hydrostatic or normal tranny?

[bradcash]

I have a 15 yr old Murray 16 hp 46" at home and a J Deere 15 hp 42" at work. Both hydrostatic. I have never used the newer mowers that you have to turn the key to mow in reverse. At home I have 15 trees to mow around so I have a lot of reverse mowing and I have to replace the Murray. A zero turn is too expensive. I'm looking at Ariens at Home Depot. If I have to work the key to mow in reverse does that make hydrostatic less appealing? Should I save $200 and get a regular transmission? Are there other mowers I should look at?

 

[KennyV]

The reverse key operation is a 'safety' device placed on consumer grade machines for liability of the manufactures... It is there to protect those that should not really be operating any type of equipment...
That and any other 'safety' equipment that is detrimental to your use, can and should be bypassed...
If you check out how it functions and look at how it should function you will realize how to defeat it.
If you can not understand how it functions, it possibly should not be defeated...

BTW if you remove any 'safety' equipment it is your responsibility to insure that you are the ONLY operator... as those other potential operators may be the ones that it was meant to protect,... :wink:KennyV

PS as to your original question... either trans type can be good on a small mower. It's defendant as to what you find the easiest to use and stay within your budget...:smile:

 

[Ric]

I have a 15 yr old Murray 16 hp 46" at home and a J Deere 15 hp 42" at work. Both hydrostatic. I have never used the newer mowers that you have to turn the key to mow in reverse. At home I have 15 trees to mow around so I have a lot of reverse mowing and I have to replace the Murray. A zero turn is too expensive. I'm looking at Ariens at Home Depot. If I have to work the key to mow in reverse does that make hydrostatic less appealing? Should I save $200 and get a regular transmission? Are there other mowers I should look at?

The hydrostatic drive that you have to turn the key to mow in reverse works ok. After you start the machine and engage that blades you just turn the key to the left and press the button one time then forward and reverse is accomplished with the foot pedal, my Cub Cadet 1045 was set up that way and it was a good mower just real slow, that's why I went to the zero turn, I cut my mowing time in half.
I think you can purchase the 1045 at home Depot for $1699 but personally If I were you I'd stay away from Home Depot and the rest of the big box stores and find myself a dealer so you would have some support when it comes to any mechanical problems and warranty work.