OrangeAlex
Silver Member
Hi Folks,
I would like recommendations/thoughts on what I should buy for 1 to 1.5 acres of lawn. I already have an heavy L3130 with R1 tires for utility work and don't expect to mow my lawn with it. Actually my lawn is not even in place yet; it is just cleared brush at this point. Currently I don't have any obsticles on the area which I intend to convert into a lawn However, I can see myself possible putting in flower beds and small trees/scrubs into the landscape. Depends on what the wife wants. ;-)
As far as budget, I am kind of open to peoples ideas. I guess I am most concerned with overall cost of lawn maintaince over a long period of time. A bigger machine can be financed if that makes more financial sense then buying cheaper machines via cash. For example, I am not sure if I am best off buying cheap "throw away" lawn tractors or getting a sub CUT/small gray market tractor. I just want to get something which will be the least overall cost over my lawn cutting career. ;-) . Here is what I have been debating. Keep in mind I only plan to have 1 to 1.5 acres of lawn, most likely watered regularly over the summer (ie soft ground) and I intend to make it smooth. Area is not overally sloped, maybe 5% max. I am in Oregon and we have periods of quick growing grass here in the Spring time.
1. $1000 cheap new riding lawn tractor. I expect the bundled engines to outlast the rest of the tractor.
2. $1500-2000 better quality lower mowers (AYPs or JD L series) - 48" decks I expect the rest of the tractor to probably keep up with the engine. Not sure however. Still think the engine will outlast the rest of it.
3. Walk behind ZTR, I think it is ~$2500. Open to deck size. the bigger the better I guess. Will probably last a long time but I am not sure how much I will want to use this thing into the future. Yes, I guess I can see myself gettting lazy. Relatively young now but who knows how I will be feeling in 10-20 years.. It might outlast me.
4. $2400-3000 even better quality lawn tractor. Smaller decks on these ~40". Kubota T1670 or JD LT/LX. I expect the rest of the tractor will probably outlast the gas engine.
5. Low cost riding ZTR.. in the same price range as #4. A consumer grade Toro ZTR? Not sure what will give out first.
6. Used or new Diesel garden tractor. JD 332 or Kubota GR2k.
Not sure the chassis will hold up with the engine on this one.
Not sure how much a used ones costs, a new one is around $7k.
7. Small Yanmar grey market with finish mower and turf tires? Maybe something like a 1401D. $6000? Chassis will hold up with the engine but probably not as easy to navigate around as with a MMM.
8. New Sub CUT with MMM. I expect this will last forever and will be much easier to use then then a tow behind finish mower as in #7. But we are probably talking $9000 here. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Especially since I already spend a lot of money on my L3130.
9. ATV tow behind self powered finish mower. I have a new Suzuki Ozark 250cc 2x4 ATV with a 700# tow capacity. Mower I think is around 500#. I have heard these are a pain to deal with (backing up,etc). Not sure if this will shorten the life of my ATV much and something I should avoid using. Probably not the best choice.
Again, Remember I already have a new CUT (L3130), so I don't think I will need a loader or other 3 pt attachments for this "lawn" mowing machine.
I appreciate anyone's ideas and lessons learned. I don't know how many have gone down this same painful road. This mower problem is harder then deciding which CUT I wanted. That was more cut and dry. This one is a hard one for me. So many ways to go on this one. I can see many sides; Cheap throw aways which I might get a lot of use out of them because I will have a small amount of lawn which is relatively flat... then all the way into high quaility solutions and even expensive diesel powered machine which might actually have good resale value.
With 1 to 1.5 acres, I don't expect to spend a lot of time cutting no matter what I cut with. Other then a small walk behind push mower and weed wacker.
ok.. anyone want to give this a shot? I know it is a lot to ask and is a complex problem. Let me know if I can answer anything else about my situation which can help narrow down my choices. Thank you in advanced.
I would like recommendations/thoughts on what I should buy for 1 to 1.5 acres of lawn. I already have an heavy L3130 with R1 tires for utility work and don't expect to mow my lawn with it. Actually my lawn is not even in place yet; it is just cleared brush at this point. Currently I don't have any obsticles on the area which I intend to convert into a lawn However, I can see myself possible putting in flower beds and small trees/scrubs into the landscape. Depends on what the wife wants. ;-)
As far as budget, I am kind of open to peoples ideas. I guess I am most concerned with overall cost of lawn maintaince over a long period of time. A bigger machine can be financed if that makes more financial sense then buying cheaper machines via cash. For example, I am not sure if I am best off buying cheap "throw away" lawn tractors or getting a sub CUT/small gray market tractor. I just want to get something which will be the least overall cost over my lawn cutting career. ;-) . Here is what I have been debating. Keep in mind I only plan to have 1 to 1.5 acres of lawn, most likely watered regularly over the summer (ie soft ground) and I intend to make it smooth. Area is not overally sloped, maybe 5% max. I am in Oregon and we have periods of quick growing grass here in the Spring time.
1. $1000 cheap new riding lawn tractor. I expect the bundled engines to outlast the rest of the tractor.
2. $1500-2000 better quality lower mowers (AYPs or JD L series) - 48" decks I expect the rest of the tractor to probably keep up with the engine. Not sure however. Still think the engine will outlast the rest of it.
3. Walk behind ZTR, I think it is ~$2500. Open to deck size. the bigger the better I guess. Will probably last a long time but I am not sure how much I will want to use this thing into the future. Yes, I guess I can see myself gettting lazy. Relatively young now but who knows how I will be feeling in 10-20 years.. It might outlast me.
4. $2400-3000 even better quality lawn tractor. Smaller decks on these ~40". Kubota T1670 or JD LT/LX. I expect the rest of the tractor will probably outlast the gas engine.
5. Low cost riding ZTR.. in the same price range as #4. A consumer grade Toro ZTR? Not sure what will give out first.
6. Used or new Diesel garden tractor. JD 332 or Kubota GR2k.
Not sure the chassis will hold up with the engine on this one.
Not sure how much a used ones costs, a new one is around $7k.
7. Small Yanmar grey market with finish mower and turf tires? Maybe something like a 1401D. $6000? Chassis will hold up with the engine but probably not as easy to navigate around as with a MMM.
8. New Sub CUT with MMM. I expect this will last forever and will be much easier to use then then a tow behind finish mower as in #7. But we are probably talking $9000 here. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Especially since I already spend a lot of money on my L3130.
9. ATV tow behind self powered finish mower. I have a new Suzuki Ozark 250cc 2x4 ATV with a 700# tow capacity. Mower I think is around 500#. I have heard these are a pain to deal with (backing up,etc). Not sure if this will shorten the life of my ATV much and something I should avoid using. Probably not the best choice.
Again, Remember I already have a new CUT (L3130), so I don't think I will need a loader or other 3 pt attachments for this "lawn" mowing machine.
I appreciate anyone's ideas and lessons learned. I don't know how many have gone down this same painful road. This mower problem is harder then deciding which CUT I wanted. That was more cut and dry. This one is a hard one for me. So many ways to go on this one. I can see many sides; Cheap throw aways which I might get a lot of use out of them because I will have a small amount of lawn which is relatively flat... then all the way into high quaility solutions and even expensive diesel powered machine which might actually have good resale value.
With 1 to 1.5 acres, I don't expect to spend a lot of time cutting no matter what I cut with. Other then a small walk behind push mower and weed wacker.
ok.. anyone want to give this a shot? I know it is a lot to ask and is a complex problem. Let me know if I can answer anything else about my situation which can help narrow down my choices. Thank you in advanced.