HELP - NEW Lawn tractor with Hand/Lever hydro static control

[shwack36]

Hello All,

I am asking for advice on the best options available for a NEW Lawn Tractor for my father who has MS and cannot use a foot controlled hydro static tractor. He has always had John Deere Lawn tractors in the past with lever controlled hydro static controls but we are finding this very hard to come by this time around. We are not against any other brands, but are naive to what is available beyond the John Deere lines. We have direct access to John Deere, Cub Cadet, and Kubota in our area. My father will want nothing but the best as he usually keeps his lawn tractors 10+ yrs., so we will be sticking with the non Lowes and Home Depot models of the a fore mentioned brands. Converting an existing foot pedal to hand control will not be an issues either, if someone has already done this in the past with success and is willing to share their outcome. I have a great father in law who welded for GE 30+ years and can make anything!

Thank you all for your time. I have spent hours lurking on this site prior to the purchase of my Kubota BX. I never could have made the right decision without this tremendous community!

Thank you,
Adam

 

[GaryM]

No personal experience, but if the Kubota lawn tractors have a treadle for forward reverse as the CUTs do it would seem easy to just fabricate and bolt on a lever of the correct length that he could operate by hand.

 

[DK35vince]

If it is mainly for mowing I would skip the lawn tractor and get a zero turn.
They mow much faster and have the hand control transmissions.

 

[shwack36]

Thanks for the quick reply guys!

Part of the issue will be us getting him ON the dang thing. Right now he has small (L112 ish type) tractor we are able to get him on with some major assistance, but he is fully able to maneuver and control the machine enough to mow with his right arm. His left arm is not going to be able to utilize a zero turn as everything he does is with his right arm. This is a huge deal for him, as mowing his lawn is what he really takes pride in but the current lawn tractor may not last another year.

 

[slantsix]

I have never used one, but I think county clipper makes a ZTR controlled with a single joystick on the right hand side.

Country Clipper Zero-Turn Mowers

I would imagine it would be easier to get onto a ZTR than a tractor as well.

 

[Will_C]

Ingersoll tractors have had hand control hydrostatic in the past-haven't looked at one on several years.

Will

 

[Xfaxman]

Yep, Ingersoll would be a high quality unit. The forward reverse lever is on the left, but could easily be modified. INGERSOLL

 

[4570Man]

I had a Case 235 that had worked as you describe. If it was 4wd I would still have it. It was a better tractor than the B7200 that replaced it. How do those cub cadet zero turns with a steering wheel work?

 

[doxford jim]

I have an old Sears rider mower that has the forward and reverse controls on the right fender. That would probably work well for his needs. I would take a look at Sears rider mowers.

 

[4570Man]

How much money do you have to spend on this project? I'm thinking you could take the handles off a ZTR and replace them with electric servos and make the mower joystick driven. A modified ZTR work be easy to get on as another plus. My 93 year old Grandpa likes his ZTR because he can get on it easier than his other riding mowers. Does he have a little use from either leg? It wouldn't be hard to convert the left handle of a ZTR to foot control.