Price Check cheap vs expensive; longevity vs price

[jwstewar]

Don't give me too much grief over my spelling I have spent most of life in school do get to this point with my spelling.

Wasn't giving you a hard time. WalterK posted a little joke about the severed vs. served and then LB being LB didn't/wouldn't understand the joke and I was trying to explain it to him.

I apologize if I offended you, I didn't mean to.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Just ran across this thread and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

Have had a riding mower since 71 and live on a small acreage. Have had 3 GT's over the time and not a cheapy among them.

The house came with a 70 Bolens (one yr old) with mower & tiller. Still using today. Original cost was $2100. This past winter had to replace the original front tires and replace the tie rod as the ends were getting worn out. Like a lot of older GT's this came with case iron from and rear axles. Tiller also has cast iron gear housing. Came with hyd lift and HST. The ole gal is near 40 and still running. No real running gear problems.

Replaced the Bolen as my main GT with a JD318. Bought used for $4k. Served me well until it walked away one day (ownership ~15 yrs). Had 1800 hrs on it when it disappeared. Had a book value of $2500 at the time. That translates to about $100/yr for depreciation. Came with 2 spool hyd, PS, HST. Also strong front a rear axles.

The JD was replaced by my current Cub 3204. Like the 2 before it, shaft drive, cast iron axles. Like the JD, has PS and single spool hyd lift. I expect this machine to last me the rest of my life.

Maintenance has been mentioned several times. How many of the cheapies are built with maintenance and long life in mind? The Cub has either bronze bushings or bearing at all wear points. That includes the foot pedal shaft for the HST. The mower deck tips the scales at 265# and has a doz grease fittings. Cast iron gearbox and spindles use tapered roller bearings. IMO this machine was made with service and long life in mind.

As I said to being with, no experience with a cheapie but over the life I've owned these machines I find them to cost no more and possibly less than a cheapy when replacement of worn/broken parts are taken into consideration. The down side is you need to have the $$$ to make the purchase to begin with.

 

[IslandTractor]

My two cents: I've had a Craftsman LT1000 22.5hp B and S for the last 8 years to mow an acre or so. Used it first as a bush hog but then wised up and limited it to lawn mowing once I bought a more appropriate diesel tractor and bush hog. It has never failed to start except when a battery died after five years. It has had oil changes each year, occasional greasing and one set of new blades. The drive belt popped off once but it only took five minutes to diagnose and thirty seconds to fix. Otherwise no issues.

What I have been particularly pleased with is how much more reliable Briggs and Stratton engines are today than they were twenty or thirty years ago. I own several B+S and several Honda and they have all performed flawlessly. Newer small engines are WAY more reliable than in the sixties and seventies.

I agree with those who advocate getting the cheaper mower. Treat it half decently and they will last a long time. Use the money you save for implements on the big tractor.

 

[JoelD]

My two cents: I've had a Craftsman LT1000 22.5hp B and S for the last 8 years to mow an acre or so. Used it first as a bush hog but then wised up and limited it to lawn mowing once I bought a more appropriate diesel tractor and bush hog. It has never failed to start except when a battery died after five years. It has had oil changes each year, occasional greasing and one set of new blades. The drive belt popped off once but it only took five minutes to diagnose and thirty seconds to fix. Otherwise no issues.

What I have been particularly pleased with is how much more reliable Briggs and Stratton engines are today than they were twenty or thirty years ago. I own several B+S and several Honda and they have all performed flawlessly. Newer small engines are WAY more reliable than in the sixties and seventies.

I agree with those who advocate getting the cheaper mower. Treat it half decently and they will last a long time. Use the money you save for implements on the big tractor.

I'm also a briggs fan, I find them much easier to tune than the techumseh's and I've seen a number of Kohlers (particularly with the shallow oil pan) throw rods. Same for briggs if run on too much of a slope.

I agree, if you care for them and store properly, you'd be surprised at how long some of the "cheap" machines will run.

One thing for sure, the front wheels with plastic bushings don't last long at all, but then, those are easy to replace.

Joel

 

[buck12]

Wasn't giving you a hard time. WalterK posted a little joke about the severed vs. served and then LB being LB didn't/wouldn't understand the joke and I was trying to explain it to him.

I apologize if I offended you, I didn't mean to.

No apology needed.

 

[slewisma]

My last mower was a Craftsman 10hp model from Sears that lasted over 20 years and is still working okay for the guy I sold it too when I stepped up to sub-compact tractor. I used the Craftsman at three different homes over the years, one was 2+ acres, second was .75 acres and then here at 3+ acres. The hills and some work I needed to do other than mowing, coupled with less time to mow so need for larger mowing deck are the only reason I'm not still using the Craftsman. And I didn't take great care of it.

For what you've described, I don't see any logic in buying the more expensive models unless you just want to enjoy the added speed, features, etc.

 

[300UGUY]

I have a 18hp Craftsman lawn tractor that I have abused since 1988. I mowed 2 acres of lawn, and 6 acres of pasture for years with it. I have replaced a couple sets of blades, a couple of mower belts, one main drive belt, one fuel line - rotted out, and one fuel pump, wiped out when the drive belt went. A spindle went bad on the deck about 5 years ago, I replaced all three, cleaned the deck, and repainted it. I bought a zero turn a couple of years ago, just to speed up the mowing. I have other tractors to do the pasture now. But I still use the Mighty Craftsman, mowing areas I don't want to take the 0 turn into. Tough little beast. I change the oil and the air filter yearly, have plugged a couple of tires. I always check the oil before I start, kinda scared of letting that go unchecked.

 

[skidoo]

Depends on which ones will meet your needs for hills and size area. If one doesn't meet those needs, it doesn't matter how cheap it is. For example, hand sheers are fairly cheap, have low operating cost, and if you maintain them regularly, they can last a long time. But, this may only be suitable if your hills are only a few square feet. My point here is that perhaps it is best to identify which ones will do the job at the comfort level you desire, and then compare prices.

If the hills are shallow, ground fairly smooth, and the area not too large, then just about any could do. But, if your hills are fairly steep, ground is uneven, lots of area to cover, perhaps many obstacles to go around, then the cheapest ones may not be suitable. For steeper hills, I would suggest looking at how good the traction and side stability is. I has a cheap craftsman and it felt very unstable on the hills. After a couple years, I stepped up to a garden tractor and it did substantially better on the hills (with chains on all the time), but still had areas where it felt unstable. Finally, last year, I stepped up to AWD and 4 wheel steer. Cost is high, but this machine really hugs the hills without chains.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Here's a tip that can relate to buying almost anything...

There's 2 kinds of oats. 1 kind in front of the horse and 1 kind behind the horse. Guess which is cheaper.

Cheap mower that's dependable to me is a single blade RER Snapper used for maybe $300-400. Extremely cheap to keep running for years with simple maintenance. Not the best for cutting large areas or turning radius.

One of the biggest killers of air cooled engines are mice' nests built underneath the top cover housing. Usually built during the winter sure to burn up the unsuspecting owner's engine (no matter how new) in a matter of 20 minutes.....

If I were buying new today, I'd probably go for the JD 304 AWS with the Kawi engine and hope it lasts at least 10 years.

 

[two_bit_score]

Kyle in Texas:"Here's a tip that can relate to buying almost anything...
There's 2 kinds of oats. 1 kind in front of the horse and 1 kind behind the horse. Guess which is cheaper."



I like that one. Here's another.....'you can have it cheap, quick or good....you pick any two'.