Buying a riding lawnmower, need advice.

[Spidey2721]

I know this is a few days old, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents. I was skeptical about buying a zero turn for my 3 acre lot until actually mowing it with one and seeing how much faster they really are. I always liked a having a tractor (snow removal, hauling a cart, pulling bushes, etc) but I didn't like the 4-5 hours it took to mow my yard. It still takes 2-2:30 start to finish. I bought a Cub Cadet Z Force (commercial) with a 50 inch deck and a 23 hp Kohler from All Power in Lancaster for 2995.00. I did, however, already have a Wheel Horse for snow plowing and grunt work. I don't like having 2machines, but I also like doing other stuff besides mowing grass, lol. They do make a snow blade for the Cub, but that thing is worthless on wet grass so I can't imagine pushing snow with it.

 

tire chains for snow. better tires also.

[TA In Progress]

tire chains for snow. better tires also.

 

Chains would def. help, but I still can't imagine pushing a large amount of snow with it. Any more of an aggressive tire would tear up the yard when attempting tight turns. It would also suck trying to drive it and adjust the blade at the same time, considering it takes both hands to drive it.

[Otis Nice]

I haven't read through everything but I'll add my own experience.

 

Parents bought 8 acres and built a house and pole barn back in 1996. That year dad asked his neighbor about riding lawn mowers since he obviously had a crazy amount of land. He bought a Ford 9N and 5ft bush hog for most of it but wanted a better cut around the house. Since zero turns were rare then he asked about your average mower and what brand would be best. The best advice he got was to avoid lawn mowers and buy a garden tractor with a mower deck. He took the advice and they still mow with the same tractor to this day.

 

Why is that so amazing? The tractor was parked in the pole barn (big enough to hold 2 RV's) when that tornado hit C-ville like 7-8 years ago. The whole barn crumpled on top of everything inside. We dug this tractor out from beneath I don't know how many pounds of 6x6's, 2x10's, 2x4's, etc. and aluminum. It was insane. The steering wheel broke but with the way it's made you can't tell by looking at it and we never replaced it. Still use it like normal. There was also a small tear in the seat. We haven't done a single thing to it since we bought it besides add gas. I'd get one if I needed a riding mower/garden tractor.

 

It's a Craftsman. Bought it at Sears. Garden Tractors cost a little more but are built way better. Akin to an SUV on a truck frame vs. an "SUV" on a car frame.

 

This is the type I'm referring to.

[dakotart]

Update, my Cub Cadet is still at All Power Equipment waiting on parts. I'm trying to get a refund. Also I wouldn't recommend a purchase of Cub Cadet from All Power Equipment.

[russian rocket]

i just personally bought a troy bilt 42in zero turn from lowes. i like it, mows great and fast. i have just over half acre but a lot of trees so its a breeze to get around them.

plus the best part is it does wheelies :-)

traction is not all that great but then again my back yard was nearly a mud pit after the past couple storms so that may have been a big factor.

 

here are the plows they make for them and some others

 

http://www.yardandgardendirect.com/zeroturnattachments.htm

[OGRE]

Update, my Cub Cadet is still at All Power Equipment waiting on parts. I'm trying to get a refund. Also I wouldn't recommend a purchase of Cub Cadet from All Power Equipment.

 

 

what model, and what broke?

 

thanks for the information guys, i think i am picking up the cub cadet 1050 KW, as soon as i find a trailor to haul it home. I've not heard a bad thing yet about the kawasaki motor. I will revisit a look into a garden tractor though and see if i can talk a little more cash out of the wife maybe

The previous owners had a 42"tractor and i could not imagine sitting there for 3.5 hours.

A zero turn would be good, but prices on a decent one are way out of my ballpark.

 

Good news, i will NOT have to snowthrow the driveway. My niebor 2 houses down has a giant dually that plows out his niebors in the winter I may get a blade just to clear of the areas in front of the garage but that's about it.

[dakotart]

what model, and what broke?

