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I'm entering year 12 with my trusty Craftsman / Kohler DYT 4000 riding mower.

I perform regular maintenance, I keep the mower clean, and I have 2 sets of blades so I always have a set that has been sharpened to swap in. It has rewarded me by having been perfectly reliable the entire 11 seasons (although it does blow grey smoke when I engage the blades these days). My lawn is about 1/2 acre of flat grass (and other plants, unfortunately), and I cut it once a week, at the highest setting and I bag the clippings since this mower has never been good at mulching. I store everything indoors, and do not let the mower get wet, and do not cut wet grass.

Anyway- I realize nothing lasts forever, and that very likely my reliability streak will come to an end at some point. A wealthy friend of mine bought this mower on a whim thinking that he'd cut his own lawn, (LOL) then realized it's still a lot of work so he parked it in his shed for a few years before deciding to roll it to the curb with only seven hours on it. The mower would not start, and although I'm somewhat handy, I did not realize that mice had eaten through part of the wiring harness, so I had the mower serviced 11 years ago and it's been running really well ever since.

I'd like to start doing research on riding mowers so I know what to look for when the time comes, and don't feel forced to rush into a decision. I am self-employed and am on a budget but since I maintain my home and machines (cars, appliances etc) myself, I am looking for a good reliable machine that isn't the most expensive, but also not the least expensive either.

Looking at the manufacturers, it appears that there are very few left, with most of them being manufactured by MTD under one name or another. As a child in the 80's I grew up pushing a Toro mower and snowblower so for nostalgic reasons I always am sort of partial to Toro products (but that is not a good way to select a quality product). I read taht MTD manufactures Toro as well.

I know I can always have my DYT 4000 repaired / rebuilt if / when it dies, and if that is a path I should consider, please let me know that as well.

I look forward to any advice experienced members of this group can provide.

Anthony
NJ

If it runs good, you keep it maintained, I'd keep it.

You can easily get another 5 years out of the way it's operated / maintained...



If looking at Toro's, apparently some "Toro made engines" are made in CHINA..

I'd make sure it's a Briggs, Honda or Kohler, something you can get parts for and has a proven track record..

Thanks so much for your reply, Scott.

Once things start breaking down, I have a feeling that my local repair center will steer me toward whatever they want to sell me, so I am trying to get a feel for what machines are considered disposable these days so I can avoid them.

Anthony

One thing to beware of, and I harp on this a lot, is the hydrostatic transmissions that are non-serviceable. These are throwaways with a useable life span of 300 hours or so and a replacement price (today) of about $700. They are in about everything sold in the Lowes/Homedepot type stores. See them used for what looks to be a really good price, but the truth comes out when it get hot and won't go. A geared transmission might not be near as handy but much better in the long run. Look for an engine with a sleeved cylinder bore(s) too, I'd guess most are these days though. As always you get what you pay for in a new machine.

You can pick out the mower with the highest quality engine, hydros, and deck, expecting it to last 20 years.

But when the manufacturer decides to no longer make spare parts available, you have a piece of junk unless you're a good scrounger.

That was the nice thing about Sears, parts available just about forever and easy to order.

tom3 said:

That was the nice thing about Sears, parts available just about forever and easy to order.

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That was not my experience w/Sears. Last lawn tractor was a 2008, it had a Dana 6 speed transaxle. Thing I did not know was that Dana sold the rights to use their name on crappy chinese transaxles.

Mine started leaking at the axle seals. Of course just out of warranty. So I tried to order seals. Sorry, the complete transaxle is no longer being produced & there are no parts.

I filed a complaint with the BBB against Sears, since the mower was just out of warranty & yet no parts for the piece of poop transaxle. I thought the Dana was a good thing.

Anyhow the BBB agreed with me & Sears wanted to cut me a great deal on new mower. I refused & said I need heavy discount on a Peerless transaxle & certain brackets. Well they agreed, so I converted that pos dana to a Peerless that was super. And after the conversion, I sold off that rider to get a Toro Zero Turn & have NEVER looked back.

