jcmseven
Veteran Member
To all, I will keep this post as brief as I can. My wife and I live about 2 hours from my parents. My folks are 80 (father) and 76 (mother). My mother appears and acts younger than she is; my father has diabetes, heart disease and mild dementia, but still is able to drive (safely, during the day) and remains active at home and still "works" part time--i.e., the group he sold his business to allows him to come some during the week and hang around the office. My parents have two places. One, my formative homeplace, has about 1.5-2 acres of grass and is flat and pretty easy to mow. The other, is in the NW NC mountains and has only 1/2 acre of grass but 15 acres total property and a large home and long service driveway of about 1/2 mile leading into it. They have two lovely places, but clearly struggle to keep both going given my father's frail health.
Over the years my father and I have both enjoyed working in the yard and doing things on the property. My work schedule has prevented me from doing as much of it as I wish, but I regularly visit my folks and during pretty months often help by cutting the grass, etc. Last year, of the 30-40 mowings done, I did about 20 of them. My dad has an old Gravely tractor which we have had since 1982 (I was 13). It has over 2000 hours on it and now does not run well and is in need of significant refurbishing to keep it going. Therefore, last year I bought my dad (after paying for the previous year to have their lawn professionally mowed) an X360 lawn tractor. I did this because my mother said my dad was "itching" to mow again and they did not like depending on me or a professional mower to do their lawn. My mom split the cost of the machine with me. My dad mowed with it some and complained that it "did not cut like the Gravely"; a machine that at the time did not run and with which he almost set their home on fire trying to ether start. I began again doing their lawn and though the 360 was a nice little machine, it was too slow for me to mow for my folks and my elderly (84 yo) aunt, who mows about 4 acres weekly. After discussion with my dad, I traded the 360 for a 950 ZTR which I planned to keep at my folks. I debated the wisdom of this even at that time but my logic was that if I were to do 50%+ of the mowing and mow my aunt's place regularly also it would be best to have something faster. My dad was certainly able to use it still on their flat lawn, though it likely would not be as safe (i.e, slow) for him as a 360. My friend, who mows professionally, had a 757 so I figured he could also use it if my folks needed help and I was not around. In addition, I have had a feeling for some time now that my father's days of being able to safely use a mower of any type are pretty limited, if not already there. He refuses to stop trying and I do not blame him for that.
Once the machine was bought and put into their garage, I soon received a very angry call from my mother who said I had "to take the machine back." My father had denied that he had anything to do with a trade (I had asked him) which is common for him to avoid the ire of the Mrs. I since, to appease my dad's desire to "have a mower with a steering wheel" sent my personal 2320 down to their home, taped it into "a" range and added a 54d mower deck for it. My dad, though it is winter, happily putters around their yard on it and can operate it fine--on flat ground. I do not, however, believe it to be safer for him as it is a large machine with some degree of power.
The problem, after this novel, is that I still have the 950 that I do not know what to do with. I love mowing with that machine. It is fast, cuts great and is fun to use. I have a lot of property at my place, but no real lawn as we live in the mountains on a hillside. The only reason I can see keeping it is if I truly believe my father's mowing days are numbered and that I will be struck with the job of mowing even more regularly or having my friend do it for us; and if I continue to mow for my aging aunt who spends two days cutting her lawn with her old Wheel Horse if I cannot. She is on a very limited income and I am doing financially OK so I do all this mowing pro bono (for ice tea). My wife and I have good income, but we like everyone else, are watching our expense these days. I have been surprised with how I have enjoyed mowing with the 2320, but I feel one of these machines needs to go and I am not sure which. While we can certainly afford but, I wonder about using the profits of one being sold to invest or do some home improvements at MY house. Though I would love to keep them both for now, I do not feel good about keeping two high-end machines, neither of which see much use. What are the thoughts, and bear in mind when answering I am one who enjoys doing lawn work and mowing, when my time allows so I would prefer not to contract it out until I absolutely must?? Thanks.
John M
Over the years my father and I have both enjoyed working in the yard and doing things on the property. My work schedule has prevented me from doing as much of it as I wish, but I regularly visit my folks and during pretty months often help by cutting the grass, etc. Last year, of the 30-40 mowings done, I did about 20 of them. My dad has an old Gravely tractor which we have had since 1982 (I was 13). It has over 2000 hours on it and now does not run well and is in need of significant refurbishing to keep it going. Therefore, last year I bought my dad (after paying for the previous year to have their lawn professionally mowed) an X360 lawn tractor. I did this because my mother said my dad was "itching" to mow again and they did not like depending on me or a professional mower to do their lawn. My mom split the cost of the machine with me. My dad mowed with it some and complained that it "did not cut like the Gravely"; a machine that at the time did not run and with which he almost set their home on fire trying to ether start. I began again doing their lawn and though the 360 was a nice little machine, it was too slow for me to mow for my folks and my elderly (84 yo) aunt, who mows about 4 acres weekly. After discussion with my dad, I traded the 360 for a 950 ZTR which I planned to keep at my folks. I debated the wisdom of this even at that time but my logic was that if I were to do 50%+ of the mowing and mow my aunt's place regularly also it would be best to have something faster. My dad was certainly able to use it still on their flat lawn, though it likely would not be as safe (i.e, slow) for him as a 360. My friend, who mows professionally, had a 757 so I figured he could also use it if my folks needed help and I was not around. In addition, I have had a feeling for some time now that my father's days of being able to safely use a mower of any type are pretty limited, if not already there. He refuses to stop trying and I do not blame him for that.
Once the machine was bought and put into their garage, I soon received a very angry call from my mother who said I had "to take the machine back." My father had denied that he had anything to do with a trade (I had asked him) which is common for him to avoid the ire of the Mrs. I since, to appease my dad's desire to "have a mower with a steering wheel" sent my personal 2320 down to their home, taped it into "a" range and added a 54d mower deck for it. My dad, though it is winter, happily putters around their yard on it and can operate it fine--on flat ground. I do not, however, believe it to be safer for him as it is a large machine with some degree of power.
The problem, after this novel, is that I still have the 950 that I do not know what to do with. I love mowing with that machine. It is fast, cuts great and is fun to use. I have a lot of property at my place, but no real lawn as we live in the mountains on a hillside. The only reason I can see keeping it is if I truly believe my father's mowing days are numbered and that I will be struck with the job of mowing even more regularly or having my friend do it for us; and if I continue to mow for my aging aunt who spends two days cutting her lawn with her old Wheel Horse if I cannot. She is on a very limited income and I am doing financially OK so I do all this mowing pro bono (for ice tea). My wife and I have good income, but we like everyone else, are watching our expense these days. I have been surprised with how I have enjoyed mowing with the 2320, but I feel one of these machines needs to go and I am not sure which. While we can certainly afford but, I wonder about using the profits of one being sold to invest or do some home improvements at MY house. Though I would love to keep them both for now, I do not feel good about keeping two high-end machines, neither of which see much use. What are the thoughts, and bear in mind when answering I am one who enjoys doing lawn work and mowing, when my time allows so I would prefer not to contract it out until I absolutely must?? Thanks.
John M
