iptman
Gold Member
I know this has been done to death but I'd like to get opinions based on what my property is and the associated costs for equipment. I have a little over 2.5 acres and as you can see it's mostly grass with a few trees. We've been in the house for a little over a year at this point and mowing with my hand-me-down Craftsman 42" is quite time consuming (~3.5 hours). I'm trying to decide on a zero turn or a tractor/FEL/MMM. I have a line on a used 2012 Scag Tiger Cat with a 61" deck, suspension seat and Kohler 27hp motor with ~100 hours for $6000. The tractor I'm looking at currently is the Max25 with a FEL and 60" MMM and my out the door price is $16,900 (~2500 of that is the MMM). Here's my current list of project I'd want to use the tractor for.
Clean up brush piles/tree branches
Remove and replace fence
Fill in low spots in from and back yards
Build a gravel driveway extension
Remove 12x12' patio, replace with larger paver patio
Lawn mowing
Build garden
Move large rocks from front yard
Build whole hog BBQ pit
Dig out area for a slab for a pole barn
Obviously there's a lot of "wants" and not a lot of "needs" in that list but I'm wondering if that's how most of you started when you purchased your first tractor. The only real need is the lawn mowing which is why I was leaning toward the Scag but I'd like other opinions as well. The cost is another issue since the spread is about $11k. We can take the additional cost hit but it certainly would be nice to keep that $11k in the pocket. If I do buy the Scag (BTW, does $6k sound like a good deal?) I think in a couple years I'll end up getting a tractor anyway. In the mean time if anything in my list comes up I could possibly rent equipment specifically for the project. That's what I'm thinking anyway. Anyone have any opinions one way or the other?
Thanks,
Clean up brush piles/tree branches
Remove and replace fence
Fill in low spots in from and back yards
Build a gravel driveway extension
Remove 12x12' patio, replace with larger paver patio
Lawn mowing
Build garden
Move large rocks from front yard
Build whole hog BBQ pit
Dig out area for a slab for a pole barn
Obviously there's a lot of "wants" and not a lot of "needs" in that list but I'm wondering if that's how most of you started when you purchased your first tractor. The only real need is the lawn mowing which is why I was leaning toward the Scag but I'd like other opinions as well. The cost is another issue since the spread is about $11k. We can take the additional cost hit but it certainly would be nice to keep that $11k in the pocket. If I do buy the Scag (BTW, does $6k sound like a good deal?) I think in a couple years I'll end up getting a tractor anyway. In the mean time if anything in my list comes up I could possibly rent equipment specifically for the project. That's what I'm thinking anyway. Anyone have any opinions one way or the other?
Thanks,