I will NEVER own another sears rider. FWIW: Newer from Sears does NOT mean better.. Beware.

So I rarely answer these but feel compelled to answer this one.
MTD makes the lowest grade mower in the business. That includes all the brands they sell. Their commercial line is the only thing worth buying.
Husqvarna is getting out of the low-end market altogether.
Toro does not make a rider anymore.

So you better start saving now. The only thing that will last any amount of time is a GT lawn mower. It is made with better and stronger parts. Starts around $3000. In the John Deere line, it will start around $5000.

Blaz has nailed it.
Because people can no longer tell schite from clay any more they buy domestic ride on by price & colour.
Because they all read The magic Pudding as children they all think they can get quality for nothing.
They are all wrong.
But the mower companies pander to this and reduce the price every season.
Tractor style ride ons are basically finished.
The rear engined ones will stay around for a while because they suit smaller yards.
After that it will be garden tractors only and even they are not up to much now days.
It is all the little cost cutters like no adjustments on any of the linkages, non serviceable transmissions etc that spell the end.
Just finished repairing a YTH 2842 Husky, top of the line with the fabricated deck $ 2356 ( Aus) for transmission rebuild, 3 new deck spindles, a belt , a couple of pulleys, new fan gear & steering gear & new drag links.
The mower is 7 years old with 850 hours on it and while the 2 acre block is on the side of a hill, the owner mows 3 times a week in summer and at least weekly the rest of the year so it has not worked hard.
The same machine used by a commercial customer was toast after 5 years & 1100 hrs.
His bill would have gone way over $ 3000 so he polished it up & sold it.

ZTR's are a lot easier & cheaper to make and because they are still sort of new, command a much higher price but even then there is a big difference between the domestic & commercial machines
Put a new belt on an RTZ husky and it would come close to being the biggest pile of puss I have ever worked on.

So if your mower is really in good nick, take the time to replace all of the plastic bushes on the controls, the bushes in the wheels & steering and in particular the two in the middle of the front cross member.
When you have it out drill & fit a grease nipple to the bolt so you can keep it lubed as AYP did not bother putting one in, in fact I think JD is the only mower that has one & even then it is near impossible to get at.
On your deck, replace the tension arm and its pivot bush ( buy a spare ) and it should run forever.

Pull the transmission, invert it and change the oil, don't forget to grease the axel before you put the rear wheels back on so they will come off easily.

You will be much better served putting $ 1500 into fixing your old mower than spending $ 5000 on a new one.
Keep an eagle eye on Muligans & the Surplus Centre as they regularly have run out trannies really cheap and with a spare sitting on your shelf you will be fine till petrol mowers are banned outright .

The white smoke when you engage the blades is either piston rings worn or a head gasket going south.
The gasket is about $ 10 and 1-2 hours to replace.
The rings you just live with as it is rarely worth re-ringing these engines & for most oversized pistons are not available.
Around this time of year I used to buy a pallet or two of surplus engines as you can get them for as low as $ 500 against a retail down here of $ 2500 but Briggs has lost the plot & I can no longer guarantee customers parts for their mowers so I now repower either with Kawasaki or Chinese engines.

So you can ferret around for replacement engines & trannies & keep you old Craftsman running for another 10 years for a lot less than replacing it with a new mower that will be lucky to go 5 years.

Wow! Great information, Blaze. Can you elaborate about GT? Is that a manufacturer or a particular model of another manufacturer? I never heard of it, and I'd like to research it a little.

Bert- that's a LOT of information. Thanks SO much for the education! I was not aware of the current state of the industry. Sad that it's so difficult to buy a quality machine these days.

I really appreciate all of these replies. Thanks very much!

Anthony
NJ

GT = Garden Tractor as opposed to a lawn tractor.

Most GT's are built for ground engaging equipment like Snow plows and snow blowers.

