Hello,
I am new around here. I have found myself in a new home with a new yard that is a great deal larger than my old yard. By comparison it is a postage stamp compared to many of yours but it is relatively large for the area in which I live. I mow 17,600 sq-ft (roughly 80% of a half acre lot).
I had a lawn service last year that the previous owner included. He of course scalped my yard quite effectively in around 15 minutes on what looked like a Scag zero turn (hard to tell as he was going about mach 2) but that is irrelevant.
I made the first cut with my capable 11 year old Craftsman that I picked up for $103 in the clearance section in 2003. It is running a little rough but I managed to bag my whole lawn in about 3.5 hours without much drama.
With that said my wonderful wife believes that 3.5 hours communing with my lawn is far too much "work" - I may or may not have explained that I won't bag every week. Anyway my neighbors to the East and West have riding mowers so she has it in her head that our little half acre plot that has a house and numerous trees and things scattered about is of sufficient size to necessitate a riding mower (never mind the fact that the aforementioned neighbors are both in their 60s, one has one leg and one is legally blind - I am 33). So anyway the purchase of a lawn and garden tractor (although in my mind is not necessary for maintaining the height of the lawn, might be useful for other tasks about the house) has been approved.
What is the collective wisdom of the site? Am I silly to even consider anything but a walk behind. I would like something with a blade clutch for sure (letting go of the bale and having to restart the mower is annoying and seems unsafe) and would just like to be able to cut fast if necessary and neatly and precisely for the usual mode. My favorite dealer stocks Toro and Honda and those seem to be the top walk behind brands and a number of tractors. Zero turn seems too much money for a single task device so that is why I am leaving it out of the discussion.
Opinions on mowing 1/2 acre? Walk it or ride it? How do would you go fast?
I am new around here. I have found myself in a new home with a new yard that is a great deal larger than my old yard. By comparison it is a postage stamp compared to many of yours but it is relatively large for the area in which I live. I mow 17,600 sq-ft (roughly 80% of a half acre lot).
I had a lawn service last year that the previous owner included. He of course scalped my yard quite effectively in around 15 minutes on what looked like a Scag zero turn (hard to tell as he was going about mach 2) but that is irrelevant.
I made the first cut with my capable 11 year old Craftsman that I picked up for $103 in the clearance section in 2003. It is running a little rough but I managed to bag my whole lawn in about 3.5 hours without much drama.
With that said my wonderful wife believes that 3.5 hours communing with my lawn is far too much "work" - I may or may not have explained that I won't bag every week. Anyway my neighbors to the East and West have riding mowers so she has it in her head that our little half acre plot that has a house and numerous trees and things scattered about is of sufficient size to necessitate a riding mower (never mind the fact that the aforementioned neighbors are both in their 60s, one has one leg and one is legally blind - I am 33). So anyway the purchase of a lawn and garden tractor (although in my mind is not necessary for maintaining the height of the lawn, might be useful for other tasks about the house) has been approved.
What is the collective wisdom of the site? Am I silly to even consider anything but a walk behind. I would like something with a blade clutch for sure (letting go of the bale and having to restart the mower is annoying and seems unsafe) and would just like to be able to cut fast if necessary and neatly and precisely for the usual mode. My favorite dealer stocks Toro and Honda and those seem to be the top walk behind brands and a number of tractors. Zero turn seems too much money for a single task device so that is why I am leaving it out of the discussion.
Opinions on mowing 1/2 acre? Walk it or ride it? How do would you go fast?