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Hey guys. Been doing a lot of reading, searching, etc. I am looking to buy a new riding mower. I've got $1300 (really can't go much higher), an acre of gently sloped land, a trailer (350lb empty, 1500lb rating), and leaf problem.

So if you were in my situation, what would you recommend? I mow once a week, but I will be using this for moving that trailer around every now and then, and clearing/chopping/bagging leaves, so it's important it have that feature. I get the feeling that $1300 won't get me top of the line. What kind of reliability/longevity can I expect? I do take care of my belongings, and have a good enclosed place to keep it, so let's assume best case scenario as far as the mower's care goes.

Also, I've been seeing a couple things over and over. 1, stay away from MTD, and 2, stay away from big box (Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc.). Can someone expand on that a little bit as to why people don't like the mowers at the BB stores? Is it quality? Warranty?

EDIT - And if any of this is in the FAQ's, let me know. I looked at them, but I did kind of skim.

Any help is appreciated! I searched through the

WELCOME to LMF...

as you have likely discovered... You will not find much for $1300 new.
It is the end of the season, so you might find some close out deals.
You might also look at used equipment, as you are likely going to find much better, but older yard tractors in your price range.
Most of those that do not like "box store" mowers, really just don't like low end mowers... and add in the inconvenience of trying to find warranty work locations leaves the dislike statements....
Look for good used machines... :smile:KennyV

Yeah, it won't buy you top-of-the-line, but as KennyV said, look used. The reason you shouldn't get it from Lowe's or Home Depot is that they are nothing like a dealer. Instead of saying the negatives of a big-box store, let me say the positives of a dealer:

• Your mower can be fixed at the dealer.
• The people at the dealer know more about the mower they are selling.
• Some say it is higher quality, I don't know.
• It might be cheaper at a big-box store, but you will pay for it with repairs!!
• YOU GET THE POINT.....LOOK AT A DEALER!!

For your price you might be able to get a "commericial" lawn tractor for the price of a residential model.
:welcome: to LMF!!

Well as others said the bb stores sale the low end models and they don't service what they sale. If you buy one from them and take it home and something is not right they most of the time will tell you that is your problem now. It has happed to me and never again will I buy from a bb store.

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Now if I were to be looking at new (I will certainly look at used as well), what would be a good way to go for something with decent enough reliability?

D35 said:

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Now if I were to be looking at new (I will certainly look at used as well), what would be a good way to go for something with decent enough reliability?

Click to expand...

I am just going to say the good brands disregarding your $1300 budget. Some good brands include Husqvarna, Kubota, John Deere, and Cub Cadet...just to name a few. Lots of people are going to say "I had trouble with my ______" or I didn't like my _______", but it all depends how often you use it and if you maintain it. Some other good brands include Snapper and Simplicity, and Craftsman. There are not that many BAD brands, it just depends what you do with them, like I said earlier in the post.
Tell us what you think!
-lmf:smile:

D35 said:

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Now if I were to be looking at new (I will certainly look at used as well), what would be a good way to go for something with decent enough reliability?

Click to expand...

What I do is a quick look on the net to see some feedbacks on what I am looking at. And if you find something you can always ask us.

D35 said:

And if any of this is in the FAQ's, let me know. I looked at them, but I did kind of skim.

Click to expand...

Also, here are some other previous threads that discuss similar topics:

• http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/mower-buying-pricing/3481-mower-help.html

• http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/mower-buying-pricing/461-best-brand.html

D35 said:

Hey guys. Been doing a lot of reading, searching, etc. I am looking to buy a new riding mower. I've got $1300 (really can't go much higher), an acre of gently sloped land, a trailer (350lb empty, 1500lb rating), and leaf problem.

So if you were in my situation, what would you recommend? I mow once a week, but I will be using this for moving that trailer around every now and then, and clearing/chopping/bagging leaves, so it's important it have that feature. I get the feeling that $1300 won't get me top of the line. What kind of reliability/longevity can I expect? I do take care of my belongings, and have a good enclosed place to keep it, so let's assume best case scenario as far as the mower's care goes.