Darryl G said:

GT = Garden Tractor as opposed to a lawn tractor.

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Haha... I see- sorry to be such a "noob".

I'm not so sure about the distinction between Garden Tractor and Lawn Tractor, but a casual internet search tells me that a Garden Tractor is nearly a small car, whereas a Lawn Tractor is like a Go Cart (comparatively speaking). If I started looking for a new or used Garden Tractor, are there small ones with the same footprint as a Lawn Tractor? I live in suburbia, and my storage facility is a 5 X 8 shed (which houses my DYT4000 just fine). Anything I used would have to fit in that shed... Nothing gets stored outside. As an aside- I needed a new push mower and found a used Honda HR214SMA (in case anyone is familiar with these mowers) For Sale at a lawn mower repair shop. It's an 80's vintage self-driven walk-behind mower and I was told by many who are in the know that it's about a million times better than the new "Honda" walk-behinds that one can find at Lowes, Home Depot etc. So I'm not insisting on buying anything new / modern. I'm looking for a good non-disposable option for my application.

By the way- I'm basically the only guy in my neighborhood who cuts his own lawn. Everyone else hires a lawn service. Once in awhile one of the lawn service guys sees me out there sweating and asks why I insist on the hassle when they are literally next door and across the street and can do in 30 minutes what takes me 2.5 hours to accomplish. I got price estimates from them, but the contract has them coming every week from April 1st through Oct 31st, rain or shine whether the lawn needs to be cut or not. There are many weeks when we have dry weather that I skip cutting as to not stress the grass and keep it long to retain moisture, and many weeks toward the beginning and end of the mowing season here in NJ where the grass simply hasn't grown enough to need to be cut, so for $70 I'll continue to be in control of my maintenance and finances... Plus- I kind of enjoy cutting the lawn, and the break it offers from the demands of being a DIY husband, and a father to a 7 year old and a 10 year old.

mzdrati said:

Haha... I see- sorry to be such a "noob".

I'm not so sure about the distinction between Garden Tractor and Lawn Tractor, but a casual internet search tells me that a Garden Tractor is nearly a small car, whereas a Lawn Tractor is like a Go Cart (comparatively speaking). If I started looking for a new or used Garden Tractor, are there small ones with the same footprint as a Lawn Tractor? I live in suburbia, and my storage facility is a 5 X 8 shed (which houses my DYT4000 just fine). Anything I used would have to fit in that shed... Nothing gets stored outside. As an aside- I needed a new push mower and found a used Honda HR214SMA (in case anyone is familiar with these mowers) For Sale at a lawn mower repair shop. It's an 80's vintage self-driven walk-behind mower and I was told by many who are in the know that it's about a million times better than the new "Honda" walk-behinds that one can find at Lowes, Home Depot etc. So I'm not insisting on buying anything new / modern. I'm looking for a good non-disposable option for my application.

By the way- I'm basically the only guy in my neighborhood who cuts his own lawn. Everyone else hires a lawn service. Once in awhile one of the lawn service guys sees me out there sweating and asks why I insist on the hassle when they are literally next door and across the street and can do in 30 minutes what takes me 2.5 hours to accomplish. I got price estimates from them, but the contract has them coming every week from April 1st through Oct 31st, rain or shine whether the lawn needs to be cut or not. There are many weeks when we have dry weather that I skip cutting as to not stress the grass and keep it long to retain moisture, and many weeks toward the beginning and end of the mowing season here in NJ where the grass simply hasn't grown enough to need to be cut, so for $70 I'll continue to be in control of my maintenance and finances... Plus- I kind of enjoy cutting the lawn, and the break it offers from the demands of being a DIY husband, and a father to a 7 year old and a 10 year old.

Click to expand...

Size wise they will have almost the same size. Maybe a little longer and taller but not wider. Deck size sets the width.

mzdrati said:

By the way- I'm basically the only guy in my neighborhood who cuts his own lawn. Everyone else hires a lawn service. .

