I have a big lawn - well, 3 big yards. And they are all on a hill, maybe a 15-20% slope. Too steep, it seems to use a riding mower or zero turn, unless I went up and down, but they are all long and wide and going up and down would be weird and take a long time... I've read that a commercial walk-behind could fit the bill - it should speed up my mowing time (currently, I take about 3 hours to do all three with my push mower) significantly, and the hilly terrain should be ok for one.
I don't want to buy a new $4000 commercial mower for mowing my 3 yards every couple of weeks. I can see spending $700 or $800 or a bit mire if I have to, but would really like to find something used, if possible. Craigslist shows a couple of options (discussed below), and I've seen the Cub Cadet CC 760 ES, which would be a bit over $1000 new. This appears to be the same thing as is sold by Lowes as the Troy Built TB WC33 XP.
On Craigslist, there are a few options. One is a very old Toro model 30103, which, after coming home and googling, appears to be a commercial model from 1989. It is a pawn shop that sells a lot of yard equipment, asking $600 for it. I could probably get them down as low as $400, I'm guessing (no idea why I'm guessing that). I looked at it, and it has some rust holes in the deck, and also I couldn't get it to start. But that could be my own user error - they told me they could get it to start and I could come back when their lawn guy is there to help. I assume I'd need to sink some money into it to fix the deck, and probably some other issues. The engine is a Kawasaki FB460V, which may not be the original engine. What I like about this is that it is wide - 3 blades, for a 52" cutting width I think? I can't find for sure what the cutting width is, but it is wide, which means faster mowing, right? I also like that I can steer with it. Assuming it runs, and assuming I fix the deck, change the blades, what else should I be concerned about?
The other option is a Craftsman 33" walk behind. It started right up, when I looked at it. They are also asking $600 for it. It is obviously in better shape than the Toro. It appears to basically be an older generation of the Cub Cadet above, as I understand these 33" walk behinds are manufactured and marketed by multiple stores, and there used to be a Sears version. No idea how old it is, but I didn't see anything wrong with it, although that doesn't mean a whole lot.
I could look some more. I'd really like that toro to work out. It is really old, but Toro makes good mowers, from what I've read, and it is much wider. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I found the manual for that model, here, which gives some details and specs. I'm not above doing some repairs and spending some time on it, if I can get a good price, and if it isn't a lost cause.
Or I could wait and keep using my push mower. Or maybe I'm going about this all wrong. I'd appreciate any opinions...
I don't want to buy a new $4000 commercial mower for mowing my 3 yards every couple of weeks. I can see spending $700 or $800 or a bit mire if I have to, but would really like to find something used, if possible. Craigslist shows a couple of options (discussed below), and I've seen the Cub Cadet CC 760 ES, which would be a bit over $1000 new. This appears to be the same thing as is sold by Lowes as the Troy Built TB WC33 XP.
On Craigslist, there are a few options. One is a very old Toro model 30103, which, after coming home and googling, appears to be a commercial model from 1989. It is a pawn shop that sells a lot of yard equipment, asking $600 for it. I could probably get them down as low as $400, I'm guessing (no idea why I'm guessing that). I looked at it, and it has some rust holes in the deck, and also I couldn't get it to start. But that could be my own user error - they told me they could get it to start and I could come back when their lawn guy is there to help. I assume I'd need to sink some money into it to fix the deck, and probably some other issues. The engine is a Kawasaki FB460V, which may not be the original engine. What I like about this is that it is wide - 3 blades, for a 52" cutting width I think? I can't find for sure what the cutting width is, but it is wide, which means faster mowing, right? I also like that I can steer with it. Assuming it runs, and assuming I fix the deck, change the blades, what else should I be concerned about?
The other option is a Craftsman 33" walk behind. It started right up, when I looked at it. They are also asking $600 for it. It is obviously in better shape than the Toro. It appears to basically be an older generation of the Cub Cadet above, as I understand these 33" walk behinds are manufactured and marketed by multiple stores, and there used to be a Sears version. No idea how old it is, but I didn't see anything wrong with it, although that doesn't mean a whole lot.
I could look some more. I'd really like that toro to work out. It is really old, but Toro makes good mowers, from what I've read, and it is much wider. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I found the manual for that model, here, which gives some details and specs. I'm not above doing some repairs and spending some time on it, if I can get a good price, and if it isn't a lost cause.
Or I could wait and keep using my push mower. Or maybe I'm going about this all wrong. I'd appreciate any opinions...