Also, I've been seeing a couple things over and over. 1, stay away from MTD, and 2, stay away from big box (Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc.). Can someone expand on that a little bit as to why people don't like the mowers at the BB stores? Is it quality? Warranty?

EDIT - And if any of this is in the FAQ's, let me know. I looked at them, but I did kind of skim.

Any help is appreciated! I searched through the

Click to expand...

D35,
I, like most users, normally discourage the BB store purchases, but with you mowing weekly(I assume North Carolina has a similar "mowing season" to TN) 1 acre.....you may be OK with a "residential mower". Also, with your budget, you may be better off with a BB new mower than a used one. Before I bought my "retirement investment" commercial ZTR, I had a Sears Craftsman 54" lawn Tractor(actually made by Husqvarna) and I paid $1,800 for it on sale(regulary $2,000) in 2006. For 6 years it actually performed pretty well and now my son has it and I would expect it to last at least another 6 years if he takes as good of care of it as I did. The ONLY problem I had with it was just after the engine warranty expired the screws vibrated out of the choke inside the carbuerator throat and fortunately for me went into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust without damaging the engine's cylinders or rings. The result was that I had to "prime" the mower with starter fluid everytime I used it, but my father-in-law repaired it for my son before we gave it to him(a repair shop wanted $200 and I just opeed for the starter fluid). So, other than that it was a fairly decent investment and you would probably fare as well with a similar Craftsman new lawn tractor.

I think you will have a hard time finding a dependable high quality riding mower that can bag leaves pull a trailer and mow an acre once a week for 1300 bucks. About any lawntractor will mow the grass but then so will about any regular lawnmower. Leaves can be picked up with a rake and hauled off in some trash containers or bags, or mow them into dust and leave them or pick them up afterwards. A regular lawnmower will bag up or mulch up an incredible amount of leaves in one day. Any lawntractor will grind them up with repeated mow overs or pile them up in rows for you to pick up. I think you are wanting to much for just 1300 bucks.

To put less stress on the mower what you could do is buy a blower (you would probably want a backpack blower) to get all the leaves into a pile. The reason I say backpack and not handheld is because your arm would get tired! My handheld Echo blower is plenty powerful to handle the job, but it would be difficult to hold it for an hour straight (if you still wanted to be able to raise your arm the next day! :laughing. But maybe you have strong arms and you could buy a handheld blower.

D35 said:

Hey guys. Been doing a lot of reading, searching, etc. I am looking to buy a new riding mower. I've got $1300 (really can't go much higher), an acre of gently sloped land, a trailer (350lb empty, 1500lb rating), and leaf problem.

So if you were in my situation, what would you recommend? I mow once a week, but I will be using this for moving that trailer around every now and then, and clearing/chopping/bagging leaves, so it's important it have that feature. I get the feeling that $1300 won't get me top of the line. What kind of reliability/longevity can I expect? I do take care of my belongings, and have a good enclosed place to keep it, so let's assume best case scenario as far as the mower's care goes.

Also, I've been seeing a couple things over and over. 1, stay away from MTD, and 2, stay away from big box (Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc.). Can someone expand on that a little bit as to why people don't like the mowers at the BB stores? Is it quality? Warranty?

EDIT - And if any of this is in the FAQ's, let me know. I looked at them, but I did kind of skim.

Any help is appreciated! I searched through the

Click to expand...

Well now that I have had time to think about it. My dad used a sears craftsman lawn mower for about 15 years. He used it for everything as you want to and most of the time he would let my brother us it too. They would cut some where around 3 acres a week and all the other stuff you talked about using one for. So I would say that for the old stuff out there it was built good but the new stuff I have no idea what to say. He finally up graded to a JD last year and was much happier. You will just weigh the odds and see what you want. I would say you would be fine with the little use it would see to just buy a BB store mower just don't buy the cheapest thing they have unless it is a sale item.