Click to expand...

Same here...

I enjoy the exercise (walk behind/self propelled-just cut and trimmed this am!) and the finished "product" is WAY nicer than the commercial guys.

Mostly because they use the heavy machines, leave RUTS IN the yard (big time) from running the SAME route every time...

They won't "weed eat" around sprinkler heads either and just blow grass all over the place (vs mulching blade)..

I won't pay somebody to do anything I can do myself. Mowing is one of those things. I've known women who mowed their own yards into their 90's.

Size wise, tractors go
Real tractors
Compact tractors
Sub-compact tractors
Garden tractors
Lawn tractors.

The last 3 are oft built on the same chassis so can be exactly the same size.
The difference a garden tractor is all steel with little paint but a lawn tractor chassis is all paint over very thin steel.
Some of the better garden tractors will have proper chassis rails but most now days are on the same shape plate chassis as used for lawn tractors.

GT's have bigger engines , a lot better transmissions and most of the levers & controls will have proper bushes, not lust go through an unbushed hole.
GT's will generally have adjustments on tie rods ,real bearings in the wheels & more grease nipples.

Many of them would have been called Lawn tractors 30 years ago before the manufactureres started on their race to build tissue paper trash just so long as it was cheaper than their competitors.

As you may have guessed I do not think much of most modern lawn tractors, basically they are all junk designed too last 5 to 10 years then be totally clapped out.
Simple things like running a wheel into a dish drain can trash the entire steering system

cpurvis said:

I won't pay somebody to do anything I can do myself. Mowing is one of those things. I've known women who mowed their own yards into their 90's.

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I have the exact same philosophy. There are some things I can do, and some that I can't. I do all of the stuff I can, whether I like it or not.

Can someone offer a suggestion of a somewhat current brand and model of a 42" Garden Tractor with mower deck that might be worth buying (either new or used)?

Anthony
NJ

The 200 series Cubs are really good but spindles are no longer made & getting in short supply unless one of the after market companies start doing them.
Great spindle set up with tapered roller bearings like that all should be.
After that the 3000 series that replaced the.
The hydros are not as good but the mower is quite sound.

I'll keep an eye open for that Cub Cadet 200 Series, but I don't see anything for sale (new or used) in my area.

Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks again for all of the guidance!

Anthony
NJ

mzdrati said:

I'll keep an eye open for that Cub Cadet 200 Series, but I don't see anything for sale (new or used) in my area.

Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks again for all of the guidance!

Anthony
NJ

Click to expand...

I am not a huge John Deere fan and unfortunately they do not have anything in the "Garden Tractor" class with a 42" deck but have you considered the X330/350? The X300 series gets a more robust frame, a great cutting deck, choice of Kawasaki engine (X350) and a better version of the K46 hydrostatic. These X300s can do a decent amount of yard work besides just cutting so long as you keep it light and easy like a small yard cart for leaves and branches, etc. Step up to the X380 with the 48" deck and you get the K58 trans which gets you closer to ground engaging attachments. Yes the Deere will set you back a bit more than the competition but they usually have a spring sale with $300-500 off the signature series models.

You could also go for a Husqvarna which offer the beefier K66 or G730 hydrostatics and decent engines but where you save on the overall cost of the mower you end up with something a little less stout than the Deere. Again with the Husqvarna, I don't believe that they have a 42" "Garden Tractor"

