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I am rather reluctantly starting to gather information so, I can replace my snapper lawn Tractor. It is or was burning alot of oil and is now spitting out a lot of oil on my garage floor. I have a Snapper LTH1438, so as near as I can tell its probably 16-18 years old. Our house sits on just over a .5 acre lot. It has a good amount of landscaping my wife would like me to avoid running over when I mow. I have at this point a limited budget to replace myold friend of a LT. My first thought was to go to something like a Snapper SPX 2246. My local Snapper dealer tells me he is currently out of and will be until spring such small tractors with that small of a cutting deck.. In spring come back to him and buy a Simplicity, he says its the same tractor but just Orange,since they (Snapper and Simplicity) are owned by Briggs &. Are they really the same tractor but in a differnt colored wrapper? The local dealer tells me not to waste money on buying a mulching kit,but to just double mow and buy the tractor with the side schute only. I am not sure if I want to spend the money or time on having to remow part of my yard each time I mow. The dealer I bought my Snapper from tells me both Snapper and Simplicity have gone down hill I will not be able to get the quality I had with a new Snapper or Simplicity without spending more money than I did 18 years ago. Is this true? I am not mechanical ,so buying a used Lawn Tractor is not a viable option. I am 60 and really don't want to spend half of my football Sundays,pushing my 20 year old Bolens mulching mower. I think my price range is probably $1,800-$2,200 price range. The dealer who sold me the Snapper suggests a Cub Cadet LTX 1042, which of course he sells. In my price range I was thinking of the Snapper SPX 2246, A JD D130, or Cub Cadet LTX 1040,1042 or 1045 . What would you suggest? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome.

I have had an Ariens zoom 34" ZTR for the last several years complete with mulch kit. My lot is 200' x 120' full of garden beds and trees. I can't say enough about this mower. It is for light service, that is not for doing the back forty. It is fun to drive and cuts my mowing time (by push mower) by two thirds.
Here's an older photo, but it will give you some idea. It is definitely in your price range.



Good luck'

I have heard that snapper and simplicity have gone the way of chinese parts :/ I have also heard that Cub cadets are on the up and up. for a lot as small as yours you may not need a ZT of course they are always more fun/efficent. But not always entirely necessary.
I would go with the cub cadet.

Ariena said:

Welcome.

I have had an Ariens zoom 34" ZTR for the last several years complete with mulch kit. My lot is 200' x 120' full of garden beds and trees. I can't say enough about this mower. It is for light service, that is not for doing the back forty. It is fun to drive and cuts my mowing time (by push mower) by two thirds.
Here's an older photo, but it will give you some idea. It is definitely in your price range.

Good luck'

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DPASCHEN,
I can't disagree with user Ariena because I have a next door neighbor who has had an Ariens ZTR for 15 years and it still makes his lawn look like a golf course. I recently looked at the Ariens at Home Depot and they are "close to" your price range for the 42"($2500). The only problem is they have the Kohler Courage and I've heard those engines have some major design flaws and to stay away from them(my neighbor's has a 16hp Briggs & Stratton Vanguard....one of the best engines B & S ever made). If you can find an Ariens "dealer" and get them to make you a deal on one with a better engine(I prefer Kawasaki) you won't be disappointed with an Ariens. BTW, I just purchased a 52" Gravely Pro-Turn commercial ZTR(Gravely is now owned by Ariens) and even though the Gravely's are not in your price range I looked at a LOT of ZTR's before buying and I've never looked back. Ariens Company makes very good quality equipment and I opted for a commercial that will last my lifetime(and my son's.....and my grandson's:0)

The new snapper you speak of looks like a good unit to me. There is no big rush is there? One half acre is not much to mow. I would look them all over and decide. Buy the snapper if you like the make of it when available. I would buy the mower I liked at a price i could afford from a dealer that i liked. You can always hire the lawn mowed if you wish to watch football. Or just record and watch later.

Thanks, for all of your thoughts. While visiting the local Cub Cadet dealer, I ran accross another model I had not considered. The dealer has one remaining I-1042 zero turn tractor. I have seen mixed reviews on this discontinued line and model. The idea of zero turn is attractive with my wife's numerous flower beds. The price seemed to be competitive at $1995 for the last one the dealer has in stock. I realize that the reviews I have seen may be biased towards the negative of a product, since users with problems may be more vocal than those that have had no problems. Any thoughts or comments?

I have to +1 the previous comments. As far as a small decked ZTR I would buy it, mow your lawn much faster than a lawn tractor and then go watch football! My 33 inch decked snapper ZTR I bought lasted 15 years before I finally replaced it. And while the lowend lt's are cheaper... the time savings and ease of use around all those flower beds will make all the difference. It will last a long time with regular oil changes and routine maintenance. I finally replaced my snapper this spring and my wife did not even blink at it after using the snapper all those years. She drew her line in the sand forbiding me buying it(the snapper) and I bought it and 2 weeks later had to admit it was the best purchase I had ever made. By the way I disagree with your dealer regarding mulching... snappers mulch kit worked great and I bought one for my new mower as well Would not hesitate to recommend it!

