Does anyone mow 3+ acres with a $2000 mower?

GerardC · Mar 22, 2005

I mow roughly 3 acres and this is what I use. It has a 16.5 HP B & S with hydrostatic transmission. They are under a thousand dollars now. Mine has been going strong for 5 years now. Gerard

thcri · Mar 22, 2005

When I was buying I had a couple of people tell me to size your mower or tractor to mow you lawn in 1 hour. Evidently that is the rule of thumb for sizing decks. To me 3 acres should be a larger deck than the 50" to get it done in one hour. My 1-1/2 takes me an hour with a 72" deck. Well I do have lots of stuff to go around.

murph

USMC2145 · Mar 22, 2005

I used to mow my 3.5 acres with a Craftsman 18hp with a 48" deck. It took forever and I didn't have any problems until I missed mowing the grass. Then it really took a long time and it wore the thing out fast. I then bought a Simplicity Legacy 25hp with 60" deck. That really sped things up. It also had much more power and didn't struggle when the grass was tall. It was alot more $ than the Craftsman but the cost of ownership was less in the long run;the Craftsmen cost~1800 and lasted about 2 years the Simplicity cost ~6000 and is now 5 years old and still going strong(I expect it to last at least 10 years). Just my 2 cents.

GaryE · Mar 22, 2005

If all you are going to do is mow and the ground is not to rough, there is no need for a "high dollar tractor". Last summer I bought a Craftsman GT 5000 with a 54" deck. I did about 2.5 acres of my mowing with it. The rest of the fields are just to rough for it, but some of that may change.

Gary

JJT · Mar 22, 2005

For 16 years I mowed my lawn with an 18 hp Craftsman. It was still running strong when I sold it. Lawn size varied from 1.5 - 2.5 acres. I also pushed snow and did a lot of grading with a little 4' york rake. I replaced the front tires, the blades, the seat, and put several batteries in it. Other than that it never needed anything more than routine maint.

rebelmedic · Mar 22, 2005

I mowed 4 acres with a Craftsman 18HP Kohler 42 inch cut lawn and garden tractor for 14 years.I took care of it but realy used it hard and finaly wore the engine out.I now have the Craftsman 25hp Kohler 48 inch. I would not recomend the Craftsman rideing lawn mower for such extensive use. The Craftsman Lawn and Garden tractors are made heavy duty for extensive use. The Kohler engines are extremely durable.Grandfather has a Wheelhorse with Kohler 25 years old still goeing strong after working 5 acre gardens all the years.

hazmat · Mar 22, 2005

When I was buying I had a couple of people tell me to size your mower or tractor to mow you lawn in 1 hour. Evidently that is the rule of thumb for sizing decks. 

Given a fat wallet & an understanding spouse, I'm with Murph - get a bigger deck. That said, the $2,000 new machine will get the job done, It will simply take a while. If I had $2K to spend & 3 acres to mow, I'd be looking at a used commercial mower (walk behind with a "sulky" or zero turn)

viking65 · Mar 22, 2005

I mowed just under 3 acres for 4 or 5 seasons with a Sears Craftsman Garden Tractor with a 22hp Kohler and 46" deck, 5 speed manual transmission. I paid about $2300 for it. I never had a problem with it. It still has the original Diehard battery. I replaced the blades once. It did a great job and is still running strong. I now use it to cut my son's baseball team's field and to pull a drag on the infield dirt.

Now you can get basically the same tractor (now it's painted red instead of dark green) with a 54" mowing deck, 6 speed manual transmission, 22hp B&S engine fo $1980, it's on sale now. I think the Craftsman Garden Tractors are a great value and well put together. You may hear some negative opinions regarding the Craftsman GT but my experience has been nothing but positive.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=LAWN&pid=07127621000&subcat=Garden+Tractors

GerardC · Mar 23, 2005

( When I was younger I mowed an acre with a 20" push mower for a couple years...

So I see no reason why you could not mow three acres with a riding mower.

It took me about six hours to do an acre...this is true. I don't know if I did well or if I was a slacker...but it was still six hours and I don't believe I did it back then...but I did.

I do believe I would not do it now though... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I also believe I should do it now though...put on a few pounds over the winter... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you can get a lot of grass cutting out of a $2K mower...if that is what your budget dictates, go for it and don't look back... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

I too remember those days of walking behind the mower mowing an acre or so /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. Pushing, pulling and thinking I'll never get it done /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. Did that for a couple of years every Saturday (after delivering my paper route of course). At the end of the day I got paid. Then, I would go home, eat, shower and then roller skating 'til midnight. Wow, just thinking of doing all of that is making me tired /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. Gerard

bontai_Joe · Mar 23, 2005

Have you considered buying a higher quality used machine? You should be able to find a 3-5 year old Garden tractor with a stronger frame, heavier duty construction overall for around $2000. It will probably last the same 5+/- years the new box store $2000 mower would last, but it will do more, and the potential is there for 10-15 years of additional service, which is unlikely (but possible) with the new box store tractor.