You might not find one around the corner, but gas in the USA is fairly cheap.
I regularly drive 1200 miles to see the rellies and always return with a trailer full of mowers & motorcycles.
In Victoria ( Aust ) most of these are about 30% cheaper than NSW despite having the same price when new.
a few examples of the mowers I am suggesting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-2186-Tractor-Snow-Blower-Mower/153345312173?hash=item23b417c5ad:g:YzUAAOSw8OFcQmvx:rk:46f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Super-Gt-2550-22-Hp-Kohler-50-Hydro-Grt-Cond/123616260402?hash=item1cc81a7132:g:7aMAAOSwn6Jb-dqa:rk:62f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Super-Gt-2544-21-Hp-Kohler-44-Hydro-Serviced-Grt-Cond/123591856199?epid=70571684&hash=item1cc6a61047:g:Kc0AAOSw1KRb-dO5:rk:65f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Cub-C...=item4b5d1f2912:g:tNsAAOSwjrFb0gwS:rk:66:pf:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-...=item56c08958e6:g:CMMAAOSwpZpcYdBc:rk:71:pf:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Model-2155-Lawn-Tractor/352585316027?hash=item5217b8f6bb:g:SMYAAOSwqjhcVwAS:rk:72f:0

They all have common deck mounts and current Cub decks will fit so deck size is not a problem. They came from 38" right up to 60"
Note they all have horizontal shaft engines, you can see the drive shaft tunnel in the photos.
The vertical shaft engines are nowhere near as durable as horizontals as verticals only go into mowers and with mower price ( cheapness ) is king.
Horizontal engines are designed to do 10 hours work a day 5 days a week for 10+ years.
Vertical shaft engines are designed to do 1 or 2 hours a day, 1 day a week for 10 years.

Bolens made a few with horizontal shafts but they have been out of business for quite a while so body parts are hard to come by.
Troy Built took over Bolens and made some good GT's till they went broke .

bertsmobile1 said:

You might not find one around the corner, but gas in the USA is fairly cheap.
I regularly drive 1200 miles to see the rellies and always return with a trailer full of mowers & motorcycles.
In Victoria ( Aust ) most of these are about 30% cheaper than NSW despite having the same price when new.
a few examples of the mowers I am suggesting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-2186-Tractor-Snow-Blower-Mower/153345312173?hash=item23b417c5ad:g:YzUAAOSw8OFcQmvx:rk:46f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Super-Gt-2550-22-Hp-Kohler-50-Hydro-Grt-Cond/123616260402?hash=item1cc81a7132:g:7aMAAOSwn6Jb-dqa:rk:62f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Super-Gt-2544-21-Hp-Kohler-44-Hydro-Serviced-Grt-Cond/123591856199?epid=70571684&hash=item1cc6a61047:g:Kc0AAOSw1KRb-dO5:rk:65f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Cub-C...=item4b5d1f2912:g:tNsAAOSwjrFb0gwS:rk:66:pf:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-...=item56c08958e6:g:CMMAAOSwpZpcYdBc:rk:71:pf:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Model-2155-Lawn-Tractor/352585316027?hash=item5217b8f6bb:g:SMYAAOSwqjhcVwAS:rk:72f:0

They all have common deck mounts and current Cub decks will fit so deck size is not a problem. They came from 38" right up to 60"
Note they all have horizontal shaft engines, you can see the drive shaft tunnel in the photos.
The vertical shaft engines are nowhere near as durable as horizontals as verticals only go into mowers and with mower price ( cheapness ) is king.
Horizontal engines are designed to do 10 hours work a day 5 days a week for 10+ years.
Vertical shaft engines are designed to do 1 or 2 hours a day, 1 day a week for 10 years.

Bolens made a few with horizontal shafts but they have been out of business for quite a while so body parts are hard to come by.
Troy Built took over Bolens and made some good GT's till they went broke .

Click to expand...

Hi Bert.

I know it's been a few months since we were discussing this, but life got int he way of my looking for another mower. I found a used Cub Cadet GT1286 somewhat local to me, but it has a few details that I am curious about. The listing states that it has a new PTO clutch, a new battery and a new belt. I know the battery and belt are wear items, but is it normal to replace the clutch in one of these? It has 332 hours. Is that considered a lot?

The asking price is $1000 (USD) which is most of the price of a new mower at local stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. Is this older model that much better? Thanks SO much for trying to help me...