Lawn tractors, yard tractors, garden tractors, SCUTS, and mowing

[Teachu2]

I have five acres of Sierra Nevada foothills, with most of the property consisting of oak trees and native grasses. Current equipment is a Kioti DS3510 with a brush hog and a flail mower, and a beat up old Deere L120 riding mower. The Kioti is a bit large for some of the slopes (trees get in the way), the L120 is overwhelmed by the terrain at it's advanced age. I'm thinking of getting a more robust riding mower with a locking differential, 2wd, gasoline only, no PTO. The wife will be operating this machine, as will I on occasion.

I need advice on a couple of things:
Weight - I know that heavy is better in tractors, but what about riding mowers on slopes? The L120 is listed at 532lbs. I'm looking at a Deere x570 at 748lbs (606 on TractorData?) vs a Husqvarna YT48DXLS at 583lbs(596 on TractorData). Which will climb slopes better, given the same Kawasaki engine in both? (If TractorData is correct, there's only 10lbs difference)
Durability: The Husky has aluminum spindles - are they problems? Their 54" model has cast iron. The wife seems to break something on the L120 every time she uses it, but it is old and tired, with lots of battle scars. I have not been able to determine the spindle composition on the new Deere.

Truthfully, the box-store L120 has given amazing service for ten years - but I've put half it's replacement cost into keeping it running the last two. The x570 should last much better, the Husky may do fine at half the cost.....

 

[Teachu2]

I think the Husky weight is with the mower, the Deere is without mower on TractorData because there are two mower options. Looks like the Deere is ~165 lbs heavier.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

John Deere X series lawn tractor

[quote name="Smoothas" post=4720978]You are killing me-- OK-- lets start with engines..Have some homework for you, I want you to look how Kawasaki rates their HP and power output and compare it to Briggs- I want you to price a 24HP--Briggs and then a 24 HP kawi..report back to me when you know the difference and why the kawi costs more. Tell me if Torque and HP are same across, the output spectrum on both motors.. when you learn that grasshopper you will be on your way to discovering why the Kawi is considered a superior engine. No skimming--I'm going to ask you a few surprise 'pop" questions



Not all Briggs are bad ( in fact bad wording on my part- none of them are bad- but some are better than others, some manufacturers have Briggs make engines to their specifications ) but anyway low end Briggs are relatively inexpensive - no sense putting a 2000 hour engine in a lawn tractor that is expected to live 300-1000 hours-- Capisce?





This is what I found: Note* this is solely informative Guys and gals, nobody is bashing products so don't take it as such, products compared are just for an example scenario.



This is how B&S rate motors



How Do I Measure Engine Power'?' '|' Briggs & Stratton



This is how Kawasaki rates there's:



[url=http://www.kawasakienginesusa.com/news/2011/kawasaki’s-new-“critical-power”-engine-ratings-clarify-horsepower-output-consumers]Press Releases | Small Engines - Lawn Mower Engines - Parts - Kawasaki


(My post starts here)


So what I found out is that Kawasaki makes around 3 styles of engine: Commercial (FX), Upper residential (FS Formally FH) and Lower residential (FR)



The big box stores got the FR line (Cubs ext). JD got basically the FH and FS motor and the commercial mowers got the FX line.



JD used to use the FH engine and now they use the FS engine, as far as I can tell the only difference is emission regulations.



FH>FR

Longer design life via better bearings, rings, crank bearing finish, air filter, larger blower housing and fan, and stuff like that.



Now deeper engine comparisons:



The 24hp version of this engine is in my GT husky: [url=https://www.briggsandstratton.com/na/en_us/product-catalog/engines/riding-lawn-mower-engines/intek-series-vtwin.html]Intek Series '('V-Twin')'



This is the 24hp iTorque found in the X500 series:

[FS73V | Small Engines - Lawn Mower Engines - Parts - Kawasaki



Both engines follow SAE J1995 guidelines on engine specs.



I found nothing to suggest the Kawasaki will far outlast the B&S with the suggested maintenance, it seems the Kawasaki FS is more of a premium residential engine and the B&S is more comparable to the FR which is in big box store lower engine, nothing suggests there rated for X hours, since performance is comparable it's down to longevity between the two.



Briggs makes a more premium line also FYI.

