Tractor recommendations for 1-acre with significant hill?

Sportsman762 · Apr 6, 2014

Are you looking for a sub compact, garden tractor, zero-turn mower, or something else. Is this just for mowing or will it be used for other tasks? If it is just mowing then I would look at a garden tractor or zero-turn. How steep is steep? Also what experience do you have with equipment? I love zero-turns for mowing, however they have a very steep learning curve. Learning how to run a zero-turn on a hill not flat ground is asking for trouble.

jenkinsph · Apr 6, 2014

Look for heavy duty used equipment. Your $3000 price range won't get you into a new mower capable of the steep grades, rather it puts you in the big box store mower range that will not hold up and is wasted money. The 500 series the dealer was recommending or another similar brand is about as little as I would recommend. If it is real steep you may need a 4x4 700 series.

djrogers1 · Apr 6, 2014

Hey, guys. Thanks for all the advice. I decided to get a John Deere X500 and found a new 2013 one at one of the local dealers, so I think I got a decent price. I got the mulching kit, also at a discount. I've used it one so far and plan to mow again later today, once the grass is dry. That hill is a little scary when even slightly wet and it's on the north side of the house.

The mower did well with the hill and I only needed the locking differential a couple of times. I suspect the transmission did get hot during the 75 minutes of run time on it since the oil level dropped halfway between full and add.

Poopdeck Pappy · Apr 6, 2014

djrogers1 said:
This will be primarily just for mowing and I may want to get a small trailer to haul stuff for the garden, which is at the bottom of the hill about 150 from the house.

The local Deere guy said forget about using the K46 transmission on it. He's pushing me to go all the way up to the X500 for $5300. When I pushed back, he said the X320 had a K58 transmission which would be better components, but still no drain plug to change the oil.

I think the X320 uses the K58 transmission. It's better than the K46, but my understanding is that it's not as good as the K71 that was used in some of the prior garden tractor models like my GT235 and the GX series that followed the GT series. If you could find a gently used GT or GX series, you could be under $3,000 for sure.

jenkinsph · Apr 6, 2014

djrogers1 said:
Hey, guys. Thanks for all the advice. I decided to get a John Deere X500 and found a new 2013 one at one of the local dealers, so I think I got a decent price. I got the mulching kit, also at a discount. I've used it one so far and plan to mow again later today, once the grass is dry. That hill is a little scary when even slightly wet and it's on the north side of the house.

The mower did well with the hill and I only needed the locking differential a couple of times. I suspect the transmission did get hot during the 75 minutes of run time on it since the oil level dropped halfway between full and add.

With an x500 might wan't to back down the hill and mow going up since the front wheels don't have any brakes. That should be a nice mower overall, enjoy it.

94BULLITT · Apr 7, 2014

jenkinsph said:
With an x500 might wan't to back down the hill and mow going up since the front wheels don't have any brakes. That should be a nice mower overall, enjoy it.

Fluid in the tires or wheel weights will help on getting up and down the hills.