Mowing should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower.

   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #1  

skaskey

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
1
Location
olathe, ks
Tractor
none yet
I want to pull a cart for dirt and rocks to landscape. have less than an acre. can not find many reviews on Huskee 42 inc and don't want to buy something that won't last or is poorly built.
thanks,
sandra
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #2  
:welcome: check out Simplicity.
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #3  
Don't buy either, buy something of quality and from a dealer so you can get parts and service.
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #4  
A lot of the ' lawn ' tractors have transmissions that are marginal at best for just mowing, especially for rolling land. If you want to pul carts of rocks or dirt, you should consider looking into a ' garden ' type tractor. Quite a bit more money, but, generally they will hold up for many years of constant abuse... I have a 1991 John Deere 420 garden tractor, and it is still going strong... after being abused many years. Not saying that the lawn tractors won't do the job.... but rocks and dirt are fairly heavy/hard pulling, especially if pulling the trailer over soft ground/up or down hills. Good Luck looking, that is the fun part... :)
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #5  
Husqvarna, Craftsman, Troybuilt, MTD are all made by MTD or a division of MTD so they are all about the same grade of quality. Any of them should pull a garden cart around with no trouble. I would think traction would run out way before the transmission. That is my experience with lawn tractors: small tires, very little grip on them, light weight = spinning tires. I have a very heavy John Deere 332 diesel garden tractor and it barely pulls itself up steep hills due to lack of traction with the turf tires. I had a 18 HP Troybuilt that wouldn't even pull itself up that same hill, so I gave it to my daughter whose yard is flat. Now I have a Craftsman 6000 zero turn that had the same problems with traction. I found some bar lug tires just like Ag tractor tires that I put on it. Now it has the power and traction to go anywhere. I would suggest that in your shopping, ask the dealers about putting some bar lugs on your lawn tractor. I have seen them on JD garden tractors so I know they are available. The ones I but on my ZTR came off my wifes golf cart and were exact fit, rims and tires. I had ordered them from Buggiesunlimited.com
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #6  
I am no expert but I would look for two things. A serviceable transaxle first off, meaning you can change the hydraulic fluid and filters. I would also look at the steering linkage. Look for something with a sort of tie rod end, not just a bolt through a rod. You want a beefy steering design if you are putting this thing up to some heavy work pulling. You can get a decent used mower for around 800$ that should have these two features. Over the past 15 years, just about every brand has had at least one model with these features. Good luck finding the one for you!
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #7  
I give you this as a point of reference: I have a Deere X304 with a K58 trans that will pull a core aerator with cinder block weights up a decent hill on my lawn with no trouble. If the grass is a bit wet with dew, I sometimes wish for a locking rear dif. But, that would probably add another $2k to the cost of my mower since I'd have to go to an x5xx.
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #8  
My Simplicity Conquest has the K-66 trans and has a locking dif.
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #9  
I give you this as a point of reference: I have a Deere X304 with a K58 trans that will pull a core aerator with cinder block weights up a decent hill on my lawn with no trouble. If the grass is a bit wet with dew, I sometimes wish for a locking rear dif. But, that would probably add another $2k to the cost of my mower since I'd have to go to an x5xx.


An X304 comes with a K46 transmission from the factory. Did you change yours to a k58 and how difficult was it if you did?
 
   / should I buy a Huskee or a Craftsman riding mower. #10  
No. Unfortunately, Deere went cheap the very next year. I have an 07 and in 08 they went to the k46. Now you have to go to a x310 or higher to get the K58. I kinda got lucky since I really fell in love with the 4-wheel steer (a very nice feature for a lawn with nothing but curves and obstacles) and could in no way get away with spending the big bucks on a x324 at the time....
 
 
Top