[url]http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4721098

I did some research on the Kawasaki engines on another thread via a debate about the price difference of the husky and X series JD's

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

John Deere X series lawn tractor

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=376533

4th page on this thread

 

[Tractorable]

I bought an X590 for my one acre lawn in Virginia last year and we love it. I also had the wife in mind when buying it.

After she first used it she said "it's easier to drive than my car". She also said "it gets stuck when I drive it through things it doesn't fit through, like the tree and fence", so I'm familiar with how your JD accumulated so many battle scars.

If you're going for the X570 just go all out and get the X590. The wife never has to mess with the choke when using it. With the fuel injection it just fires up instantly hot or cold. I also bought it for the K72 with diff lock so if it gets stuck you have an option to get unstuck, unless you're trying to force it between the tree and fence haha.

I just bought a seed spreader, aerator, and lawn sweeper for it. Looking forward to getting my lawn into better shape. I also added the mulching kit to the mower deck so that the wife no longer has to worry about discharging all the grass clippings into the flower beds.

I highly recommend the JD X series garden tractors.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

In my opinion the stance of a tractor is more important on hills than weight, my husky seems to be a bit less stable on the same hills I mow compared to my dad's 445 which I know weights a lot more, he has great big wide tires compared to the narrower tires on the husky and the husky isn't as wide.

Deff lock is deff a nice option especially when it's wetter outside, I thought I buried that 445 a few times and it climbed out with a little wiggling. It's really nice when climbing uneven terrain.

Husky makes a good product, I have worked on and operated 3 husky tractors (2 diff GT tractors and an ariens 21hp kholer 42in) that's my mothers and I can order parts for it off sears direct or threw Husqvarna, Husqvarna builds them but there the design of the old craftsman mower.

Mine is a GT tractor with the 24hp B&S with a 3 blade 54in deck. No power steering, hydrostatic trans and electronic PTO.

I bought it off CL with 200 hours on it for $800 last year.

Personally I feel that JD makes a better garden tractor, but for the price I can replace a husky with a brand new one twice for the money of the JD so that's kinda a wash.

Seems huskys burn up more deck belts but as far as longevity, my dad bought his 445 new in 2000 and it had a hair over 1000 hours in it without any issues.

I bought my moms hydrostatic Ariens and have used it like a bush hog mowing trails in her pasture (thick stuff 4-6ft tall over grown pasture) I mowed about 3-4 acres of grass weekly for 3 years when I lived with her and other than a new deck belt every year, and I had to replace one front tire due to a slice in the sidewall that tractor has performed well for the 6-7 years of its hard life lol, my mother ran it into a few trees (she forgot how to stop lol and left the trans in cruise) and I was always able to pound out the hood. It has no hour meter so it gets yearly oil changes. And Ariens sends new blades every two years, by the time they send new blades I have destroyed the others hitting sticks in the pasture or sucking up rocks by the lane at her place. Can't complain for a $1200 mower out the door. Which included one of those black Polly carts.

My husky had had less than a year at my place and so far I feel it will last a good long time, it's built about the same quality as the Ariens is that HD sells. But I also mow 1.5 acre grass yard, it never sees anything above 5-8 inches.

So I guess I haven't really heard much bad about the lawn tractors besides MTD built big box store mowers, even the big box store deeres have steering column issues, I know a few guys that stripped the gears out on there's and they have flat yards.

In a lawn mower, Husqvarna or the X series deere is what I would go with.

 

[coobie]

I went the JD X740 route 60 inch 7 iron deck diesel engine.My wife mows with a 1996 ingersoll 4020 with 20 hp onan engine.The JD 500 series are fine lawn tractors.Don,t know much about the huskys.

 

[ovrszd]

I went the JD X740 route 60 inch 7 iron deck diesel engine.My wife mows with a 1996 ingersoll 4020 with 20 hp onan engine.The JD 500 series are fine lawn tractors.Don,t know much about the huskys.

The ole Ingersoll "rocks" Coobie!!! Which would you rather use to push snow, Ingersoll, RTV????

 

[coobie]

The ole Ingersoll "rocks" Coobie!!! Which would you rather use to push snow, Ingersoll, RTV????

RTV hands down for snow plowing,love the cab with HEAT.My lovely wife would murder me if I ever sold her beloved Ingersoll.LOL

 

[ovrszd]

RTV hands down for snow plowing,love the cab with HEAT.My lovely wife would murder me if I ever sold her beloved Ingersoll.LOL

Very cool that she likes to run it. Probly better keep it!!!!