 

thanks for the information guys, i think i am picking up the cub cadet 1050 KW, as soon as i find a trailor to haul it home. I've not heard a bad thing yet about the kawasaki motor. I will revisit a look into a garden tractor though and see if i can talk a little more cash out of the wife maybe

The previous owners had a 42"tractor and i could not imagine sitting there for 3.5 hours.

A zero turn would be good, but prices on a decent one are way out of my ballpark.

 

Good news, i will NOT have to snowthrow the driveway. My niebor 2 houses down has a giant dually that plows out his niebors in the winter I may get a blade just to clear of the areas in front of the garage but that's about it.

 

The drive belt came off the transmission pulley and took the cooling fan with it (Fan is mounted to the pulley). I bought the SLTX 1054 VT model.

 

http://ecksteinjr.com/pictures/fan1.jpg

[TA In Progress]

Update, my Cub Cadet is still at All Power Equipment waiting on parts. I'm trying to get a refund. Also I wouldn't recommend a purchase of Cub Cadet from All Power Equipment.

 

I must say I wasn't impressed with their service either. Mine went in with 3 hours on it due to a bent deck idler bracket and they had it for 2 weeks during May. They had it for almost a week before even looking at it.

[dakotart]

I must say I wasn't impressed with their service either. Mine went in with 3 hours on it due to a bent deck idler bracket and they had it for 2 weeks during May. They had it for almost a week before even looking at it.

 

what was worse, is when I emailed cub cadet this morning, they just told me that All Power was their own business. Basically, they didn't care about me being a customer at all.

[OGRE]

Mowed 2 acres in 2 hours with 2 gal. of fuel with my new LTX 1050 KW (kawasaki)

Damn, why do you feel manly taking care of a yard? I am actually sad that i don't have my weed eater yet.

 

BTW getting a Honda 25CC 4 stroke weed eater, it's $270 bucks but it should be the last weed eater i ever have to buy.

[Nitrousbird]

Husqvarna has decided that they like to have their parts on back order. 10 days after ordering parts, they haven't even freaking shipped yet...lawn mowers need transmissions to move.

 

But borrowed my buddies 60" Exmark Zero-Turn commercial mower - I want one so badly. Since I mow my yard and the empty home next door, going to slower direction w/ grass this high would have taken my mower 3.5-4 hours non-stop. The Exmark took 2 hours, and did a better job.

 

Anyone care to give away several grand for the lawnmower fund?

[Lustalbert]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Walker-Mower-/190427652401?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

 

They are heavy. I have spent a a little time turning wrences on them, just keep the hydros clean, and mow away.

They also have 1 and 2 stage snow throwers, edgers, pushing blades, buckets, gras catchers, ect....

Alot of them have V twins, so fab up a set of chrome straight pipes, enjoy the sound.

 

If you hunt around, someone is usually selling them from thier lawn care business for a decent price.

[smokin5s]

The previous owners had a 42"tractor and i could not imagine sitting there for 3.5 hours.

A zero turn would be good, but prices on a decent one are way out of my ballpark.

 

there's no way it will take you 3.5 hours to mow 2 acres... I have twice as much land and I can normally kick it out in about 3 hours or so.

 

Someone made a comment about getting a Craftsman Lawn Tractor... I have one... I will agree the Kohler motor is awesome, has plenty of power, and will zip along at a good speed, but that Craftsman is a POS, I've had to replace multiple deck brackets this year, a belt tensioner, belt, and the stupid head light lense because my daughter hit a bump, it popped off, and then she ran over it.

 

with that being said, my neighbor just bought a new cub cadet zero turn and he takes it in once a week for service... he's incredibly upset with his purchase considering he paid 3500 for a mower that's in the shop weekly.

 

At this point in the game, the only mower I would recommend is a John Deer. My father in law has one and that thing has been a trooper... hell he even plows his driveway with it, and it's never skipped a beat.

[RyM3rC]

We've got a JD from Home Depot (on of the cheap ones) and it is great to mow with with a 48" deck and plenty of power, but eats deck pulleys yearly, the carb gets fussy, and it may have just blown a head gasket at 300 hours. Our old beat-to-hell wheel horse sucks to mow with (bumpy, slower, weaker) but is much more reliable, and more robust. The hydrostatic JD is sweet to mow with though.