I have had two John Deere D110 riding mowers which I bought at Lowes. I sold the first one to a friend after 650 hours and bought another. I mow about an acre and use my lawn tractor to tow a 4' x 8' trailer a lot. I also tow my firewood splitter to my firewood work area. I have a MF 35 and a Mahindra 8560 4wd, but the little JD D110 is so convenient for little jobs I use it often. I replaced the mower deck (42") two years ago and then had to replace the engine last year. It now has a briggs and stratton professional series 19 hp which I'm told is a much better motor than the original JD. I have been using non-ethanol gas to try to avoid problems. I think JD put a less reliable motor in my second D110 so I don't know if I would buy another D110. The first D110 is still going strong.
Would you buy the same mower again?
- Thread starter Muhammad
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I moved almost four years ago and bought a Hustler Raptor 54 inch flip up. I have a 1.9 acre lot and about 60,000 square feet to mow.
It has a 27hp Kohler engine which has been great and always starts immediately. It mows great. It had a very bumpy ride on my wavey lot so I bought the springey front swivel wheels. They helped.
It has a big persistant problem. The fuel gauge stops working. There also seem to be other electrical problems. The dealer picked it up and put a new tank and sensor in it. The new one stopped working immediately. And the new tank was made of black polyethylene so now you can't see how much fuel is in the tank.
The flip up switching is the other problem. You have to reach in and push a button that isn't supposed to be pushed to make the flip up feature work.
I don't know if the dealer mis wired something or whether this is part of the other electrical problems.
It has a fabricated deck but some of the guide wheel brackets have bent. The yellow powder coating has peeled.
If I had it to do over I would buy something better I think. You always should buy a better one. Buying the cheaper one is always false economy in my mower buying experience. (69 years old)
I also have an Ariens 21-22 inch self propelled push mower. It sat in the garage a long time. I put gas in it and it started on the first yank. and has continued to do so.
It has a 27hp Kohler engine which has been great and always starts immediately. It mows great. It had a very bumpy ride on my wavey lot so I bought the springey front swivel wheels. They helped.
It has a big persistant problem. The fuel gauge stops working. There also seem to be other electrical problems. The dealer picked it up and put a new tank and sensor in it. The new one stopped working immediately. And the new tank was made of black polyethylene so now you can't see how much fuel is in the tank.
The flip up switching is the other problem. You have to reach in and push a button that isn't supposed to be pushed to make the flip up feature work.
I don't know if the dealer mis wired something or whether this is part of the other electrical problems.
It has a fabricated deck but some of the guide wheel brackets have bent. The yellow powder coating has peeled.
If I had it to do over I would buy something better I think. You always should buy a better one. Buying the cheaper one is always false economy in my mower buying experience. (69 years old)
I also have an Ariens 21-22 inch self propelled push mower. It sat in the garage a long time. I put gas in it and it started on the first yank. and has continued to do so.
We have a 1/3rd acre cottage garden in UK. Lots of flower beds, bushes, plants and shrubs to negotiate around. I bought a new Honda HR173 lawnmower in 1986. That mower has served me very well and is now used to chop and bag up hedge cuttings as they fall on the lawn. I bought a secondhand Honda HR173 in excellent condition in 2010. This one is now used for the grass cutting and achieving those stripes in the lawn.
Both machines still work great.
For my size of lawn these are fantastic and have never gone wrong save replacement pull start rope.
I also have a KAAZ LAWNFLITE PRO SARP 553 MOWER which I bought new in 2003. I thought this would be the ultimate machine to get for my plot but in reality there are too many obstacles to negotiate and although powered it is a very heavy machine. This one gets very little use.
Would I buy the same again? Well I have and would always choose Honda for my size of plot.
Horses for courses I guess and each of us will usually stick with what works best on our individual plots.
Both machines still work great.
For my size of lawn these are fantastic and have never gone wrong save replacement pull start rope.
I also have a KAAZ LAWNFLITE PRO SARP 553 MOWER which I bought new in 2003. I thought this would be the ultimate machine to get for my plot but in reality there are too many obstacles to negotiate and although powered it is a very heavy machine. This one gets very little use.
Would I buy the same again? Well I have and would always choose Honda for my size of plot.
Horses for courses I guess and each of us will usually stick with what works best on our individual plots.
Frank Gambino
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While I use a residential Country Clipper 48" mower for my acre, I think it would be a good idea if you would check out one of their commercial mowers, considering how much you mow. The biggest selling point for me was joystick steering, rather than the two levers needed to operate an M113 APC.Well I started out with a Ford riding mower. It was had good engine and transaxle wise but the deck was nothing but trouble as I was constantly having weld it. IN the end I use it sheet metal to do some body repairs on a '66 Ford pick-up. The truck probably would had a nervous breakdown if it was from the Murray.
