CUT life span when compared to a graden tractor?

[RalphVa]

Chucko,

I know you'd like a tractor, but after seeing your lawn I'd say that a ZTR mower would be a lot more appropriate.

Our church in NJ (where we lived for 20 years before moving to Singapore, back to US and eventually HERE in central Va where WE could choose where to live) had 4 or 5 acres of grass. At one point, I told them that I'd take care of the grass if they'd let me get a commercial mower because I would not do it again with those horrible Sears machines that they had 2 of.

Bought a Scag. With it, I could mow that 4 or 5 acres in a little over 3 hours. Wheras, it took about 6 or 7 hours with the Sears. Had to trim around all the trees with a push mower or spend another hour making about a half dozen passes on each tree with the horrible, unmaneuverable Sears. With the Scag, it was just ZIPPP right around the trees in top gear (sometimes on 2 of its 3 wheels).

NO tractor mower is good for grass, just mainly for image, unless you have other chores for the tractor to do. Pulling a cart isn't a tractor chore. You can use a garden way type cart for 1 acre. Tractor mowers smash the grass down with the front wheels so the mower can't pull it back up to cut it. Mowing decks are difficult to remove, particularly on those Sears units. On that Scag, all I did was crank up the 3 blade deck and unbolt the blades with through bolts, sharpen and put back on. Takes about 15 minutes total. With a tractor mower, you'll be murdering the grass with dull blades because it's too much of a chore to remove the deck to sharpen them.

Otherwise, a naked wife walking behind a push mower is a sight to behold.

Ralph

 

[chucko]

Wow 6 pages who would have thought that. I did think about the ZTR mower . But then I am stuck just being able to mow can't level out problem areas caused buy that bus or anything else just mow and a SCUT and a good ZTR are about the same price.....now if i cut yards for a living I would have nothing but a ZTR

 

[Joe1]

chucko:

My final thoughts:

Now that you mention the bus, I think you should buy your wife the ring. I drove a school bus for 5 months and it is the most stressful thing I've done, and I was in law enforcement for 27 years. Bus drivers are under paid and over stressed and have to deal with 60-90 out of control children that are not their own and who have no respect for anyone; drivers especially.


She's helping out financially, and deserves the ring. You also deserve the tractor, so like I said before, it's great spending YOUR money, so do both.

Good luck and happy payments.

 

[TresCrows]

Get your wife that ring, like I said, not trying to be macabre, but in a few years we will all be gone, make her happy now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif rather than regretting later. J

 

[Buck]

I started with the top of the line Craftsman on 1.2 acres. Worked great for 3 years. Moved to 10+ acres and the performance was terrible. Took waaaay too long to cut the grass and the grass was invariably too thick for the engine and cheap blades.

Started to have problems with the deck and carburetor. Didn't like the fact that it took me four hours every Saturday morning to get the thing running. Both neighbors had big JD's and had fun watching me learn. Finally, under neighbors advice, bought a JD 790 with MMM, FEL, etc... I --gave-- my Craftsman away for nothing, that may tell you how functional the thing ended up being to me.

There is ---no--- comparison in the engineering detail. The big tractor manufacturers bring, in some cases, over 100 years of design experience for big agriculture to your yard. The design details and machine robustness still surprise me after over two years of flawless performance.

However, there are some good choices that lie between the CUT and the Craftsman mowers. If you are only mowing, I would look seriously at some of these before plunking down the money ~12K for a mowing machine on 1 ac. The reason I say this is not to squelch your fever, but in anticipation of the fact the thrill of mowing with such a nice machine is likely to wear off after awhile and you might wonder what you would of done with the money otherwise.

One fiscally responsible way to test this is to buy a used BX and sell it for the same price if and when you lose the thrill. Even if the tractor depreciates, you'll still come out ahead, because you'll no longer need your prescription for Viagra.

Buck

 

[RalphVa]

One other choice for high quality stuff is to buy an old Gravely like I did. They're great for mowing, especially if you get one with the 50" deck. They'll last forever. I bought one with 104 hours on it about about "10 years old" (closer to 15), with 48" snow plow, 26" snow blower, riding sulky, cart, MacKissic shredder, 30" bush hog (which is also a great finish mower with the crossed blades installed on it) for $3,400. Later bought a rotary garden plow for $200 and put the steering brakes and dual wheels on it.

Make sure you get one with the steering brakes, otherwise, you'll have to be a gorilla to maneuver it around. It's not a tool for most women, unless they're long limbed and strong.

In contrast, my cabinet man bought a BX2200 and can't get near it to mow his grass. His wife does all that.

Ralph

 

[rbarker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Get your wife that ring, like I said, not trying to be macabre, but in a few years we will all be gone, make her happy now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif rather than regretting later. J )</font>

This is a pearl of wisdom! Well said, TresCrows!

 

[RalphVa]

Didn't hear about the wife recruited to push a mower. A stockade fence around the property so she could perform would be cheaper than a tractor.

Ralph

 

[Spanky100]

Chucko

I think it is important for you to keep the gravel driveway in good shape for the lovely wife's school bus. Those rains can do damage to a gravel drive. Best way is with an small inexpensive rear box scraper. That small inexpensive box scraper would work nicely on the BX 1500. With the lawn tractor you would have to hire it done or rent an expensive tractor to keep the driveway in order. We are just trying to look out for your wife's interest by getting you to face the facts and purchase the BX 1500. We are cheering for you.

Your goal reminded me of a JD commercial a few years ago. It went something like this: Husband and wife are at the JD dealer looking for a mower. Wife is looking at a small rear engine rider. Husband is looking at a combine with an air conditioned, radio, tinted windows operator cab. He is calling to his wife: Honey I think this will mow the lawn as well. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Wayne

 

[DaveInColorado]

I know - this thread is just about beat to death, but I'm amazed that nobody else has seen the Obvious Solution so clearly as I, the self-appointed family tractor guru for the Kubota list! Did you see the swingset, the little car, and the toys in the yard? That implies that there are small kids around. Small kids grow up into teenagers who need some way to make a few bucks mowing neighbors' yards and doing odd landscape jobs. If you get a quality Kubota BX1500, it is going to last through the last grandkid and beyond! That's what I did - I have one boy who put maybe 150 hours on our little 13.5hp MTD lawn tractor last year. It was enough trouble keeping it running (already burned out two other cheap lawn tractors in a couple of years) that I bit the bullet and bought the BX1500. I have four other kids who'll use the Kubota when they get old enough.

That said, I think the original poster of this thread has his hands full for a while with little kids and a red-head wife. I recommend that he spends $1499 and get the smallest <font color="green">JD</font> manual transmission lawn tractor at Home Depot and use it until he has teenagers. Then spend the big bucks for a Kubota that will mow five yards like that per week! I suggest manual transmission because it is a flat yard without many trees.