Most reliable/durable 3pt finish/grooming mower

[TractorGuy]

The Agmate from Agri Supply is another good foreign made mower. 9 gauge welded deck. Super quiet and smooth.

 

[chim]

What are y'alls opinion of the Caroni brand? Neighbor has one that his FIL bought new and this thing is heavy. He said he had to buy front weights for his little Ford 1710 tractor when he inherited it 20yrs ago.

............................
I have noticed that remote lubrication points are available as an option on some and standard on others?

Preference on pins versus spacer height adjustment? The spacer system seems to me to have a stronger spindle design because it lacks the thru hole, correct?

I have looked at several used mowers and found that the majority have issues with blade spindles or gauge wheels/spindles from lack of routine lubrication.
.

Just retired a 5' Caroni bought around 1992. It was a lot lighter than my LandPride 5 footer. Used very abused and stored outside for years. I've also bought two new LandPrides - a 5' and a 6'.

Bought a used 7-1/2' Caroni and rebuilt/restored it for the L4240. Picked up another very used 5' Caroni that's being refurbed just for fun / backup for on the Ford.

Installed remote lube kit on the 7-1/2' deck while rebuilding it:

Greasing Kit For Caroni Estate Mower 5 Blade | Agri Supply

Agrisupply has parts cheap. For 50 bucks you can buy the complete spindle (aka Quill Assembly):

Replacement Caroni Quill Assembly | Agri Supply

I like the stacked bushings - but that's all I've ever had.

 

[Mat4644]

It doesn't take much to pop the front wheels of some compact tractors and this is not an indication of very heavy implement weight. Looking at the Caroni Estate sold by Agri Supply the 59 inch model is only 404 pounds. For this size mower very light. The 71 inch version is 497 pounds. Also very light compared to others.

Two belt models without tensioners are more of a PIA. Check to see if guards have access holes to grease. No need for remote lubrication points on most small 3pt mowers.

For Frontier they mix manufactures even by model number and you can't just look at a GM10xx series and think they all have common traits. For example my GM1060 is a Woods PRD6000 but there are others with GM1060 label by other MFG. Dealer says mine is a GM1060R but the only way to know that is to look up the Serial number. Frontier mowers are just someone else's product at jacked up prices. I got mine new unused at dealer auction for $1000 and I knew it was a Woods otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.

Stick with Woods, Land Pride or Bush Hog and you won't regret it. Get on TractorHouse.com and see what's available for your zip code.

 

[mikester]

Land Pride has been very reliable for me after 30 years. My first finishing mower was Woods and it self destructed in 10 years.

 

[Will_C]

I bought a used 60" First Choice (Sicma) 10 years ago and used for 8 years on a rough 3 acres. I replaced a spindle and upgraded 2 of the tires to solid ones. Bought it for $500 and sold it for $300 two years ago. It did a nice job.

I bought a Landpride FDR 2584 when I bought my new tractor. It is a tank, weighing 800lbs. No problems so far, as you would expect. It's what my dealer had and offered me a great deal on it. I may have preferred the Woods if that was an option, but not enough to turn down the deal I got.

Will