48" rider to a JD 48" ZTR.

Bad Boy is the best for the money that I know of.

GasGuzzler said:

Except some people have gates, etc. The bigger the mower, the less maneuverable. I mowed ball fields with a 54" and it was to big to make the fields look their best. 48" would have been better. The bigger the deck, the more you run your string trimmer.

Ummm...Honda? Riding mower or ZTR?

It's a mower brand. That's the topic. Try Google.

Sure but you'll also sit on it 5X longer for the same job. As stated earlier, my dad's mowing was cut from all day to a couple hours going from a JD 48" rider to a JD 48" ZTR.

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Actually I like bigger decks for reducing hand trimming time, usually they stick out farther making it easier to get under branches as you cut around the tree or shrub.
Kind of helps with ZTs so you not getting rear tire interference with what you're trimming around.
My customers must all have been smart enough to measure their gates and storage/garage doors before they bought something, of course I always ask
about that also.
I usually tell people on an average landscaped lawn with typical crap to mow around to expect to save about 20-25% on mowing time IF
you're talking equal sized mower decks and modern well running equipment using a ZT vs. lawn or garden tractor.

I mow a little over an acre of fairly rough ground. John Deere builds lightweight mowers and commercial grade mowers. In 2007 we bought a 48 inch deck commercial grade 717A and it has been a work horse. Maintenance expense has been minimal. My only regrets with this mower is I wish I had bought the deluxe seat and suspension and I wish I had bought the same mower with a 54 inch deck, not because of the extra 6 inches of mowing but the deck would extend past the wheels making for easier trimming.

I can give a plus for a Kabota. That is if you have a good lawn or power sports store in your area that will support the product you buy from them. I've also had Troy built OK for the bigger ones. I would avoid buying from Lowe's, Home Depot type stores. I don't believe their product is as good.

Does TSC count as a big box store when it comes to the quality of the mowers? I briefly looked at some Cubs, Hondas, and Bad Boys today there.
There are a couple of Ex-mark dealers in the area too so I will look at those soon too.

Taterman said:

This will be the first mower I've ever bought as we lived in a townhouse for 25+ years. I might pick up a used Cub Cadet from a friend here but they is starting to look like it will fall through so I may have to buy a new one.
The two I've looked at so far are a John Deere 48" zero turn and a similarly priced Cub Cadet 50" zero turn. The guy at Home Depot said they'd had less returns or issues with the Cubs and that their Kawasaki engine is better than the JD.

Can anyone help steer me in the right direction? We have and acre and a half to mow and it's already pretty long .

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Must be a better Cub Cadet than my brothers. He bought a Cub Cadet and 1 week after he had it the motor blew up . He got his a Tractor Supply .. had a big fight with them before they finally made good on it .

I simply DOWNSIZED when I was in my 40's; AND then got a gardener to take care of the place when I hit my 60's.
A man's gotta consider his limitations and aging....PLAN AHEDA
J.

Taterman said:

Does TSC count as a big box store when it comes to the quality of the mowers? I briefly looked at some Cubs, Hondas, and Bad Boys today there.
There are a couple of Ex-mark dealers in the area too so I will look at those soon too.

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If it's the same model number on the tag it's the same thing. Don't look at the big decal on the side but find the model and serial
number located on the frame tag and compare. Same numbers equal the same thing. Be aware ( again ) there are no current Hondas in riders for a long long
time and walk mowers for about a year and a half. There are still a few models of Honda walks left in various regions. Also watch out for
companies running a Honda engine on a POS chassis and making the Honda name the prominent name or decal on the product. Honda
will sell engines to any manufacture. Lots of stuff to break on mowers besides the engine.......
TSC locally is just another box store with NO service, can't speak to your region.

Lots of passion and loyalty on here about lawn mower brands- maybe more so than the different gun brand discussions

kentucky yeti said:

Lots of passion and loyalty on here about lawn mower brands- maybe more so than the different gun brand discussions

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Well, many of us probably use our lawnmowers a lot more than we use our guns.

kentucky yeti said:

Lots of passion and loyalty on here about lawn mower brands- maybe more so than the different gun brand discussions

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Many people have brand loyalty because of many positive experiences with one brand, and lousy results with others. It's as simple as that.

