Getting small, best lawn tractor.

[slomo]

Snapper rear engine rider. Forrest Gump can't be wrong. LOL

slomo

 

[lilguy]

The Deeres available are a 42” x350 and a X380 48“. Sales says corporate is not guaranteeing quantity or delivery time now on any new equipment.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Your point being that anything one buys now for under X$$ is crap compared to several decades ago?

Yes
Most people have no idea how to assess the quality & value of anything now days .
The EU recognised this a long while ago so they require a service life expectancy to be included in the POS material .
The USA has spent a fortune in advertising to convince the population that modern manufacturing & good old US ingunity will make everything more affordable so the consumer can have everything they could possibly want, a consumers paradise.
The reality is totally different and to fulfil the lie, big manufacturers make rubbish that is barely able to outlast warranty/
Computers have made it possible to downgrade each & every part so they all fail around the same time thus you will go out & buy another one rather than have multiple expensive repairs done to your existing mower. ( Fooled you again )
To facilitate this all service points have been removed & replaced with non servicable parts like plastic bushes replacing greased metal ones .
Computers have made it possible to work out exactly how thin metal parts can be without breaking within the warranty period.
Husqvarna got this very wrong a few years back with a whole season of GT's that cracked & bent frames if any ground engaging tools were used .
Walmart kept demanding cheaper & cheaper mowers to the point they drove Noma then Murray broke plus hundreds of other USA companies .

So now you have trash in the under $ 3000 range, just pick the colour you like most .
A 50:50 chance of a good one in the $ 3000 to $ 5000 range and mostly quality above that .

Every mower car & just about all consumer durable manufacturers are run by accountants and to a person they have sent all public companies down the high volume low margin route which means high volume low quality but paint it nice colours & spend big on advertising and you can fool 90% of the population .
It is only companies that are privately controlled like Grasshopper, Walker etc where their good name is worth more than 1% extra sales and bigger companies like J D & Toro where executives are not paid outragous bonuses for every 0.05% sales increase that make quality mowers.
Even then JD tested the waters with the Scotts & Sabre brands and to finally launch the 100 & 200 series .
They are a bit better than the Husqvarnas & MTD's but not much better but cheap enough to be sold at the junk merchants like Lowes so people at least see them .

Honda got out of the ride on market completely when faced with the reality of having to reduce the quality of their mowers to the price point demanded bu the retail market.
A few years latter they abandoned the ride on mower engine market for the same reason.
Eaton did the same with their transmissions.

 

[Joed756]

One acre, presumably with at least one building on it. Buy yourself a good Toro walk-behind and get that exercise you (and I) need.

 

[Joed756]

One acre, presumably with at least one building on it. Buy yourself a good Toro walk-behind and get that exercise you (and I) need.

You can get cheaper than these, but not better.

New Sarlo Large Belt Drive Models For Sale Sarlo Mowers

New Models Ft. Myers Fort Myers, FL (239) 332-1955

www.weknowmow.com

 

[Gord Baker]

Had serious acreage for 45 years. Mowed with Kubota diesels for most of that time. Now have one acre with home on it and I’m looking at a lawn tractor
to do the job. Have no experience with small gas units since the early 1980s. Inventory is short at most dealers. Two neighbors have JD units, a 100 and a 200 series. The local dealer has only 300 series and up in limited numbers. What can any of you recommend, Zero turn would work but wife doesn’t like them at all, demoed a Kubota diesel years back and it did not go well. So Tractor it is. Looking at 42 in(?)deck. All input appreciated.

I have had a variety of 100 Series John Deere. L160 was a great one. I inherited an X 320 which is actually made by John Deere. Incredible cutting, totally different deck Setup. 22 HP Kawasaki engine and 48" cut. Totally pleased with it.

 

[wekjo]

Had serious acreage for 45 years. Mowed with Kubota diesels for most of that time. Now have one acre with home on it and I’m looking at a lawn tractor
to do the job. Have no experience with small gas units since the early 1980s. Inventory is short at most dealers. Two neighbors have JD units, a 100 and a 200 series. The local dealer has only 300 series and up in limited numbers. What can any of you recommend, Zero turn would work but wife doesn’t like them at all, demoed a Kubota diesel years back and it did not go well. So Tractor it is. Looking at 42 in(?)deck. All input appreciated.

Dont get the idea that because it is Green it is actually a Deere. Most all these low end mowers are made under licensing agreements by the same two companies. I have one, made after the series which had the collapsing hoods, but before the series where all the transmissions leaked and JD would not fix. Avoid if possible the current mickey mouse steering as it must be rebuilt on a regular basis. The steering on the JD is worse as not even adjustable and the front wheels will bow out after first year which makes it a wonderful drive. Do a little search for this issue on youtube and you will see what I mean if you are not familiar. The best of these things I think is the Cub Cadet, and a dealer model has a KAW engine which is head and shoulders over B&S or a Kohler Courage, which is to be avoided at all costs. I was at a Simplicity dealer yesterday and they had a new one for under 5k which had a real tie rod between the front wheels. Give one of those a gander before buying.

 

[sk734]

Had serious acreage for 45 years. Mowed with Kubota diesels for most of that time. Now have one acre with home on it and I’m looking at a lawn tractor
to do the job. Have no experience with small gas units since the early 1980s. Inventory is short at most dealers. Two neighbors have JD units, a 100 and a 200 series. The local dealer has only 300 series and up in limited numbers. What can any of you recommend, Zero turn would work but wife doesn’t like them at all, demoed a Kubota diesel years back and it did not go well. So Tractor it is. Looking at 42 in(?)deck. All input appreciated.

Years ago many garden tractors used Kohler cast iron motors and it helped those who used them JD,Cub,Wheelhorse etc build there reputations become very reliable small tractors that lasted for many years without much trouble. They also used six speed cast trannys. I owned a wheelhorse that had a hydro cast tranny + Kohler motor ran solid for 20 years. Sold it and it was still running. New equipment is not like that anymore. I taught my wife to run a Z and she will never go back to a garden tractor. She does the trimming wit it on our 5 acres. Good luck!!

 

[sk734]

Years ago many garden tractors used Kohler cast iron motors and it helped those who used them JD,Cub,Wheelhorse etc build there reputations become very reliable small tractors that lasted for many years without much trouble. They also used six speed cast trannys. I owned a wheelhorse that had a hydro cast tranny + Kohler motor ran solid for 20 years. Sold it and it was still running. New equipment is not like that anymore. I taught my wife to run a Z and she will never go back to a garden tractor. She does the trimming wit it on our 5 acres. Good luck!!

My choice for your 1 acre would be a 42 or 48 deck on a cheap JD Z mower. You will like the cut and I think it will give you good service. I used my JD Z for 5 years with no problems.

 

[hansbrakob]

Had serious acreage for 45 years. Mowed with Kubota diesels for most of that time. Now have one acre with home on it and I’m looking at a lawn tractor
to do the job. Have no experience with small gas units since the early 1980s. Inventory is short at most dealers. Two neighbors have JD units, a 100 and a 200 series. The local dealer has only 300 series and up in limited numbers. What can any of you recommend, Zero turn would work but wife doesn’t like them at all, demoed a Kubota diesel years back and it did not go well. So Tractor it is. Looking at 42 in(?)deck. All input appreciated.

I also have about an acre to mow.

Last year I bought a little 42” Cub Cadet zero turn.

Amazing machine, after riding “tractors” all these years.