Buying Advice Sick and tired of low quality riding lawnmowers

[dalola]

I hope to be on Mars at age 86. Elon Musk tells me it will cost ~$500k for a one way trip. That's my retirement plan.

I wonder if we'll need lawnmowers on Mars? :confused3:

 

[searcyfarms]

i hope i am here as long as possible, i want to get my moneys worth of this place LOL - i dont water either but i do try to take care of the weeds it just looks better - i hope they drag me out of a tractor when i die

 

[ETD66SS]

I wonder if we'll need lawnmowers on Mars? :confused3:

Probably not for about 1,000-10,000 years depending on terraforming technology.

 

[crazyal]

I can remember in the 70s going to Sears and looking at riding mowers. They had two classes back then. Both 8 HP and 12 HP models. The 8 HP was the basic model while the 12 HP was the deluxe. My last rider I bought from Sears was sometime in the mid 80s. It had an American made Briggs 12.5 HP in it. While it was a good mower it wasn't the great mower that some here seam to think they built back then. It wasn't expensive so my expectations were never that high. After about 10 years of average mowing on flat ground never towing anything the engine started having a problem where it would run fine but once it bogged down in taller grass it would suck up oil and smoke like crazy. Most likely a broken ring. A few years after that the mower deck rusted out because it was made out of thin metal. The spindles for the blades would break if the blade hit something unseen. The 5 speed manual gear box has bushings in it and they wore out so as it heated up from normal use the clay based grease would leak out. I'm positive that I said the same thing as you're saying now, that they didn't build them like they use to.

The real fact was that I didn't want to spend more money than I did. My last riding mower was a cheap Troy Built from Lowes. It has a belt based variable speed transmission that has worked very well. But the forward and reverse is done with the same transmission as in that old Sears rider I was talking about. Like the old Sears it wore out in the same way and the reverse gear started not fully engaging. The engine, and American made Kohler was the biggest POS I have ever seen. I have a Chinese made Harbor Freight engine that is a much better engine. Mine seams to be a better example than others. Below is a video someone else took of theirs running with a split block.

I can say for a fact that my X500 is in a different class. The deck is a lot thicker steel. It has grease fittings all over it. A simple search shows 12 year old versions with 1000 hours on them still selling for $2000 that run great. Simply keeping up on the maintenance shows that it will last a very long time. My yard is steep and rough. After two years the Troy Built was starting to self destruct. The brakes stopped working. The X500 is no different today, 4 years later, as the first time I mowed with it. I'm sure that it will last 20 years of mowing with me putting about 60 hours a year on it. The $2000 Troy Built might of been good for 5 years on my property however with the brakes (which were part of the transmission) and reverse not working right it most likely was going to cost hundreds to fix every few years. Had I stayed at my old house with the flat mostly smooth ground it would be doing much better now. I'm in the unique position were I can really put a rider to the test. However until moving here I would never have spent $5k on a riding mower.

 

[Tractorable]

I love my X590. It was sobering to spend $7K on a lawn mower but it’s been a great machine for the three years and 100hrs we’ve had it. My favorite feature is the EFI because my wife can hop on it and start it up hot or cold without messing with a choke.

 

[nards444]

I can remember in the 70s going to Sears and looking at riding mowers. They had two classes back then. Both 8 HP and 12 HP models. The 8 HP was the basic model while the 12 HP was the deluxe. My last rider I bought from Sears was sometime in the mid 80s. It had an American made Briggs 12.5 HP in it. While it was a good mower it wasn't the great mower that some here seam to think they built back then. It wasn't expensive so my expectations were never that high. After about 10 years of average mowing on flat ground never towing anything the engine started having a problem where it would run fine but once it bogged down in taller grass it would suck up oil and smoke like crazy. Most likely a broken ring. A few years after that the mower deck rusted out because it was made out of thin metal. The spindles for the blades would break if the blade hit something unseen. The 5 speed manual gear box has bushings in it and they wore out so as it heated up from normal use the clay based grease would leak out. I'm positive that I said the same thing as you're saying now, that they didn't build them like they use to.

The real fact was that I didn't want to spend more money than I did. My last riding mower was a cheap Troy Built from Lowes. It has a belt based variable speed transmission that has worked very well. But the forward and reverse is done with the same transmission as in that old Sears rider I was talking about. Like the old Sears it wore out in the same way and the reverse gear started not fully engaging. The engine, and American made Kohler was the biggest POS I have ever seen. I have a Chinese made Harbor Freight engine that is a much better engine. Mine seams to be a better example than others. Below is a video someone else took of theirs running with a split block.

I can say for a fact that my X500 is in a different class. The deck is a lot thicker steel. It has grease fittings all over it. A simple search shows 12 year old versions with 1000 hours on them still selling for $2000 that run great. Simply keeping up on the maintenance shows that it will last a very long time. My yard is steep and rough. After two years the Troy Built was starting to self destruct. The brakes stopped working. The X500 is no different today, 4 years later, as the first time I mowed with it. I'm sure that it will last 20 years of mowing with me putting about 60 hours a year on it. The $2000 Troy Built might of been good for 5 years on my property however with the brakes (which were part of the transmission) and reverse not working right it most likely was going to cost hundreds to fix every few years. Had I stayed at my old house with the flat mostly smooth ground it would be doing much better now. I'm in the unique position were I can really put a rider to the test. However until moving here I would never have spent $5k on a riding mower.

Some people let nostalgia get in the way. Not everything built back then was better. Things back then also used a lot more gas, oil, and didnt carry the capabilities of things today.

 

[RickB]

Some people let nostalgia get in the way. Not everything built back then was better. Things back then also used a lot more gas, oil, and didnt carry the capabilities of things today.

True. I wouldn’t trade the Briggs twin on my Scag for anything I have previously owned.

 

[ETD66SS]

I love my X590. It was sobering to spend $7K on a lawn mower but it’s been a great machine for the three years and 100hrs we’ve had it. My favorite feature is the EFI because my wife can hop on it and start it up hot or cold without messing with a choke.

I bought a Ford 1620HST with 60" 914 deck for mowing for $8000, but it did have ~600 hrs on it at the time, have close to 1300 hrs now. My brother has a Ferris 60" ztr he swears by for mowing, but I use my 1620 for stuff other than mowing. You said sobering, but not sure I could ever bring myself to spend that kind of money on something that isn't really a "tractor". I might just do the ztr thing someday mainly for the speed.

 

[nards444]

Unless your mowing Pasteur or very large large swaths of land, mowing with anything other than a zero turn is a waste of time. Only other reason to maybe not getting one is because adding the extra machine and price, but then again if your talking new to new prices a descent zero turn really isnt any more money or much more than a belly mower pull behind etc.

 

[searcyfarms]

Unless your mowing Pasteur or very large large swaths of land, mowing with anything other than a zero turn is a waste of time. Only other reason to maybe not getting one is because adding the extra machine and price, but then again if your talking new to new prices a descent zero turn really isnt any more money or much more than a belly mower pull behind etc.

mowing yes, versatility no