Garden tractor advice

[Junkman]

I have used a Bolens HT20 for many year doing grass cutting and snow blowing/pushing depending on what attachment I had on the tractor. It is a Kohler 20 hp engine and hydrostatic drive garden tractor that is very well built. The weigh in about 1200 pounds, so you can see that there is a lot of metal to them. I found it easy to repair when necessary and parts availability is fine now that MTD has bought the Bolens name from Garden Way since they went belly up. You can pick up a good Bolens for about $1500 and it will do every thing that you put it up against on the average homeowner property. The only downside to them is that they are gasoline powered and they do have a healthy appetite for fuel, like most gasoline engines.

 

[SPIKER]

Hi RECON and welcome to the board:

first off with 30 acres you WILL need somethign more than a Lawn Mower/ Garden Tractor. I would suggest like others did an old ford 8/9Ns or if you want NEW with similar features but all the safety stuff then might i suggest the import JINMA or also known as Nortrack, Farm Pro, and lots of other names,

they can be had in 4 wheel drive clutch tractor, requires a bit of tinkering every now and then but a NEW 3 cyl diesel tractor with finish mower and a rotary cutter add on a FEL (front end loader) a box blade should/can be had for about 8 grand. that is a 224/254 or 284 ( the 2x is HP and the 4 stands for 4 wheel drive) check out Johns site for a great list of dealers near you here
http://johnstractor.homestead.com/

there is also a China Tracotr forum just up a bit above this one, which has lots of info and you can ask just about anything, lots of people go there and rag on them but for the $ and a fixed income they are great work horces. maybe get one with TURF TIRES (usually a $250 or $300 option) for more mowing, but they loose grip in soft stuff...

then an old rider or a Walmart special for mowing up close.

the tracor SHOULD be had, but a walmart or TSC rider for now would help keep the grass at bay, the JINMA tractors are pretty HEAVY 3000 lbs plus... anyhow lots of peole here will rag on them but they don't use them, those of us who do won't gripe about them cause We KNOW how well they work.

Mark M