Grandma needs a new riding mower

[Root Cause]

A good friend's Mom of 83, needs a new riding mower. She is not quite 5 feet tall.
He has a new apartment ready for her when she gives up the single life but she is not close by so a used one is probably out of the question.

Hoping someone here has a good answer and guessing it needs to be a traditional tractor-type mower.
Any and all ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Get her one with electric start. In fact get her a cheap zero turn with airless tires. That way she can start it and not have flats. Stay away from B&S engines. Problem with blowing bottom seal out. Oil instantly gone. Slings a rod right then. Seen several times. Kawasaki engines are very good.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Get her one with electric start. In fact get her a cheap zero turn with airless tires. That way she can start it and not have flats. Stay away from B&S engines. Problem with blowing bottom seal out. Oil instantly gone. Slings a rod right then. Seen several times. Kawasaki engines are very good.

Which B&S motor?? They make different models, and I haven't seen that seal failure even once in any of them...

But, I have seen several Kawasaki's fail from plastic valve gear timing...

SR

 

[Doughknob]

.... Stay away from B&S engines..... Kawasaki engines are very good.

i have had a VERY good and reliable Briggs engine in a mower AND a good Kawasaki in one.

 

[kf4uda]

I went through this with my 90 year old (at the time) Mother. I think I looked at every mower made trying to find the right fit for her. I bought her the Toro version of this: Cub Cadet 42 in. 679 cc Fuel Injected (EFI) V-Twin Engine Dual Hydro Gas ZeroTurn Riding Mower with Steering Wheel Control-RZT-SX 42 EFI - The Home Depot

She loved it. She could see everything in front of her and have a mower that would zero turn but has a steering wheel. Mom is gone now but she got some enjoyment out of her mower for a few years.

 

[Root Cause]

Thanks guys for the feedback. She may outlive us all who knows but we are doing our best to take care of family and we treat our parents like we want to be treated when we are at that age.

 

[JJT]

I know an 85 year old woman that has a yard bug, she loves it. It's been rebuilt at least twice in the past 25 years.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have a John Deere F725 and my near 70 YO wife loves it. Front deck so you can easily see where you are cutting with hydraulic steering wheel type steering and near zero turn maneuverability. Just saying.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

i have had a VERY good and reliable Briggs engine in a mower AND a good Kawasaki in one.

Briggs blow the seal out on bottom of crank. You might have a good Briggs, I understand, I had a good Chrysler Concorde, but a lot of folks didn't.

Which B&S motor?? They make different models, and I haven't seen that seal failure even once in any of them...

But, I have seen several Kawasaki's fail from plastic valve gear timing...

SR

Vertical shaft Briggs. We ran 34 hp Kawasaki engines maybe no plastic in the big ones.

 

[Torvy]

I had a good Chrysler Concorde, but a lot of folks didn't.

Your earlier statement is more like, I had a bad Toyota Yaris, so Toyotas are bad. Pretty sweeping generalization about one of the most common and reliable small engines out there. I know they are not the top engine, but hyperbole doesn't help.