Another dedicated?? mower set up?!?!

[Worksmart]

Parents have 23 acres and I set them up with a L3830HST and all the fixin's last fall(Rhino 6' rotary cutter, back blade, box blade, LA723 loader HD quick attach bucket/forks etc.). Now we're looking at something to cut the grass/weeds around the house. Probably 2 acres in total. Not a manicured lawn by any means. Probably 60% weeds, etc. and pretty bumpy.

Currently demo-ing a Kubota G1800 diesel lawn tractor w/60" deck. 1200 hrs and it kinda shows it. Then on the other hand ...don't have to worry about beating it up! Dealer is asking $3900. The deck rolls on the ground and we've gotten it stuck a couple times already....not fun for me or my "senior" aged parents /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. It seems to high center occasionally. Would a suspended deck alleviate this "problem." I have a BX22 with a suspended deck. Am I spoiled? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Then again I'm cutting a flat "manicured" lawn.

If I read correctly the newer 2160 has a suspended deck. Is that the way to go. There are lots of ruts and undulations to deal with. Like I mentioned before....does a suspended deck make a big difference?? I'm also thinking a BX1500/1800 may be the way to go. Used would be O.K. I like the 60" deck of the 1800. A 54" on the 1500 is acceptable. 4wd on both ultimately sounds like the only way to truly avoid the problems we're running into. So much for the budget /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. Some gardening may also be in the future so a tiller on the BX would be pretty cool!!

Was hoping to keep the cost down $3-5,000. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Ease of use is also VERY important. I could always put a belly mower on my '49 Cub but that isn't gonna fly with my parents. Hydrostatic is pretty much a given! I've already spent a bunch of their money on the L3830(awesome machine) so I'm really trying to make another excellent decision /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif for them. I mostly run the L3830 and they will be running the lawn tractor.

Chuck

 

[Freds]

I can't say much on your technical questions about suspended decks, but I just got a G2160 and am quite happy with the cut and the speed I can go. I've read ZTRs are the way to go ultimately for a dedicated mower, but I've also read that if you can't use them to their potential, such as travelling at a good clip (pun intended) as opposed to manuevering on the ground you described, plus the learning curve to get the hang of one, plus the extra $$ and the fact that you can't do a thing with them, but mow... Well, like I said, I just got a G2160. I thought they listed for around $8,000, though, so not sure about the budget numbers you mentioned.
I have had mine stuck already. Hard to go from 4WD to 2. It went up a short steep hill just fine, which surprised me, but get the front wheels down a little incline on some soft turf and, well, the 3130 wasn't that far away /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[om21braz]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
Currently demo-ing a Kubota G1800 diesel lawn tractor w/60" deck. 1200 hrs and it kinda shows it. Then on the other hand ...don't have to worry about beating it up! Dealer is asking $3900.)</font>

I'd say that is way too much for that machine - before I decided to buy something larger altogether I had my 2003 Kubota TG1860 diesel w/ 34 hrs. for sale at what I thought was a fair price - $4600 - very similar to the G1800 and practically new. Keep looking if you decide to go that route, you can do better than that if you're not in a big hurry.