Then I went Murray which I simply wore out. Now I using a MTD 42" rider with an upgraded engine (21hp instead of the 16.5 hp it had).
Now if I was to buy a new mower it probably would be a zero turn with lap bars. This is mainly due to me working on and using them here on my six acres. I would however stay away from residential versions as I see too many of them in the shop for repairs. No particular brand preference even I do lean toward the JD or Hustler commercial line.
Well I started out with a Ford riding mower. It was had good engine and transaxle wise but the deck was nothing but trouble as I was constantly having weld it. IN the end I use it sheet metal to do some body repairs on a '66 Ford pick-up. The truck probably would had a nervous breakdown if it was from the Murray.
Then I went Murray which I simply wore out. Now I using a MTD 42" rider with an upgraded engine (21hp instead of the 16.5 hp it had).
Now if I was to buy a new mower it probably would be a zero turn with lap bars. This is mainly due to me working on and using them here on my six acres. I would however stay away from residential versions as I see too many of them in the shop for repairs. No particular brand preference even I do lean toward the JD or Hustler commercial line.
I have a simplicity 12 hp sovereign with a cast iron briggs engine. It is a 1970 model. Its still howing my lawn with a 48 inch deck. I'm turning 78 years old this year and don't think I'm going to need another one. If I did it wouldn't be a new one. They don't make them like they use too.
I was about to say it looks like you could use a slightly larger deck for mowing...
I have 9 acres to mow. In the springtime, that means mowing at least one parcel per day. I have had a John Deere Z425 with a 54-in deck for years and been very happy with it. But I needed a second mower for when my John Deere was in the shop. Based on the recommendation of Consumer Reports, I bought a Troy Built Mustang 50. What a mistake! CR rated it as the best zero-turn mower. No way! It is nowhere near the mower my John Deere is.
One complaint about the Mustang 50 is that the back tires have a tread that doesn't grab. In places I easily mow with the Deere, the Troy Built will not move or turn. I look and see that one or both wheels are spinning.
Another complaint is the feature that disconnects the drive belt for the blades if you put even the slightest back-pressure on both handles. Maybe this is a "safety" feature on all zero-turn mowers nowadays. Maybe the forum can answer this? But it is a real drawback when you have to mow into as many corners as I have to mow. I call it a "lawyer" feature because no one who mows would recommend such a feature.
The lower 2 acres of my property flood when we have heavy rains in the early spring. By the time it dries out enough to take a mower down there without getting stuck in the mud, the grass and weeds are between knee-high and waist-high. The only way to mow those acres is to plunge into the high grass a couple of feet and then back up and do it again a little offset to the right so that the discharge doesn't go into tall grass you haven't mowed yet. It takes several days to mow it all. There's no way I could do that with the Mustang 50. It would shut off the blades 1,000 times and I would have to re-engage them 1,000 times. The John Deere is the only mower that will do it.
One complaint about the Mustang 50 is that the back tires have a tread that doesn't grab. In places I easily mow with the Deere, the Troy Built will not move or turn. I look and see that one or both wheels are spinning.
Another complaint is the feature that disconnects the drive belt for the blades if you put even the slightest back-pressure on both handles. Maybe this is a "safety" feature on all zero-turn mowers nowadays. Maybe the forum can answer this? But it is a real drawback when you have to mow into as many corners as I have to mow. I call it a "lawyer" feature because no one who mows would recommend such a feature.
The lower 2 acres of my property flood when we have heavy rains in the early spring. By the time it dries out enough to take a mower down there without getting stuck in the mud, the grass and weeds are between knee-high and waist-high. The only way to mow those acres is to plunge into the high grass a couple of feet and then back up and do it again a little offset to the right so that the discharge doesn't go into tall grass you haven't mowed yet. It takes several days to mow it all. There's no way I could do that with the Mustang 50. It would shut off the blades 1,000 times and I would have to re-engage them 1,000 times. The John Deere is the only mower that will do it.
I bought a YTH2148 Husqvarna 15 years ago. 350 hours. I bought Husqvarna because they make good motorcycles and other equipment in Sweden. It is a piece of junk. Granted the motor is Briggs and Stratton, but i had to replace it because the cam went flat. Found a reasonable used replacement. Have had to beef up all welds on the deck. Deck does not raise sufficiently in the front. Poor adjustment method. Now I am making front steering link so that I can adjust the front end alignment. It is currently towed out bad and has no adjustment. Recently had to replace the electric clutch. Good thing that the spare engine that I had, had a clutch. It was thicker and required steering link adjustments.