I had better just buy something quickly,as I just seem to be getting more confused daily. I thought I was going to purchase the i 1042 Cub Cadet zero turn lawn tractor,which has the tractor body,but...The Price was right,but I found in reading the 1 1042 owners manual online,that every 10 hours I will need to lube the deck spindles. The only way to get to the deck spindles is from underneath the deck. A salesman at the local dealer said they would sell me a floor jack ,so I could raise the tractor and do the needed maintenace. My sixty year old lower back makes bending down and lubing the spindles hard if not impossible. By the time I add the cost of the special jack and the $1,999 for the discontinued i series I am within $300 of a RZT S 42 zero turn Cub Cadet,which generally has good to great reviews. If my budget can stand it,I, for the moment, am leaning towards the Cub Cadet RZT S 1042. I like the idea of the Zero Turn and the fact I can still have a steering wheel. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks again for all the responses.

DPASCHEN said:

.The Price was right,but I found in reading the 1 1042 owners manual online,that every 10 hours I will need to lube the deck spindles. .

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Blade spindle lubrication has been debated it seems forever so ask your dealer if this particular mower , or any others you're interested in , has sealed bearings. If he doesn't know you'll detect that somewhere in his answer and he really doesn't know his product very well.

If it or others have sealed bearings the bearings are just what the name implies and were never intended to be greased. So why does the manual recommend greasing every 10 hours if it has these bearings. That manufacturer is blowing smoke and he must blow smoke to keep up with his competition that's blowing smoke.

I have ask where this grease goes that's pumped and how much it takes to fill the cavity between bearings and no one can ever tell me for certain.

So my recommendation is open the window and let the smoke out and buy whatever you like the feel of and seems to fit your needs and price range best.

Don't let this mower shopping get the best of you. :biggrin:

I for 1 think you would like the RZT S. It is very easy to drive and will be a nice bridge for you between how you drive the lt vs a true zt. The only thing I did not like about it was you had a seperate pedal for reverse. That will still be similiar to what you were used to... I also like greasable spindles, however I cannot imagine having to lift the deck to grease them, especially since most of the spindle is above the deck where the pully attaches. Make sure you drive what ever you buy long enough to get a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. You might also try out the RZT (w/o the S) as it is cheaper and the same machine minus the steerable front wheels. It has lap bars and they become very intuitive after a few minutes of use. Since the bars also control the throttle, you dont have to use a foot pedal for reverse.

SandburRanch said:

Blade spindle lubrication has been debated it seems forever so ask your dealer if this particular mower , or any others you're interested in , has sealed bearings. If he doesn't know you'll detect that somewhere in his answer and he really doesn't know his product very well.

If it or others have sealed bearings the bearings are just what the name implies and were never intended to be greased. So why does the manual recommend greasing every 10 hours if it has these bearings. That manufacturer is blowing smoke and he must blow smoke to keep up with his competition that's blowing smoke.

I have ask where this grease goes that's pumped and how much it takes to fill the cavity between bearings and no one can ever tell me for certain.

So my recommendation is open the window and let the smoke out and buy whatever you like the feel of and seems to fit your needs and price range best.

Don't let this mower shopping get the best of you. :biggrin:

Click to expand...

DPASCHEN,

User SandburRanch is spot on. During my recent research and shopping for a ZTR I was told by more than one dealer that almost ALL lawn mowers with grease zerks in the blade spindles indeed now have sealed bearings. It is nothing but a "placebo effect" because some companies got so much backlash(and lost sales) because potential customers "wanted" to be able to grease the spindles to make sure the bearings would not go out. And the sealed bearings of today are much better(and have metal caps on the tops & bottoms to prevent rupture by debris) than the older sealed bearings did. The only "upgrade" you can look for would be cast iron spindles versus aluminum spindles because the cast iron are a lot heavier duty(the ones on my Gravely have a 3 year warranty). Most of the sealed bearings are rated to last 1,500-2,000 hours which for normal consumers is pretty well a "lifetime"(I have a 1.5 acre yard and my old lawn tractor I gave to my son had approx. 400 hours on it after 6 years of use). It took a while to convince me, but now I've been convinced that it's just another "maintenance chore" that I no longer need to perform. You need to ask the dealer or the manufacturer on the Cub Cadet i 1042 if the bearings are sealed and tell them the "maintenance" is a deal breaker for you. Hopefully, they'll be up front with you then.