Overwhelmed by the possibilities --- Mowers

[Mosey]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Eventually we will top dress and smooth the yard but it is just not a priority now. We just need to keep the grass down for now. 7sam15)</font>

From your description, with so much stuff to mow around, I see a ZTR in your future. But, you don't want to spend a lot of money on one now if your going to abuse it on the rough ground. How about getting something used (or get a cheap new one) to get by until you can put the Kubota to work and get the yard smooth? Then, get a ZTR. By the way, I have a 4 year old Craftsman that I use for the tight spots and over the septic tank. I don't have real bumpy yard, but it's not real smooth in places and the Craftsman is still good as new.

 

[7sam15]

I’ve been looking at used mowers (mostly JD) for the last few evenings. The stuff I can afford is not in very good condition. Seems like the price doesn’t really go down much on the used JD's. If it does then they tend not to run well.

I looked at 2 300 series lawn mowers both we late 90's with heavy use and the owners wanted almost 4k.

I saw a used 160 for sale locally for 1300$ but it didn’t run and the owner didn’t like my offer.

Wow.

Guess I just need to take my time and find the right buy.

7sam15

 

[Mosey]

Yeah, folks will try to get top dollar for used stuff, which I why I don't buy much used stuff. Check Walmart, Lowes, etc for a cheap rider. It should hold up for a couple of years while you work on getting things smoothed out. Then, sell it for a few hundred and get a good ZTR. I'm thinking of doing the same thing in a year or 2. I bought the Craftsman new 5 years ago (I remembered wrong when I said 4 years) and used it to mow my 3 1/2 acre yard (which is very hilly) for 2 years. It worked great, but it was just too slow with the 42" deck. So, I bought my NH tractor and a 6' rear mower, but kept the Craftsman because I'm afraid to drive over the septic tank with the tractor and I needed something with a smaller deck to get around the bushes and stuff up close to the house. In the last few years I've rearranged the bushes and stuff and with a few more changes I could probably get a ZTR with a 6' deck and just use it to do the whole yard (except for a few spots that I have to do with a 20" push mower) and then sell the Craftsman mower. I'm not sure how I'm going to come up with the money for a ZTR though, they are not cheap!

PS: Quit looking at used JD mowers, they always cost more and for something just to get by with you don't want to spend any more than you have to.

 

[timb]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I looked at 2 300 series lawn mowers both we late 90's with heavy use and the owners wanted almost 4k.
)</font>

Yozza.

What's "heavy use"? All of the 300 series (important - "old" 300s are a completely different animal than anything past, umm '92?) I looked at (actually they were all 318's) had 800-900 hours on them, and they were all at $3000-$3500. Which is I why I took my '87 at $2400 and 795 hours when I found it. With this spring's shopping in mind and from what you see on eBay and other posted internet prices - $4K is real high for a truely heavy hour older machine. $4K ought to get you a nearly cherry sub-300 hour '91 or '92 318. Now if you've found a 322 or 332 you can add a good $1000 to those numbers. Newer units may run a lot more but may possibly also be closer to their demise than the old units. Big differences. If you know and have a comfort level with any of the local JD dealers - it might be a good time to take a walk-through. Most of the spring trade-ins ought to be in now. Mine was actually from a dealer. He also had a selection of what - if it was a car - we would call around here a "winter rat". Meaning basic "well, it runs" condition - all of those were under $800.

Anyway - are you going to use this machine to do anything other than mow? In my case (not having a gator yet!) I also wanted a sturdy cart schlepper - and possibly other odd jobs where a bigger tractor would be too much of a good thing. Most light lawn tractors are not rated to pull much (and frequently nothing at all). Don't know about ZTRs but I would hazard a guess that they are a one-trick-pony albeit a very good one at what they do.

 

[Schultz]

My suggestion is also along the lines of used. I think you can get a better quality garden tractor in the $2000 price range than a new lawn tractor for the same amount. There not all that common but the Case or Ingersolls are a good deal used, new I think they're too costly. The 400, 4000, 3000 series are all well made. They're on ebay all the time for less than 2k used.

To give you an idea here is a link to an old 448
448 at ebay

one for a 3018
3018 on ebay

 

[Anonymous Poster]

As far as mowing goes,Cub cadet is at the top, they last for ever, I have relatives with 25 year old cub cadet lawn tractors
I have had one for five/plus years without any problems and my boys abuse that hydro
cub cadet model 1725, 17 hp Kawasaki , 42" mulching deck
hydro. $2595
model 1525, 15hp kawasaki, 38" mulching deck, hydro on sale now at Lowes and TSC $1995 reg $2195