Looking to buy a yard tractor for mowing

[erudomen]

Hey Folks,

I moved into this new house in Upstate NY in November of last year and bought myself a 1986 John Deere 650 with a bucket and a box blade. I figured that would get me through winter which it did but it was a challenge. I have a 900+ foot crushed slate driveway that has a substantial slope and turn towards the top. Clearing snow was a bear and I had to call in help from a plow a couple times. Luckily I have great neighbors.

Now that spring has come around I am looking to buy a yard tractor to do the mowing. I have between 2-4 acres of cleared land. I do not need or intend to mow it all, will probably only mow around 2 acres and those 2 acres are mainly flat with a few mild slopes. The areas I don't plan to mow are hilly. Having a mower with the ability to mow the hilly sections would be nice but I don't want to do it every week.

All that being said I am having a heck of a time picking a mower. This 2003 lt2042 is appealing but I am worried about how old it is and it has 450 hours. The snowblower would be nice for some flat portions of my driveway but I don't expected I could take care of the sloped portions. I am concerned it won't hold up for very long. $1,200 isn't a huge investment though. 42" deck is small for 2 acres.

This 2014 GTX 2154 seems like it would take a beating and its much newer but it has 418 hours plus twice the price. Obviously much newer and a 54" deck would reduce my mowing time significantly.

My preference would be to buy the 2003 and hope it holds up through a couple mowing and winter seasons. What are the odds it has a few years on it? Seller says it's in good working order and he gave it a full tune up in the fall and blew snow with it well through winter.

Are these used cub cadets machines to avoid? Should I really pony up $3-4k and get a new unit?

I am not particularly mechanical though I am in process of become more mechanical, so DIY repairs are possible but not ideal.

 

[arto98607]

42 and 54 inch decks are too small for two acre mowing in my opinion!

I would get a used one with a Diesel engine and minimum 60" deck.
You would save in fuel in the long run.

I have a gasoline mower with 42" deck and two Diesels, one with 61" another with 72" decks.

Anyone care to guess which one we mostly use for mowing 2.5 acres?

 

[nrosario]

My recommendation is to get a 60" ZTR

 

[chim]

Arto has it right. When we built here in '89 we had 2-1/4 acres of grass. The first thing we did was sell the riding mower before even trying to mow with it.

 

[tacticalturnip]

That GTX is basically the same as the current Cub Cadet XT3 series, and it's quite the stout machine. Parts are readily available, they're excellent mowers, and that Kohler Command has a lot of life left in it so long as you keep up on maintenance.

Folks here love to spend your money, and a SCUT or zero-turn will certainly make mowing more fun, but that GTX will do just great!

 

[HST4Me]

Fence + waterer + sheep.

 

[erudomen]

Fence + waterer + sheep.

Thats the plan down the road for about half of it lol

 

[3gunr]

I get a kick out of you guys who think 2 acres is a lot of grass and that you need a 60 in ztr to mow it, We had 2 acre yard growing up and mowed for decades with a 42 in mower , Dad finally got a 48 in craftsman that lasted for ever, My sister still lives there and just got a new toro timecutter 54 in, I mow mine and my daughters yard every week with a 60 in bad boy , 7 acres of grass .takes about 3 hrs.

 

[nrosario]

I get a kick out of you guys who think 2 acres is a lot of grass and that you need a 60 in ztr to mow it, We had 2 acre yard growing up and mowed for decades with a 42 in mower , Dad finally got a 48 in craftsman that lasted for ever, My sister still lives there and just got a new toro timecutter 54 in, I mow mine and my daughters yard every week with a 60 in bad boy , 7 acres of grass .takes about 3 hrs.

You can mow any piece of land with any size you want. A recommendation, is just that, a recommendation.
A ZTR is not that expensive, until you go commercial of course, and is the right equipment for the job.

At the end of the day is the OP decision.

 

[Root Cause]

I have one property with 1.5 acres that is pretty flat. Corner lot, so lots of ditches. 1/2 acre fenced back yard and privacy fence around the pool. My 54" zero turn Cub Cadet does it in about 1 1/2 hours because it is slow-moving along the fence line and I have some rough area. All totaled, 2 hours to do a nice job trimming and edging. I won't pay a lot more to go a little faster.