I have no idea what to buy

[ChuckBarnett]

Hey:

I am buying a property with about 1.8 acres of grass. This is my first time owning this much grass to mow and first time buying a ride on mower. Can anyone give me some directions on what the market looks like out there? What brand is garbage? Which is really high end but way overpriced? I live in SW Michigan which has a moderate amount of snow as well and the property is flat. Any direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Matt

Fencing and a calf.

 

[TennDealer]

Hey:

I am buying a property with about 1.8 acres of grass. This is my first time owning this much grass to mow and first time buying a ride on mower. Can anyone give me some directions on what the market looks like out there? What brand is garbage? Which is really high end but way overpriced? I live in SW Michigan which has a moderate amount of snow as well and the property is flat. Any direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Matt

I found a 2019 Bob Cat Procat 6000 with 29 hours last year at a good price. It has a six year warranty, 1/4“ welded deck and is built like a dozer. Zero turn and gets the job done quick. I think this is a lifetime mower. The new ones today are not near as good, have cheaper metal and now half the warranty. Find a good used 2020 or earlier and you will have a beast. Only buy the green color, the new ones are white.

 

[Tech74]

Hey:

I am buying a property with about 1.8 acres of grass. This is my first time owning this much grass to mow and first time buying a ride on mower. Can anyone give me some directions on what the market looks like out there? What brand is garbage? Which is really high end but way overpriced? I live in SW Michigan which has a moderate amount of snow as well and the property is flat. Any direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Matt

If your property is truly flat, zero turn but not from a big box store, go to a dealer. The JD and Kubota are both great, not familiar with other brands and the advice on a diesel commercial type is good, if you have the money. I have about about 2 acres of very irregular terrain, hundred year old ditches, old stump holes and plants my mother planted, I guess when she became enamored of random number generators because they are scattered all over the place. I can't bear to cut them down. though. I just bought a JD x350 riding lawn mower and could not be more pleased. I wanted the 500 but couldn't justify the extra two grand. My sister in law was very unhappy with her JD zero turn until she found a good shop to replace her dealership. She has a hill to mow but just very gradual and hers works great. She also advised a lawn tractor for my place.

 

[RoyJackson]

I bought the widest deck used rider mower I could find on Craigslist, a craftsman v-twin 18 horse 54" three spindle deck for $700. then I bought 2 of the cheapest 3hp 24" push mowers from Walmart, so $1000 all in. I welded up a towing arrangement for the two push mowers from scrap bedframe steel and the rig now mows 8 feet wide in one pass. Trailing mowers humming away. I can do the entire half of the airport grounds in about 2 hours.

American ingenuity at it's best!!!

 

[ENORMIS]

Hello, NW Pa here. Snow in winter and I mow 4 acres. I have a Kubota b2650. Cab I love Kubota 5 yr 0% interest. I have a belly mower and a snowblower.
Not cheap. Glad I spent the money

 

[Joe Batt]

A local dealer is the best. We have country clipper dealerships around here. It's seems to be reasonably priced reasonable quality. Expect to replace it in 5 years, probably because you want bigger or smaller or a different color. I'm on my 3rd in 20 years. The 4 wheel steer John Deere was to complex and expensive too maintain. The single cylinder country clipper was too small. This twin cylinder country clipper is about right, but now I want a diesel.

 

[Dennis59]

Hey:

I am buying a property with about 1.8 acres of grass. This is my first time owning this much grass to mow and first time buying a ride on mower. Can anyone give me some directions on what the market looks like out there? What brand is garbage? Which is really high end but way overpriced? I live in SW Michigan which has a moderate amount of snow as well and the property is flat. Any direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Matt

Matt it all depends on if you are only going to mow with it and have other means to remove snow. For just mowing you can not beet a ZTM but if you only need to do other thing with the unit a tractor with a drive over mower deck would be best. That way you could add a front mount snow blower or blade to remove snow. Depending on your budget a small compact tractor would fit your need for a all around unit.

 

[jsconner1]

I have a JD Z365R that I am on year 3 of owning. I have run it pretty hard on my 2 acre yard and 2.5 acres (so far) of Christmas tree farm and it has handled everything like a champ. My only complaint is the lack of an actual gas guage. The low fuel light is hard to see in the sun and only leaves about 5 minutes of gas once it comes on. I was able to pick it up new for $3500 which was less than most of the used ones I could find available.

Would definitely recommend. If I had more money, I really like the Country Clippers because they have the deck that raises on its own for changing out the blades, but I haven't actually used one.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I should clarify. I don't think anyone here is going to recommend a lawn tractor, only zero turns. I think lawn tractors are kind of an outdated platform, cheaper to build but awfully slow compared to a zero turn.

With that one exception of a lot of steep hills on the lot. I mow 2 acres, not the smoothest, lots of trees, went with a 54" Ariens ZTR, there are still a couple of scary places that were easy with my tractor.

 

[pcman]

Hey:

I am buying a property with about 1.8 acres of grass. This is my first time owning this much grass to mow and first time buying a ride on mower. Can anyone give me some directions on what the market looks like out there? What brand is garbage? Which is really high end but way overpriced? I live in SW Michigan which has a moderate amount of snow as well and the property is flat. Any direction is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Matt