Then there are the bunch who just prefer one brand no matter what. My FIL swore by Ford cars, even though every one he ever had was a rust bucket and frequently found on road dead.

Taterman said:

Thanks for all the great info guys! I've learned a lot from this already.
I will definitely check out some of the local dealers instead of Home Depot.
The reason I leaned toward a zero turn is because there are 15-20 trees and shrubs to mow around. Would it be that much tougher or slower with a regular riding mower? Is the maintenance significantly less?

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Look at the Hustler Fastrak series. Been using them since 1994. Just bought our third, sold the second one only because we moved. Our first one from 1994 is still used by our da and son-in-law. 1200+ hours. Had a friend install a crank seal and tune up. Runs like a champ. Cuts 10 acres now.

No. Hydraulics, mechanical and cadmium painted hardware.

Well I ended up picking up a Bolen riding mower from a friend of my neighbor. It's only 38" but it just barely fits through the gate to the small fenced in area for our dog. I'll at least use it for that and probably towing a yard cart, and it buys me time to find a ZTR.
I'm sure it will get old fast doing the whole yard with it.

Deck size is a big consideration. A 42" deck will fit on most small cheap 48" utility trailers and through most shed doors. Anything bigger will require deck removal or a substantial trailer. Bigger decks can choke on taller grass especially if you mulch. I mulch so I have to slow down way more often than I did with a 42" deck. 20+hp and a 42" deck will tear through most anything that doesn't bend the blades. Of course a bigger deck covers more ground but if you have to crawl because the deck is choking on tall dense grass any time advantage is lost. I don't do Zero Turns because I need a hand free for my drink.

Hvymax said:

Deck size is a big consideration. A 42" deck will fit on most small cheap 48" utility trailers and through most shed doors. Anything bigger will require deck removal or a substantial trailer. Bigger decks can choke on taller grass especially if you mulch. I mulch so I have to slow down way more often than I did with a 42" deck. 20+hp and a 42" deck will tear through most anything that doesn't bend the blades. Of course a bigger deck covers more ground but if you have to crawl because the deck is choking on tall dense grass any time advantage is lost. I don't do Zero Turns because I need a hand free for my drink.

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It's an advanced skill, sorta like chewing gum and walking at the same time but if you set the control levers up correctly one handed operation is
not a problem. Frees up one hand to drink, swat bugs, and lift tree branches as you work around them.

We bought a Bad Boy 10 years ago. It had a Kawasaki engine that burned oil almost from day One. I swapped the engine out for a Kholer engine, easy swap. That was 6 years ago. Other than the bad engine, we've had great service from our Bad Boy and we keep 2+ acres mowed.

We have two zero turns. For just mowing, they are hard to beat and a lot faster than the more traditional style.

One of our zero turns is an exmark frontrunner. It is no longer made; but has worked well for us. The deck out front helps with getting under trees and pond edges. It is also easier to sharpen blades; but adds maintenance issues. We got the bagger attachment. Cost a lot and wouldn't recommend that attachment; but the machine itself has been good for about 14 years.

The other is an altoz 766i tracked mower. Pretty amazing machine if you have high grass (small trees), wet areas, etc. Costs more and not many dealers. Ours has been impressive. Our dealer sells many to contractors who mow solar farms use them. Understand that contractors who mow around municipal waste water lagoons and such use them a lot too.

Brother has a couple exmarks and has used the Dickenson out of them with good luck.

I think the kabotas are good machines.

The wife took pity on me about 3 years back.
She bought me a John Deere X354 42", Kawasaki engine with 4 wheel steering.
A last year's model with discount that was less than the X350 I was thinking about and not much more than the big box store's top of the line model.
Turning radius is not as quick as a zero turn but I am happy with it.
Does a good job on my Florida flat 1/2 acre lot.