best value lawn tractor..?

[Msamt]

Have had a husqvarna yth2448 for 5 years, with the Koehler v twin, bought it at lowes and it's been a real standout machine. As a comparison, the husky snowblower and weedeater both purchased from a dealer, both blew engines inside of a year, so it seems pretty hit or miss on the dealer versus box store front. At least dealer stepped up and replaced both at no cost.
I will say my lawn machine makes a bit of a racket from the trans and not looking forward to that repair when it goes south.
I believe the days of anything lasting more that 5-8 years are over.

 

[chriswheeler]

I own a John Deere 125 automatic you mention in your post. It's been a good machine over the years, but it has it's quirks. I need to note here that I bought mine for city use at a Home Depot and got a great price at the time. It has the 20 hp. twin for power. Now I mostly mow weeds living in the country keeping up 5 acres. First off, the 42" deck does a crappy job of picking up the cuttings with the bagger attachment. The deck has inadequate suction to lift cuttings into the bagging set up I bought with it, even with the high lift blades. Now it gets used without the bagger, it's useless. The deck holds on to cuttings and ends up needing to be removed at least twice a season to have the caked on stuff removed no matter what I do. I routinely remove 20-25 lbs. of stuff from the deck. I think because I'm mowing weeds, it goes through a set of blades every season. The machine itself seams good and runs well, I've put on 120 hours in the last 10 years. If I had it to do again I'd look for something with a little better deck that will bag the cuttings, this one doesn't, and the fact that I have to remove it twice a year to clear the caked on cuttings says a lot about the bad deck design.
Chris

 

[Goose69]

For under $2000, I would look around at dealers for used quality mowers.
.. I just got a 2016 Kubota Kommander Z121s yesterday
It only 100 hours on it for less than $2000 front the same dealer I bought my tractor from.
... it is B&G equipment,
(Awesome,Great, dealer, by the way.)
and they sell Bush Hog commercial mowers, and get lots of like new trade ins.

 

[Tractorable]

Best value? I'd be looking at Husqvarna with the K66 or K72 transmission. It's the transmissions that usually go in riding mowers so spend enough money up front to get a good one. The JD X300 series are great machines but probably more than you want to spend.

 

[Wagtail]

For under $2000, I would look around at dealers for used quality mowers.
.. I just got a 2016 Kubota Kommander Z121s yesterday
It only 100 hours on it for less than $2000 front the same dealer I bought my tractor from.
... it is B&G equipment,
(Awesome,Great, dealer, by the way.)
and they sell Bush Hog commercial mowers, and get lots of like new trade ins.

Yep, There's always a few refurbished "previously loved" lawn tractors/mowers at my dealership. Not only JD (their brand) too.

 

[GuiltySpark]

Best value? I'd be looking at Husqvarna with the K66 or K72 transmission. It's the transmissions that usually go in riding mowers so spend enough money up front to get a good one. The JD X300 series are great machines but probably more than you want to spend.

I called my buddy at a local JD dealer and was told they don't like to keep used mowers in stock, so they wholesale them out. Turns out he had a used X300 there that needed a battery. He told me if I showed up before the wholesaler did, he'd sell it to me for the same price.

2 hours later, I picked up my X300 paid for the battery and the unit and it's been running great ever since. I've put 55 hours on it since Sept, and it just rolled to 400 this past weekend. We use it almost daily with a poly cart, and I mow about 3 acres with it every 10 days or so. My only complaint is that it's a 42". I've already greased the skids with my wife that I'll be buying at least a 60" or maybe even a 72" ZTR next go round. But I had to have a mower the weekend we took over our new homestead, so I'd still buy it again if I had it to do over.

 

[coobie]

My 2011 JDX740 diesel hope you are wrong.