Buying Advice My old JD L100 is dying, i'll need something new

[silea]

We just bought a house with about 1.5 acres of land. The seller threw in his old JD L100 for free, and i can see why. I don't think he's done a bit on maintenance on the thing. It barely runs, and when it does, it drinks gasoline like it's going out of style and burns oil too.

The land we have is a hillside, so i'll need something that can handle a few degrees of slope. There are only a few trees, though, so not much to steer around.

I've been thinking of going electric since they're supposed to be much quieter. (We have a large lot, but the surrounding houses are all on quarter acres and pressed right up against the fence. I get lots of dirty looks from them when i rattle their windows.)

What do y'all suggest? Where should i start looking? Do electric mowers have enough power to go uphill and cut grass at the same time?

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:
I've heard that the Bad Boy mowers do well. No first hand experience tho.
The UTV's of theirs do well.

 

[Carl in CT]

I don't know anything first hand about electric mowers but I have heard they are only good for very small lawns, which seems right to me. I read somewhere that you would have to stockpile batteries and keep switching them out every 1/4 acre or so on a cordless. Obviously if you get a corded one you have to drag extension cords all over the place, doesn't seem feasible over 1.5 acres to me.

I would not worry about your neighbors too much, I mean you have to mow your lawn and a gas or diesel tractor or zero turn (ZTR) sounds like the right tool for the job. New ones don't smoke and might not be quite as loud and should make the job go faster. Make nice with them some other way, have them over for a BBQ or something. At least you want to keep your property looking good. My neighbor only mows about 4 times a year, makes a God awful mess when he does, that drives me nuts.

What is your budget?

 

[silea]

Budget is pretty flexible, assuming that more spending means more quality/durability/etc.

 

[Markcuda]

X500 series minimum
You know what I would tell your neighbors?

 

[Johndeere3720]

If you want something durable I would look into the John Deere X320. My grandpa recently got one and it is one nice mower. They have a price somewhere around $4k I think but you are getting a quality product that will outlast 3-6 of those big box mowers. It has the better tranny in it, the K42 tranny is the same as the L series so it will not last like the K56 on the X320 and up. You get a 48" deck which makes a wider cut and is better built compared to the deck on the L100.

 

[JoelD]

Great post.

First thing to do when moving into neighborhood is set the tone from the very beginning, if you start on the defensive you'll always be on the defensive.

First, remove muffler from the tractor, second, start her up around 6:00am on Saturday morning, then drive around like normal.

If anyone says anything, you say, OH, where I lived before we all started bright and early on our chores. But, since I'm new here, I'll start at 7:00am just to be courteous to my new neighbors.

They'll feel like they are getting a deal.

This is coming from a guy who lives in the "live free or die" state.

Joel

 

[silea]

Alas, alas, i live in a tree-hugging pacific northwest state, so that just doesn't fly here.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Great post.

First thing to do when moving into neighborhood is set the tone from the very beginning, if you start on the defensive you'll always be on the defensive.

First, remove muffler from the tractor, second, start her up around 6:00am on Saturday morning, then drive around like normal.

If anyone says anything, you say, OH, where I lived before we all started bright and early on our chores. But, since I'm new here, I'll start at 7:00am just to be courteous to my new neighbors.

They'll feel like they are getting a deal.

This is coming from a guy who lives in the "live free or die" state.

Joel

Perfect.:thumbsup:

 

[Jay4200]

First thing to do when moving into neighborhood is set the tone from the very beginning, if you start on the defensive you'll always be on the defensive.

First, remove muffler from the tractor, second, start her up around 6:00am on Saturday morning, then drive around like normal.

You must live in Windham or something....

We do the same thing here in Hudson, but we shoot guns at the same time.

JayC