John Deere Riding mower advice

[coobie]

Well I guess I am aspiring to be a cheapskate as I am approaching retirement in the next few years lol. 200 hrs I could live with that, providing the rest of the mower is of reasonable quality.

Pay now or pay twice later for the lawn tractor you should have bought the first time around.I learned the hard way.

 

[whizdbiz2]

K46 transmissions are built with the absolute lowest price as a priority to complete in the cheapskate customer market. Strength and durability are not there at that $$$ level.
The K46 is a 200 hr transmission on small, level lawns with a gentle operator. Then again that 200 hrs of operation could well outlast the owner.

My Husqvarna with 54" deck has over 550 hrs on a K46. Mows about 1 1/2 acre a week with it and some snow plowing. I won't say it's strong but still functions just fine. So unless you are rodeoing the tractor it should last more than 200 hrs. I would recommend buying the best you can afford however. Check out all the brands available and make a choice then. I've had good luck buying used ones at auctions and have seen some really good buys, of course I was not in the market at the time!

 

[rocco611]

Pay now or pay twice later for the lawn tractor you should have bought the first time around.I learned the hard way.

thanks for the pic, a 740 with baby moons nice!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Pay now or pay twice later for the lawn tractor you should have bought the first time around.I learned the hard way.

You are certainly correct in your statement, however, I don't think the OP needs that much tractor to just pull around a spray rig and a little bit of light mowing. I would think just about any brand of entry level mower would last him for a lifetime. My brother in law used a Craftsman 6500 mowing about 2 acres of lawn and pulling a spray rig trailer for 7 years and it is still running great. His initial cost was right at $2000. He just bought a big John Deere (don't know the number on it) with power steering and the rear tires steer also. His main reason was to get the power steering because he has some issues with his wrist and shoulder so the Craftsman was a bit hard for him to steer. He has some sloping yard, but not much, nothing like what I have.

I put a hitch on my zero turn mowers and pulled my leaf sweeper, fertilizer spreader and a 2 yard dump trailer with them without issue. I don't have decades of experience using the low end mowers but for the 4-5 years that I had them, I never had any issue with the transmissions and neither have my brother in law. I think the only thing he has replaced other than blades is a broken spindle from when he hit a big tree root. He puts 75-100 hours per year on his mower (based on my 50 hours of use per year and him taking about 2 times as long).

 

[rocco611]

My Husqvarna with 54" deck has over 550 hrs on a K46. Mows about 1 1/2 acre a week with it and some snow plowing. I won't say it's strong but still functions just fine. So unless you are rodeoing the tractor it should last more than 200 hrs. I would recommend buying the best you can afford however. Check out all the brands available and make a choice then. I've had good luck buying used ones at auctions and have seen some really good buys, of course I was not in the market at the time!

Which Model Husqvarna do you have?, I was looking at their website, lots of different models but the specs are not very specific. how available are the parts? Lowes here is the only place I found that sell Husqvarna . After a go round on the phone with Lowe's customer service acquiring information , I definitely wouldn't buy anything from them that might require warranty service. The upside of John Deere is my local dealer professional and helpful, never had a problem getting anything I needed.

 

[jenkinsph]

I can't see any advantage to buying a Deere lawn tractor from Lowes. The Deere dealer pricing is competitive and is where you would go for warranty issues. The dealer handles the entire line including the models that Lowes sells. I buy lots of building materials from Lowes and have no problem with them, but the Deere dealer is the better place to buy their own products.

About the weeds vs. grass, I find that weeds are more difficult to maintain than grass. Smoothing and planting a native grass should make the mowing easier and less frequent. Weeds tend to grow up taller and faster than grass is my experience.

My experience is the k46 is too light and cheap for the rest of the mower. You have been offered some good advice imo to move up to a lawn tractor with the k58 transmission as a minimum. Good luck with your decision.

 

[KennyG]

You are certainly correct in your statement, however, I don't think the OP needs that much tractor to just pull around a spray rig and a little bit of light mowing. I would think just about any brand of entry level mower would last him for a lifetime. My brother in law used a Craftsman 6500 mowing about 2 acres of lawn and pulling a spray rig trailer for 7 years and it is still running great. His initial cost was right at $2000.

My church has a 10 year old 6500 that seems to keep on going. Now it mows the cared for lawn of about a half acre, but for the first five years it also mowed 3 or 4 acres of rough field that I now mow with my tractor. If we had continued to do the heavy mowing with it I think it would have problems now, but for normal lawn use it continues to be reliable. It has greasable spindles and they are original. Other than a couple of bent deck mounting links, a few flat tires, and numerous bent blades (did I mention it's used by "volunteers"?) and one new battery, it's original.

 

[coobie]

You are certainly correct in your statement, however, I don't think the OP needs that much tractor to just pull around a spray rig and a little bit of light mowing. I would think just about any brand of entry level mower would last him for a lifetime. My brother in law used a Craftsman 6500 mowing about 2 acres of lawn and pulling a spray rig trailer for 7 years and it is still running great. His initial cost was right at $2000. He just bought a big John Deere (don't know the number on it) with power steering and the rear tires steer also. His main reason was to get the power steering because he has some issues with his wrist and shoulder so the Craftsman was a bit hard for him to steer. He has some sloping yard, but not much, nothing like what I have.

I put a hitch on my zero turn mowers and pulled my leaf sweeper, fertilizer spreader and a 2 yard dump trailer with them without issue. I don't have decades of experience using the low end mowers but for the 4-5 years that I had them, I never had any issue with the transmissions and neither have my brother in law. I think the only thing he has replaced other than blades is a broken spindle from when he hit a big tree root. He puts 75-100 hours per year on his mower (based on my 50 hours of use per year and him taking about 2 times as long).

Gary,not trying to have the OP buy a JD X740 just stating to buy a decent heavy duty lawn tractor that will last him at least 10 years.I made the mistake early on in my life of buying cheap lawn tractors that lasted 3-5 years.Lesson learned for me.LOL