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Hope this is the best subforum for this question.

I've got about ~4 acres of mowable "lawn" in Mississippi. We built on this property 5 years ago, Bermuda sod around the house maybe an acre total transitioning to native pasture type grasses farther out. Bahia and a mix of stuff. This property puts a beating on my mower... still find the odd construction debris left during build like a brick that gets unearthed, rebar scraps I think are now mostly gone, there were plenty of small stumps from an inch to a foot from dozens of trees we had thinned/removed. Sloping hills, two ponds in the back that is slipped grass to the edge. Some sand in places, small gravel in a spot or two mixed into grass that occasionally get picked up.

Currently have a Husqvarna MZ54S with 275 hours. Good price at the time, and it's been a trooper. I think this one is similar to current MZ54 but has a reinforced stamped deck instead of fabricated, and a Briggs commercial 25hp. I think transmissions are ZT3100, frame is beefy 3"X2". Deck has taken a beating but is hanging in there. Replaced all 3 spindles once, could stand to be replaced again. I use gator blades and would have to sharpen before every single mowing to have any semblance of sharp blades. Including the original blades, I think I'm probably on my 6th set?

Concerns:
- I suspect this mower won't survive forever!
- Removing blades to sharpen is a royal pain. The bolts seize and I can't remove while under the mower - I resort to pulling the deck out each time to flip over and pull blades. Takes a minute.
- Seems a little underpowered for the grass. I'd love to cut weekly but just can't with my job schedule - probably average right at 2 weeks between cuts. Bahia is tough.
- The deck either doesn't propel clippings well, or blades don't mulch well, or both. I don't bag clippings with that much property, and dealing with clippings when the grass gets pretty high is a challenge.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to either keep blades sharper easier, or have more power so it can deal with the tough grass and clippings better. I'm interested in suggestions. I'm sure if price were no object there's a beast of a mower out there that would be a dream but of course that's never the case. If this died tomorrow and I decided to replace it, ilI wouldn't want to spend over $10k. Lower is better. But getting the lawn mowed faster is better too!

If the best option is to just keep repairing this Husqvarna as needed until it completely falls apart, any suggestions on blades, deck, anything else to ease the burden of sharpening and maybe deal better with thick clippings?

If I'd be much happier by buying a more appropriate machine that's more powerful and/or easier to service blades that doesn't break the bank I'm open to suggestions.

No! Riders do not last forever.... I still have a 1987 Snapper RER series 6 that has the original 8HP flat head B&S engine and 30-inch deck. It is because it has been cared for serviced and repaired when needed. Any good machine has a potential of a very long life if it is maintained.

It would be a wise investment to look into getting a mower jack that you safely lift the mower with from the front.
For what it is worth, your hours are low, and I would invest in what you already have. I never retire a mower until it just cannot be reasonably repaired due to structural failure issues, but I am also a mechanic with many years of resurrecting equipment.

Next would be to invest in the engine and chassis repair manuals and good parts sources (Not Amazon). Parts Tree and Jack's small engine have been good for end user machines.

Change your drive transmission oil and filter (if it has external filters)

Service your fluids, always use good quality oils and fuel, change belts and blades as needed is going to exist with any machine you own. Buying a new machine will not give you a free pass from service, but the payment will still there like a new car purchase.

The life of any machine depends on how well it's been cared for. I've seen many new riders that were neglected and did not even make it to 100 hours because owners even neglected the first break-in oil change.

Newer mowers of all sizes are getting overloaded with too many gadgets, push buttons and electronics that are just not holding up in a regular lawn cutting environment.... They are even adding fuel injection on bigger models and that is proving to be a very bad idea from what I have seen so far.

Thanks for the wise advice. I thought about this long and hard since my initial post. I did the rough napkin math on estimated repairs to keep servicing what I have vs buying something new over a range of prices. The one thing that kept creeping into my thoughts was time... my current mower takes like 4 hours to get the riding part done. It shouldn't for 4 acres, but it's struggling to get through the tough grass we've got. No amount of repairs and maintenance would alter that significantly.

So I started looking more seriously at the replacement options. There are several good mowers that have dealers in my area in the same category as the Husqvarna I have for roughly the same price range (+inflation). While I'm sure some of those would trim a little time off the job they are all roughly the same as what I have now just newer, and probably still borderline suited for the job. Didn't make a lot of sense to spend more money to have pretty much what I already have.

And so I decided to forget about budget, and see if there was a mower that seemed perfectly suited to my needs. Built to last, designed to handle less than optimal cutting schedule in pasture type grasses, powerful enough to not care what grass I ran through, big enough and fast enough to significantly cut down on mowing time but not so big to not be able to maneuver around my property, house, lakes etc. I work hard, including a lot of weekends, and my time with family is precious. I'm not ready to pay the huge bill to have someone else manage our lawn, but I decided if such a machine existed then I'd be willing to spend more to reclaim that time.

Turns out such a beast does exist. I'm now a proud owner of a Gravely Mach One, and I couldn't be happier with the decision. That 4 hour mowing time is now 80 minutes. It cuts so much faster that I actually burn less fuel per cut than before. And even though this machine is designed primarily to get grass out of the deck and keep on chugging, the cut quality is still miles ahead. The yard looks way better when I'm done. I actually look forward to getting on this thing to cut grass, and it's so much faster than expected I may actually end up cutting a little more frequently... just easier to hop on after work for 45 minutes and cut half the yard and not feel like I've missed much family time.

Best purchase I've made in a while. Now time to sell the Husqvarna on to someone who can give it an easier life than I subjected it to.

Good, A Gravely Mach 1 is stepping into the commercial grade machines. They are made for speed cutting large areas.

Don't forget to keep up with maintenance and it will serve you well for a long time to come

I'm a big fan of getting the right machine for a given property. I usually change my equipment every time I move. Sounds like you got the right machine for your needs.

The bolts seize

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start using anti-seize. It will get everywhere, and a small can will last a lifetime. I use the aluminum color but some people elect for the copper.

Question(s) - - -

1) how high is the grass when you cut...

2) what is the height setting of your deck...

also, someone mention "Gravely" as a future alternative. I won't go into detail, but I was a longtime Gravely owner - now due to warranty and quality issues they're history....

Cut height around 3". I'm not sure of height of grass before cutting. The Bermuda isn't that tall, 4" or so. But the other stuff, native grasses, ranges from a few inches to over a foot. Worst cases when it rains heavily in the spring and days dry enough to cut conflict with my work schedule, I've had grass waist high to plow through.

rhosch said:

Cut height around 3". I'm not sure of height of grass before cutting. The Bermuda isn't that tall, 4" or so. But the other stuff, native grasses, ranges from a few inches to over a foot. Worst cases when it rains heavily in the spring and days dry enough to cut conflict with my work schedule, I've had grass waist high to plow through.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you'll find a regular mower that will cut through anything over a foot high without bogging down. Sounds like you really need a brush hog at this point....

I found it. Or at least good enough for my needs.