Lawn mowers with factory locking rear diff?

[GeneV]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have about an acre or more of mowable grass. Steep curving hills, ins and outs, next to the house, around rock walls, etc etc.

My father owns an early 70s Kubota B2100E which is an absolute unit and obviously has a locking diff.

I was pricing out the new machines with awd like the kubota GR2021 and the JD x738, but they are pricey.

I current have a POS toro lx425 and a craftsman gt18 (smokes like a banshee but runs pretty good)

Should I rebuild the horizontally opposed Briggs motor in the craftsman and run it with some ag tires? Or should I look for something a little more turnkey that can handle my hills well. The toro is pathetic, but it is light enough that I can seat bounce it with very low air pressure in the tires (I also grooved them) and it does the hills OK, but itç—´ sketchy.

The gt18 has wheel weights on it and seems to do hills pretty well, itç—´ just slow.

Basically I am looking for a recommendation on any sort of lawnmowers and/or garden tractors with locking diffs or 4x4 which can be had for $5000 or less, used. Also if you guys have any sort of hidden gems which are really good on Hills I知 happy to hear about any experience or feedback.

Thank you all!

-Ben

I got a Craftsman 27048 garden tractor. 26 hp, locking differential, 50" deck. Nice tractor, it's been serving me well over here with my slopes and steep hills. I think I got mine for like $3300, but I seen them drop in price a few times, it depends what time of year you buy them I guess.

Cub cadet has basically the same tractor with a 54" deck. Both tractors are built by MTD, just rebranded with different colors, etc.

 

[crazyal]

My x500 Deere has a licking diff. I use it often enough so I wouldn't be without one. New they are out of your price range (think it's now the x570) but you can find a used one with low hours for under $5000. I got mine for $4200. It was 6 months old and about 50 hours on it. So it came with most of it's warranty. I had two problems with it, the steering wheel was molded wrong and cracked and the seat had a tear in it from the previous owner putting a ratchet strap across it to hold it onto a trailer. Both were covered under warranty by a local dealer (very painlessly) that didn't sell the tractor new or sell it to me. Deeres may be pricey but a good dealer will take care of you. In fact when I replace it I will reward that dealer for taking care of me.

 

[nybirdman]

Simplicity;great mowers about 5K.Also has suspension.

 

[BCSherman]

Thank you all for the replies.

The problem (that I see) with the walk behind is one; yes I really don稚 wanna walk, and two; I had a super bad ankle injury in 2007 - compound fracture and dislocation, so that still haunts me and I try to walk as little as possible.

My wife is a teacher and has summers off, so she would likely be the primary lawn mower, and she actually doesn稚 mind a walk behind.

What about a harbor repower on the craftsman? My neighbor who I got the tractor from said when he 途ebuild it something about crank journals that are aluminum and some material had transferred to the steel, I知 honestly not sure exactly what he was talking about - as I致e never been inside that engine.