Riding Lower Mower Recommendations

[Cyclone90]

Any recommendations on riding lawn mowers? Brand, size, transmission, etc? I'm going to try and find some late season sales. It would be for a small yard, just above the threshold for needing a riding mower. Thinking riding rather than self propelled to save time rather than effort, although I wouldn't rule that out. I did see another thread on Toro self propelled with good info if I went that route.

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/off-topic/119401-mower-questions-toro-not.html

 

[MeanDean]

Any recommendations on riding lawn mowers? Brand, size, transmission, etc? I'm going to try and find some late season sales. It would be for a small yard, just above the threshold for needing a riding mower. Thinking riding rather than self propelled to save time rather than effort, although I wouldn't rule that out. I did see another thread on Toro self propelled with good info if I went that route.

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/off-topic/119401-mower-questions-toro-not.html

If it's a small yard get a self propelled and walk it. It will be just a fast, you'll get some exercise, and you don't need 1/2 of a garage stall to store it.

If you are determined to buy a rider, get a John Deere Garden tractor, not one of those cheap-*** store brands or anything less. You will be much happier in the long run. Been there, done that.

 

[hawkeyeh8r]

my parents bought a dixiechopper for their yard since they bought a 5 acre house a few years ago. ive used it a couple times and it makes the job a lot easier. if the yard is under a half acre or so id probably just walk it with a self propelled lawn mower

 

[ISU_phoria]

There are several good brands that should work nicely for you. With a small yard, you will want to consider turning radius (I'm guessing you'll be turning often with a "smaller" yard) and I'd also hightly recommend a hydrostatic transmission.....they're usually a little more expensive, but a lot easier than always shifting gears around corners, trees, etc.

If your yard doesn't have much for hills, look at ZTR (Zero Turn Radius) riding mowers, they'll cut a lot of time off your mowing, if you want to pay a litte extra.

If I had a yard big enough to mandate a riding mower, but still relatively small, this is the mower I would get:

http://www.wisesales.com/simplicity-axion-21-42.html

 

[Iastfan112]

I highly recommend a ZTR if you much for obstacles to mow around, makes the job much faster. As far as brand Dixon is pricey but has been very reliable(have 1 from the early 80's still chugging along, no problems with the newer one either), fast, and gives a nice cut.

 

[Naughtius]

I have a Cub Cadet 42" ZTR. The skid-steer type, not tractor. Love it. I only wish I'd gotten the next size bigger to get the towbar so I can haul trailers or spreaders with it.

 

[ruxCYtable]

I love the Toro ZTR's. Been looking at them for a while but I need a new car worse so I'll probably put it off a while.

 

[ajk4st8]

Country Clipper ZTR

 

[2daJack]

John Deere!!! They have all sizes and price ranges.. You tend to get what you pay for in lawn mowers!

 

[besserheimerphat]

Both my father-in-law and I have had major problems with John Deere mowers - four transmissions (hydros) between the two of us. When I went to have mine fixed, the dealership wanted $1200 to fix it. I did a little digging and found the OEM unit online for $200 and had it installed in about an hour, with basic tools and having never done it before. The tranny overheated and the housing cracked, seeping fluid out until the whole thing burned up. It's a sealed unit and you're not supposed to ever change or add fluid. I had a cast iron axle snap in half. I used it to push snow around, and had to drill holes in the wheels myself to put the John Deere wheel weights on my John Deere lawn tractor. I wouldn't buy one again. Maybe their garden tractors are higher quality. But I'd stay away from the lawn tractor, mower, etc.

Now that I don't have 3 acres to mow, I bought a Toro self-propelled walk-behind mower. My father-in-law is on the same property and now mows it with a Troy-Built for the past 4-5 years with no problems.

 

[Rural]

Two John Deere touts so far, so I have to counter that.
My last John Deere, (and it will be the last) was the biggest POS SOB ever.

Probably put as much repair money into it as it cost originally.

I like John Deere farm equipment but the mass-marketed (Home Depot, etc) riding lawn mowers are garbage.

 

[iahawkhunter]

My family has only ever had John Deere, and they've worked well for us. My parents had an STX-38 that lasted ~20 years, and their current mower (don't remember the model) is pushing the decade mark. I used both in junion/senior high school to mow lawns around town.

Both of our mowers were purchased from John Deere dealerships, not home improvement stores. The JD mowers at home improvement stores look rather cheap to me (saddens me to see a good brand build cheap, but not necessarily inexpensive) products, but I would have high expectations of one purchased from a dealership.

 

[bringmagicback]

John Deere!!! They have all sizes and price ranges.. You tend to get what you pay for in lawn mowers!

And with John Deere, you pay for paint color. There are much cheaper and better options than John Deere. They target city people that think its cool to have a "tractor". Get a ZTR, lawn "tractors" are just stupid, even the cheaper ones like Gravely (sp?) will do just fine.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I didn't even buy mine from a box store, I bought it from an established JD dealership. And their service was TERRIBLE. They cut a hole in the pulley guard on my mower deck because they couldn't get it back together right. They also mounted the deck to the mower incorrectly, so that the first time I went to mow I shot sparks out the bottom from the front bracket hitting the mower drive pulley. It nearly cut all the way through the bracket.

 

[agcy68]

John Deere

That is all

 

[besserheimerphat]

The JD mowers at home improvement stores look rather cheap to me (saddens me to see a good brand build cheap, but not necessarily inexpensive) products, but I would have high expectations of one purchased from a dealership.

If they are going to put green paint and the jumping deer on the machine, they all need to be built to the same standards regardless of where they are purchased. To do otherwise indicates that they are MORE concerned about profit in the short term than maintaining their reputation and building customer loyalty for the long term.

 

[iahawkhunter]

If they are going to put green paint and the jumping deer on the machine, they all need to be built to the same standards regardless of where they are purchased. To do otherwise indicates that they are MORE concerned about profit in the short term than maintaining their reputation and building customer loyalty for the long term.

I agree. I imagine that they make their real money on heavy equipment, so alienating individual consumers with poor lawn mowers may not be a concern to them, unfortunately.

 

[kingcy]

My family has only ever had John Deere, and they've worked well for us. My parents had an STX-38 that lasted ~20 years, and their current mower (don't remember the model) is pushing the decade mark. I used both in junion/senior high school to mow lawns around town.

Both of our mowers were purchased from John Deere dealerships, not home improvement stores. The JD mowers at home improvement stores look rather cheap to me (saddens me to see a good brand build cheap, but not necessarily inexpensive) products, but I would have high expectations of one purchased from a dealership.

I think they are the same mowers. Deere dealers have to srevice the ones sold at home improvement stores. They are also close to the same price at both places.

 

[kingcy]

Just go buy the cheapest one you can find. There are only a few companies that make mowers and they make them for a lot of companies. Most home mowers are throw away mowers.

 

[BirdOfWar]

In the past I did commercial lawn care for about 3 years. Besides the size of your yard, do you have any spaces limiting the size of the mower you can use? For example, do you have a fence with a gate that is only 2-3 feet wide or anything like that. If not, then it probably comes down the cost and storage space required of the equipment you will be buying.

I've used several brands of riding and walk behind mowers, and I think it's all personal preference. If I needed something larger than a push mower, I personally don't think I would buy a John Deere just because I really liked some of the other brands I have used in the past.

I didn't enjoy the walk behind mowers at the time, why would I when I could use a rider, but if my yard were bigger I would consider a Ferris walk behind or something similar. I only mention Ferris because I used this brand in the past.

You can get multiple deck sizes and the mower speed should be all that you can handle. I really don't know if a riding mower would save any time either, depending on the layout of your yard.