Buying Advice Sick and tired of low quality riding lawnmowers

[D2Cat]

Buying a diesel powered mower may bring on a new challenge for the user. They put the wrong fuel in it, and you'll be getting calls with starting problems again.

 

[ZTMAN]

Do you think your pops would consider a Kubota 1880. 20 percent down, around $2k, $99 per month. Nice little tractors.

 

[ETD66SS]

Buying a diesel powered mower may bring on a new challenge for the user. They put the wrong fuel in it, and you'll be getting calls with starting problems again.

I've thought about that yes. He was familiar with diesel equipment when he used to use mine, but now, it is a concern of him putting in gas instead of diesel.

Do you think your pops would consider a Kubota 1880. 20 percent down, around $2k, $99 per month. Nice little tractors.

A ~$11,000-$12,000 machine is just not an option I'm afraid.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Transaxles on those things are garbage.

Have a G2160 with th 60inch deck for 12 years, no problems with it or the others in the area only problems is it is hard on the PTO belts. Now all the GRs in the area do have the transaxle problems. Local hospital has aG2160 with the 48inch rear bagger for grounds keeping and they wore the first deck out and got a second deck and they have very little flat ground thus a tractor over a zero turn.

David

 

[firebird93]

l saw some kubota bx 2200's in that price range on tractorhouse.com

 

[Doofy]

Father-in-Law is 86 and just bought the $1500 Cub Cadet with the 22 hp Kohler engine. They do have a 23 hp with the Kawasaki engine for $3K.

FIL took the mower deck off his old Craftsman Rider and now uses it to haul firewood. Loves the Cub Cadet. Two pedal Hydrostatic and is super smooth.

 

[Carl_NH]

I came across this one the other day: Wheel horse tractor - farm & garden - by owner - sale

I was curious about the diesel engine in it.

As others have said - gas/diesel and your dad's condition makes this a risky decision even if this is a great machine it will need work and if he puts in gas instead - you get the idea - best to go with what he knows.

As one poster said - fix what you have - get a new starter and trade it in, or repower with a Kawasaki ($1000) or buy a new one like the Simplicity Broadmoor ($4000)

IMO a new machine is the way to go if you aren't around all the tine, and if you can swing it - he gets on and goes every day - he is happy, wife is happy, and you don't need to be concerned about fixing things - which if you get a used machine the expectation is you suggested this and are responsible.

 

[searcyfarms]

i dont know about daihatsu diesels i think there are a lot of those in the mini trucks and my neighbor has a cushman utility rig he got at an auction and it has a lil 3 cyl daihatsu gasser in it and man its smooth as heck - i bet there are a lot of those daihatsu motors around more than we think especially in the golf equipment i know i hear a lot of those lil 3 cyl motors but not sure what brand they are

 

[arnoldziffel]

FYI: This morning I read that the Daihatsu engine used in the Toro Wheel Horse 523dxi is EXTREMELY sensitive to overheating.
Even one or two overheat events can lead to costly repairs.

 

[daugen]

If you’re in the select group that will you can buy a 7x series John Deere mower. I think those are an incredibly poor value.

if one is able to use a zero turn, which I can't, I'd agree with you. But it comes down to alternatives for one handed driving.
I wanted diesel and a 60 inch deck. Try finding one....Maybe the Simplicity does now but the Deere X700 diesels are just the new versions of the
older 400 series JD garden tractors with diesels that everyone raves about. But they aren't easy to find...and I bought a new farm and needed a mower
right then. Kubota doesn't/didn't make a 60 deck for their diesel rider, plus the JD looks heavier duty.

I have 650 hours on my X750, the simplest 2wd normal steering version they make, and hopefully the most reliable. And hopefully in twenty years someone will
be singing its praises too. But yes, spending 13 grand on a lawn mower when one has three other tractors for other work was a real gulp, but bought a new tractor lately?
I don't mind paying more if I get the quality, it's paying 5 grand, a huge amount of money for many (I'm a retired financial planner and truly understand home finances)
which means missing a vacation or not getting a new truck that year, and then the thing breaks in two years? Now that is seriously frustrating.

I've been studying this market for 30 years. Quality seems to start at the 300 level with JD, improves with 500 and gets plain impressive with the 700 series.
Very tried and true engineering, doing the same thing for a long, long time. I used to own a JD LX280 with a Kawasaki engine (equivalent to current 300 series)
that is now owned by a close friend who bought it, performs flawlessly after more than ten years. All of which assumes you grease your zerks religiously, blow out the engine ducts with air after each time you use it, etc. And how many folks honestly do that? Likely most of us...
The only other options for quality garden tractors appears to be Simplicity and Kubota.

Used to be certain companies "didn't build junk". Like Cub Cadet. I own a 1968 125 btw... and a 2017 X2, which I loaned to an elderly friend.
My local Kubota dealer also sells CC, and their service manager just rolls his eyes when you mention CC. Problem is almost always the least expensive models, built
to the lowest possible cost. In that arena, I'd rather buy a JD than a CC. But if anyone expects one of those JD's sitting in front of Home Depot, the D130's of this world to last ten years trouble free, well best of luck. It might, if you really take care of it.

For an elderly operator, trouble free operation will require someone making sure basic maintenance is being done.