heavy duty tractor/mower recommendations?

[Gem99ultra]

The Husqvarna garden tractors are good. I have a Craftsman DGS6500 which is a rebadged Husqvarna. It has over a thousand hours on it now and its been used on very rough ground, pulled my cart with whatever I put in it and the bagger is used heavily in the fall.
I replaced the rear tires with atv tires. No problems with a weak frame. It has the K66 hydro in it. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Amen. I also have a "small" Husqvarna Rider 155 that I've abused for 18 years. It now has over 2500 hours on it with little repairs. Biggest repair was replacing the 3 mandrels a few years ago. The 'small' 15 hp mower was used to help me clean up our property after Hurricane Ike. We used it like a tractor - hauling huge sections of oak trees, countless loads of branches, building materials, etc.. At the time we did not have a tractor or anything else - just our little mower and our own manpower.

The point of this dissertation is perhaps you're underrating the power of not only Husqvarna but Snapper and a lot of other brands. You just may not need as much mower/tractor as you're expecting to need.

As far as Snapper goes... I had a 8hp Snapper that even after 15 years, it just kept on working. Good machine, for sure.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You want the impossible. Heavy Duty at the price of homeowner/consumer stuff.

ALL that stuff is built at price point for certain market segments.

 

[TheYard]

You want the impossible. Heavy Duty at the price of homeowner/consumer stuff.

ALL that stuff is built at price point for certain market segments.

Maybe that's why I'm pulling my hair out Not the first time I've been looking for the impossible. This might be a two machine problem - one for pulling and loading, and another for mowing. Something like an old bolens for the former, where if the machine is down for repairs, the grass can still get cut, and maybe something new like a mid-range husq for mowing.

 

[airbiscuit]

I had a Snapper SPX and it was a good machine for the money. My only complaint was that the Mower deck couldn't be raised to cut very high, no matter what kind of adjustments I made.

The Husqvarna TS348XD or TS354XD models come closest to what you are looking for and come with heavy duty transmissions and locking differentials. The frames are strong enough, just not made to mount a loader on.

I have a Simplicity Conquest that also has a heavy duty transmission and locking differential, but at twice the cost.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

You want the impossible. Heavy Duty at the price of homeowner/consumer stuff.

ALL that stuff is built at price point for certain market segments.

There's the RIGHT answer, right there!

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Maybe that's why I'm pulling my hair out Not the first time I've been looking for the impossible. This might be a two machine problem - one for pulling and loading, and another for mowing. Something like an old bolens for the former, where if the machine is down for repairs, the grass can still get cut, and maybe something new like a mid-range husq for mowing.

I would buy an old Wheel Horse 8 speed for pulling, they are one of the toughest lawn tractors out there and if needed, easy to work on. You can pull all you want with them, the tranny and rear end will easily take it!

It's really handy having an extra tractor around, especially one that you don't have a pile of money into...

SR

 

[mikester]

You want the impossible. Heavy Duty at the price of homeowner/consumer stuff.

ALL that stuff is built at price point for certain market segments.

Agreed. This thread title is nothing but click bait....where is the tractor?

Anyways, on your budget buy a mule for pulling and some sheep for mowing. When the covid apocalypse comes you now have a food source.

 

[nyone]

1/2ac of grass is not much grass to mow. Have you considered a walk behind and something like the mikita electric wheel barrow? The less gas engines to keep running the better

 

[TheYard]

i have a walk behind 22" - and I had considered a few different options for material moving assistance. I looked at a lot of various electric carts ranging in price from the low end like the makita to higher end electric models in the few thousand. I also looked at some gas powered carts like super hauler. At some point, if electrics all get the bugs worked out, that could be a viable option.

But in the end, I don't think there was going to be a single "forever machine" for me - at least not right now. So I got two "good enough for now" machines - one for moving materials (Bolens HT20 with a gardenway loader - used of course) and a low end Cub Cadet 42" (new, from my trusty local dealer - if anything goes awry I'm sure that they'll stand behind it). Once I'm through some of the re-landscaping work around the yard, I'll revisit those choices.

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice. Meanwhile, I'll be working on replacing a hydro pulley. I'm not sure if it's common practice to put a zinc pulley on the hydro motor for a loader and connect it to a 20 horsepower engine, but I have a hard time believing that's stock...)

 

[nyone]

I believe they call 22in mowers push mowers. If you moving dirt is a one time deal I dont see buying a forever tractor. Buy a good wheelbarrow and do the work.