I bought a John Deere F725 front deck mower (they don’t make any more). It is over 20 years old. I do all the maintenance myself including oil changes, filter changes,belt changes, transmission oil changes, deck leveling,etc. It has a Kawasaki engine with no problems so far and I mow 1.50 acres. I bought it from a John Deere dealer and also it’s a mulching mower. I think when I have to replace it, I’ll buy another JD for sure!
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Looking for advice re: purchasing a reliable lawn tractor
- Thread starter buddyd
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Export threadVic bellan
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Look at Walker , made in USA, great quality & worth the $Hi Folks, I'm looking to purchase a good reliable small lawn tractor (not JD!) for approx. 13K sq of lawn. I'm hoping to avoid Briggs&Stratton engines, specifically the 18HP
used in the JD E110 as there is some chatter that problems exist with these motors. Some Craftsman and Husqvarna models have Kohler engines, which might be a bit more
reliable. I'd be grateful for any/all advice.
And to explain the JD boycott, I purchased an E110 in 2020 and after 4 seasons, 160 hours of use and timely maintenance the engine failed. Fool me once...
Thank you in advance.
BuddyD
DinosaurMike
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I did not read all the posts, but make sure you look at turning radius for all of the riders/tractors you consider. I went from a Toro rider with a turning radius of a pickup truck to a TroyBilt tractor with the turning radius of a sports car. It made a big difference in mowing patterns. My TroyBilt is 20 years old and I would not make a recommendation based on the age of it as I hope there have been design changes for the better.
I wish you many good years of mowing with your choice.
I wish you many good years of mowing with your choice.
I had a Kohler Commander that was a piece of junk twin cylinder and BOTH cam houseings crackedKohler Command is the best single engine on the market. Too bad they quit making them. They just don't tear up. Biggest problem is carb issues and most of that is due to sitting with fuel in them too long gumming up the carb.
I recomend a JOHN DEERE riding mower, I have a X330 for alomst an acre and its a total complete beast
I have a 1980's Cub Cadet 782. I'd recommend the OP find an older tractor like mine, and it will last if cared for.We have had great luck with the Cub Cadet Lawn tractors. They offer a XT1 and then a better XT2 models. Just make sure you buy it from a Local Dealer for that after the sale support. Cub Cadet Link: https://www.cubcadet.com/en_US/riding-lawn-mowers/lawn-and-garden-tractors
Nothing wrong with the old i/c briggs, it's the new stuff that is absolutely junk out of the box...What's wrong with g'ol Briggs? I had Craftsman rider with it, bought in 2005, thing was indestructible. Sold it 2 years back without any issues.
The only remotely typical way these engines snap rods are if they are low on oil.That 13K sq ft is a bit much to mow with a push mower, even self-propelled. It is sloped from front to back and at my advanced age...
A lawn tractor is a nice luxury for me.I change up the mowing patterns so no ruts, etc. The failure on the JD was a failed connector rod which is probably more related to the eng. manuf. B&S, thus my search is excluding those motors if possible.
I've done my research, mine is not an isolated incident with JD machines. Additionally, I have had a Craftsmen snow thrower for 25+ years and never a problem. The Craftsman moves frozen water, the lawn tractor small blades of grass. Though hours per year are significantly less with the snow thrower, it's appalling to spend $1800 on a lawn mower and get 4 seasons of use out of it.
They have plenty of other issues but none catastrophic like a snapped connecting rod and the associated crankshaft scoring.
SAE 30 conventional oil is the thing to use and keep it on or even slightly above the full mark.
Not a common failure though.
However many of these are deemed "blown" or not worth fixing due to the other common probs and due to shops charging way too much for the repair.