Lawn Tractor Advice Needed

   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #1  

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I need to purchase a lawn tractor for around the house to replace a Craftsman 18 hp. (I have a Kubota 2710 with a finish mower for the bigger areas and heavier duty work so I don't need lots of bells and whistles on the small tractor). I would like advice on what I should purchase for around $2500 (more or less) that would do the job - the most important requirement is that it will go up hills which the Craftsman refuses to do, have reasonable stability on banks, and will do a decent job cutting grass.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Linda on 04/07/01 06:40 PM (server time).</FONT></P>
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #2  
Linda,

I think we need to know more about the area you need to mow around the house. You say the 18 hp Craftsmen will not go up hill could you tell us more about that problem. Plus how big an area do you need this mower for? Do you need to worry about rolling it over on steep hills or a ditch?

I have used an 18 hp MTD to mow up and down a few steep hills. But it would go up the hill with out loosing traction.

An idea is to go to a lawn and garden equipment dealer (may be your Kubota dealer) and tell them about the problem with the Craftsmen mower. Some one should be able to help you get the mower you need.

Hope this helped.

Roger
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #3  
Roger,

Thanks for your reply. I use my 2710 for bushhogging and/or mowing my open property. There remains about four acres around the house where my 2710 is too heavy- this includes mowing in an orchard between fruit trees and bushes, and several lawn areas. Most of the lawns are on high banks with ditches at the bottom - I like to mow as much as I can on the mower, so long as I don't start tipping! I think one problem is that I was totally spoilt by my former BX2200 which I traded in for the heavier duty 2710. The Craftsman came with the house (it must be around 6 years old) and has always given me problems despite frequent tune-ups etc. It's a devil to start and stalls frequently. On any incline it struggles, the wheels spin and it dies. If I have anything in the cart attachment, forget it. The Sears man suggested putting chains on the tires, which would do wonders for the lawn.....At this point I don't want to have it fixed any more. I will check with Kubota. What would be the minimum hp I should look for in a little tractor to deal with hills?

Linda
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #4  
May want to consider a homeowner zero turn mower such as Dixon. With all your trees it may be a good way to go. They are also stable on slopes and are wonderful if mowing is your sole purpose.
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #5  
Linda

snell’s suggestion is a good one. I thought about a zero turn radius mower for my place due to all the tree’s I have. But I found an old B5100 4-wheel drive that has worked out very well for me.

It is hard to make a recommendation for horsepower. I too had a craftsmen 12-hp mower and it does not compare to the Kubota B5100 12-hp diesel I have now.

Our local Kubota dealer sells Dioxin ZTR mowers and they come in lots of deferent models with both gas and diesel engines. I would try and get your dealer or a lawn and garden dealer let you try a mower at your place. I would think that in just a few minutes you would know if it will work for you or not.

Roger
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #6  
Roger, what do you use on the b5100 to mow?? belly mower or 3pt mower??
heehaw
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #7  
Thank you (and Roger) for the advice. I will explore the Dixon in my investigations. Linda
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #8  
Linda,
My advice if you want to stay in the $2500 range is to look at the JD LT series or something similiar in Kubota, not sure what their comparable unit is. My neighbor has the LT 166 and he loves it. He mows about 2 acres at his place with alot of trees and hills. I've used it a few times mowing for him when he was gone and it was a good unit, no loss of power going up the hills or anything, nice tight turning radius, etc. The last one that I had was a 10hp JD garden tractor, and it did everything I wanted it to do and it was still going strong 25 years later. I went with the LX 279 this time but it is a little more than $2500. You can count on years of trouble free use with minimal maint., easy starts and ease of use.

18-35034-TRACTO~1.GIF
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #9  
In the $2,500 range, I'd look at the Cub Cadet lawn tractors. I had one that was a dandy, and it's much faster and easier to remove the deck for cleaning, blade shapening, etc. than the John Deeres.

Bird
 
   / Lawn Tractor Advice Needed #10  
Bird,
Have you seen the new John Deere decks? Mine is about a 2 minute job to put on or take off.

18-35034-TRACTO~1.GIF
 
 
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