I was in my local Cub Cadet shop last week

They had brought in some Troy-Bilt tractors for $1298 to compete with the big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot. Doesn't that help with the service/cost issue of the shop vs BB store?

These mowers should be fine for a acre as long as you understand you aren't not getting a commercial mower for $1300.

I see a lot of folks saying buy a good used mower most of the time, but you are also taking a chance of getting someone else's problem or lemon without a warranty. Gotta ask yourself, why are they selling it if it is such a great mower? The problems more than likely won't surface until the check is cashed!

There should be a better word to use rather than good... When saying good used...
My use of good is not necessarily the present operating condition... It is more of the type of machine.
A new low end mower, may operate perfect... but I would not ever think of it as a good piece of equipment.
The top end commercial or Industrial line of mower, even with a Major problem, will almost always be worth repairing... and once repaired will be a great used mower.
Almost Every mower I have bought in the last decade are industrial machines, that cost over 25k to 35k when new. and were and still are low enough hours that they will easily double or even quadruple their run hours... This type equipment will continue for decades. For private use you will never reach a point when it is not worth keeping. Folks generally sell them Only when they are down sizing their equipment inventory or are moving to much smaller acreage.

Even stepping up to a commercial line, with proper maintenance a Good used piece can easily out last 3 or more low end machines....
So when looking for used .... Look for Good used, (or even OLD). If done right it will always be worth maintaining.... :smile:KennyV

One thing I do hate to see is when you ride by the big box stores, they have there mowers chained together out from rain or shine. I'd never buy one just based off of that, weather is a killer.

I think if the OP was to buy the $1300 Troy-Built from a dealer it would give him a good 6 to 8 years if maintained, anything above that would be a plus. Buying it from the shop would get him better service when and if he needed it. Is it a JD no, but he only has $1300 to spend and people like new stuff.

Problem is the money he has to spend will not buy the suggested new lawn tractors set up with leaf pickup and that type of tractor does not lend itself well to trailers, esp. loaded trailers. Slightly more heavy duty late model tractors are as often as not used up by heavy duty work from the previous owner. Commercial types even well used are hard to find ready to use for 1300 bucks at least around here. Looks to me like one choice would be to use the 1300 bucks for a down payment on a new more heavy duty machine with the bagger set up on it and find a dealer that will finance the rest. Another is to just use a regular lawnmower with a bagger on it and forget the trailer for now until a real good used unit can be found or more money is available. A decent blower is another good idea. Renting a real leaf vac is an option. Hiring the leaf work done is an option. There is just to many options and not near enough solutions at least short term I guess lol. I rake a heck of alot of leaves, but I also shatter them up good with a lawn tractor at times and bag them up with a regular lawnmower at times. Sometimes I wonder why I even do it since on my block almost no one does.

Yeah, as said in the last post, I would suggest doing something else, because you won't be able to buy much with your budget, especially of you want a bagger attachment. Here are your other options (user possum said some of these):

• handheld OR backpack blower
• walk-behind blower
• leaf vacuum
• hire someone
• renting a leaf vac

If there is a mower that you could use to do the mowing, some of the options above might be good for the leaf cleanup part, because your budget won't let you buy a mower AND one of the above things (or just a mower w/ bagger). Good luck! :smile:

I would recommend looking into the 100 series jd tractors. my grandpa bought a 116 two years ago, and uses it quite a bit. he paid 800 for it i believe. he also uses it to pull Chris craft wood boats. it wont go up hill with them, and you do wheelies at the start, but it is a solid machine. honestly i wouldn't even try for new with a 1300 budget, and wanting something to pull a trailer. i got my 317 for 750 from a family friend, but good luck finding that deal. just keep your eye out, check craigslist, and wait. just cause the new mower in the bb store has 25 hp, does NOT mean it will out pull my 17 hp 1979 jd. i prefer the older jd's. they are much more solid then newer ones.