1 acre lawn tractor/mower/ztr buying advise?

[LBrown59]

John,think I'll get the snapper model LT200,with 22hp b/s intek and 50 inch deck.Cost dealer told me was 3,050 that includes taxes and delivery.They work on them to there nice people to deal with,they also sell echo stuff,thats how I got to know them,echo is a pretty good product.

Wish I knew more about that motor,but.

The cub I ruled out cause of motor and same company that makes them makes the new troy bult,which ain't much.

The husky,might still be a good one but,the company that makes it I was told,makes sears ones too,so if thats the case,might as well went and bought another craftsman.

I was leaning to the snapper all along,but thought I'd do a little asking and looking and 3,500 and under[including taxes],is what I've come up with.

*Now if you wanted to spend more,would look at deeres, kubota,simplicity.

*These are real nice mowers.

 

[Johnny Mac]

todays pick on craigslist... I emailed him for hours... 38" deck is pretty small but I cut the grass like a zamboni on my 42" anyways (poor mans ztr)

John Deere 185 Hydrostat Lawn Tractor with Bagger

 

[IXLR8]

I have a 48" walk behind I have been using to cut our 1.6 acres of lawn, then the wife wanted to start mowing . The WB was too much for her to handle, I did some searching and decided on a ZTR. I found a 3 year old JD727 54" cut, 250hrs for 1/3 the money of new on Craigslist. So far it has been great, not only do I get the lawn done in 1/2 the time, but SWMBO will often have it done for me when I get home from work. Just do yourself a favor... stay away from the JD 800 series, way underpowered from all I have heard. Have you spent any time on www.lawnsite.com to see what the pros say about their machines?

 

[Johnny Mac]

Have you spent any time on www.lawnsite.com to see what the pros say about their machines?

I will have to join lawnsite, thanks for the tip, I just googled tractorbynet but am small potatoes for what I am looking for.

The comments here have pretty much killed the cub cadet ztr for me, seems even a zforce approaching 5 grand is a gamble. And just pulling a number out of the air, I went into my research anticipating $3k for a budget, now I am not so sure. In all it has been pretty disappointing and I wish would have taken better care of my beater of an MTD.

I will keep watch for the JD, I have a long slow grade to the foot of my property with a creek at the bottom, I believe 15 degrees or slightly less. My 18hp did pretty good chugging uphill but with a trailer it is taxed sometimes, look like a ztr condems me to a wheelbarrel anyways.

thanks

 

[Lunk]

I had a real nice Simplicity. Mowed great, no reliability issues, but took me 4.25 hrs to mow my tree covered 3.5 acres. Traded it in 4 years ago on a Ferris (now owned by Simplicity) Pro-cut 20 ZTR. Now it takes me 1.75 hrs to mow the same grass, and it's fun enough that I really enjoy driving it.

I told the boy that he can mow when it stops being entertainment for me...


Lunk

 

[greenmule]

Yeah John,if you don't want to spend over about 3,500 or 4,000,and want a 50 inch cut or more,your choices are limited,[after you sort them all out and try and figure out which cheap one is the best cheap one],[4,000 cheap for a lawnmower,man!]..

Now if you can spend about 5 thousand you would think you'd get a better mower,but than again....

Maybe next time I'll be willing to spend 6 grand on a mower,but not this time.

Now if I just had a yard and small garden and didn't already have two tractors with implements and I needed a lawnmower,those bx kubotas might look pretty good,[or another small sub compact type tractor],if you could do it all with one machine you could justify the cost,[well],.

Looks like its the snapper for me,[or look at the huskys and go to sears].
Can't complain about them cheaper ones too much though,been mowing well over an acre with them for about 18 years now,and only bought three,[two still run and cut!]

 

[Whitey]

If you buy the right kind of used equipment, it will most likely be as reliable as a new one. Buy a machine that today would cost you $10K plus new, but might go for as little as $2500 used, and most likely you won't have to work on it. Plenty of very very good reliable, well cared for used equipment out there. Just gotta shop around and know what you are looking at.

Look for a well kept JD455 with less than 1500 hours. It will last forever. I have the JD425. Almost 15 years old. Spent $75 in repairs. Never even had to change the mower belt. Wouldn't sell it. Love it way too much. One of the best GTs ever made.

I agree with Gittyup.........but I would add buy an AWS model if you can find one. I bought my wife a used JD 425 AWS with 700 hours for under $ 4,000.00......one of JDs best garden tractor.........I haven't cut the grass since! Lots of them for sale.....check machineryfinder or tractorhouse.

 

[Gittyup]

Local guy here has a 455 AWS, around 900 hours for $2750. Worth every penny of it. I'd even drive 4 or 5 hours to get the right machine. And no problem with your hills either: Stable, safe, and excellent traction. Good snow plower too.

 

[LBrown59]

Local guy here has a 455 AWS, around 900 hours for $2750. Worth every penny of it. I'd even drive 4 or 5 hours to get the right machine. And no problem with your hills either: Stable, safe, and excellent traction. Good snow plower too.

That's a good price if it's in good shape.

 

[Gittyup]

Yes it its a good price. Photo looks like it's been garage kept. Clean looking. Deck looks really good too.