Mower Recommendations Please

[DaveRR]

I'm purchasing a new home and will be going from mowing about a half acre to mowing 2-2.5 acres, so my trusty Snapper RER has to go. I've been looking at new mowers online and I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'm looking for some recommendations to get me started.

I will have to mow three big and open areas, two of which are hilly, as well as around a bunch of obstacles - flower beds, trees, split-rail fence posts, and a pond.

Important considerations for me are time, reliability, and ease of maintenance. Brand is not important. I have a budget of about $3k, any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Carl_NH]

John Deere 304 or Cub Cadet 21XX or 3000 series with hydro and shaft drive. Slightly used versions (100-200 hours) of these will run $1500-2K and new $3-4000. Buying a lightly used one will save you more than half.

The older (89-91's vintage) John Deere 318 series with the Kawasaki are pretty bulletproof too, and Cub Cadet 18XX series in the same era are decent.

Good Luck

 

[nybirdman]

A friend just purchased a new Simplicity,I am very impressed by it's features and construction.It was a $5,000 mower but should last many years.I have a JD G100 and it has been very good but when and if it fails I will be purchasing a Simplicity.

 

[DHD]

For maneuverability around objects I would recommend an articulating mower. For hilly areas I would recommend all wheel drive.
Husqvarna Rider 322T is an articulating AWD mower but it sell for a little over $5000.
It's very very good on hilly areas and is very nimble around object.
The Husqvarna Rider 220T is less expensive and is a 2wd articulating mower, but it may not be as impressive on your hilly areas,
depending how steep your hills are.
Then some Box stores like Lowes sell an even lesser expensive Husqvarna 120s articulating mower, but I'd not recommend it because of your hills.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

To get anything other than box store junk, you're gonna have to either raise your budget or buy used.

 

[DaveRR]

Thanks very much for the advice everyone. Those articulated mowers look awesome! How is Husqvarna's quality? I bought a new Husqvarna snowblower in 2006 and it was the most frustrating piece of equipment I've ever owned. I used it for 3 years before getting rid of it, which was 3 years too long. I could probably bump up my budget to afford the 220T, but I'm going to have to do some more research.

We have a good Simplicity dealer nearby, and I'm definitely going to check them out. I replaced the Husqvarna with a used Simplicity large-frame blower, and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes they get used tractors in, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Thanks again guys!

 

[DHD]

Thanks very much for the advice everyone. Those articulated mowers look awesome! How is Husqvarna's quality? I bought a new Husqvarna snowblower in 2006 and it was the most frustrating piece of equipment I've ever owned. I used it for 3 years before getting rid of it, which was 3 years too long. I could probably bump up my budget to afford the 220T, but I'm going to have to do some more research.

We have a good Simplicity dealer nearby, and I'm definitely going to check them out. I replaced the Husqvarna with a used Simplicity large-frame blower, and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes they get used tractors in, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Thanks again guys!

Reliability for the Husqvarna articulating mowers seems to be good.
Here is a post started by Gem99ultra about his Husqvarna Rider 155
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/husqvarna/296991-sorry-rider-155-a.html?highlight=155
Here is a post having a very long discussion about the Rider 322T
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=250230

These posts were the main reason I decided to purchase my Rider 322T.