86 year old and riding lawnmower

[Tailgate]

My 86 year old DM just told me she is going to buy a new riding lawnmower. She is healthy and in good shape for her age but I'm certainly concerned about this. My useless nephew who lives next door (I'm 2 hours away) will wind up mowing her lawn most of the time but he is totally irresponsible when it comes to taking care of anything and I envision the mower sitting out in the rain to rust or him forgetting to put oil in the crankcase. I gave her a riding mower about 10 years ago and he loaned it to one of his worthless buddies who returned it in bad mechanical shape. Nephew parked it in his yard until the tires rotted.

She really wants to enjoy taking care of her yard on nice, cool days and realizes her limits. I would at least like to guide her on the purchase and help however I can... any tips on type, brand? Budget is less than $1,500.

 

[Senator]

My 85 year old neighbor woman mowed her lawn up until last year. Mowed a 1 acre yard, with a 20" walk behind self-propelled mower.

She mowed a couple of hours a day, and it took about 4 days.

For $1500, you will not get much. An MTD brand will work for her needs. Briggs and Stratton engine.

 

[braumeister]

Budget is less than $1,500.

That's the low end of the price range for lawn tractors. Consumer Reports lists the Craftsman model 20374 at $1,400 as a decent buy. One step up would be Husqvarna model YTH22V46 at $1,700. Personally, I was a big fan of John Deer, but you would have to add another $1K to get one of those.

Also, at that age you want to be sure there are no slopes that could lead to turning it over. I read of at least a few local deaths from that every year.

 

[sengsational]

No hills, I hope.

 

[Tailgate]

No hills, thank God...


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[Hermit]

My suggestion would be to bite the bullet and plan on going over there every once and a while to check on things and do things like put the mower where it belongs if it gets left out, check the oil, and plan to change the oil once a year, etc.

 

[jollystomper]

It may not be a popular choice, but I have have good luck with Sears Craftsman riding mowers. My current one lasted more than 10 years before the engine started to give me problems last year (I didn't get it fixed as I was using a push mower as exercise, but will get it checked out this month). I had one before that that went 13 years (could have repaired it but traded it in against the current one). Over that time I kept it in a shed, changed the oil and filter twice a year, kept the tires properly inflated, etc. I don't know how they would keep up without regular maintenance. they have about a half dozen or so models between 1100 and 1400 on their website.

For a "nominal" fee they will also come onsite and perform these activities on an annual basis. Of course, the company is struggling, and some predict they may go bankrupt within a year or two, so you are taking a chance... other stores with low end riding mowers are Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[jazz4cash]

Home Depot has John Deere riding mowers starting at 1499. 42 in cut. 17.5 hp Deere branded Briggs engine. These are assembled by a regional JD dealer. I just bought one mainly due to 24 mo @ 0 %. Price includes delivery.
Actually I would recommend a rear engine rider over a lawn tractor but they are not very popular and choices are limited to very cheap or very expensive.


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[ERD50]

It may not be a popular choice, but I have have good luck with Sears Craftsman riding mowers. My current one lasted more than 10 years ...

Me too. And I 'upgraded' with my current one - 46" 19HP, and it was ~ $1600, so you should be able to find a smaller one for < $1400. I've been pretty happy with both of 'em.

For $1500, you will not get much. An MTD brand will work for her needs. Briggs and Stratton engine.

My $1600 Craftsman ( 46" 19HP - bigger than she needs) )has a '540cc Single Kohler Courage' engine. The B&S in my previous one lasted for 10~11 years of hard use.

-ERD50

 

[pb4uski]

My 85 yo Mom has hired this out since Dad died about 10 years ago, even though I live just down the road. I am the only child nearby and do a lot for her already and I was just not willing to commit another hour + a week to mowing her lawn, particularly when i know she can afford it. Besides, this way my siblings who live away pay for 80% of the cost and my share is only 20% (coming out of our inheritance that is).

Try convincing her that she is better off hiring it out and spending her time on other things... besides, it is a bit dangerous and at age 86 it is not an outside possibility that something might happen to her and she then needs to hire it out anyway.

My Mom actually enjoys the weekly visit from her lawn guy and chats him up a bit each time he is there. As far as cost, after considering the investment in a mower, maintenance, gas, oil etc the additional cost of having someone do it is not a big deal.

Funny story.... her first lawn guy got out of the business so we had to get another one so I called a young guy who does the lawn for a neighbor and is known to be a hard worker. So the guy shows up and I show him what needs to be done and ask how much it would cost each week (she has ~3/4 acre of mowing but it is flat and pretty straight forward). He quotes me a price that is $5 less than what his predecessor charged.... I hemmed and hawed for about 30 seconds and then told him that he had the job but that for that price I expected that he would do a very good job. He charges her $30 each time as I recall.

 

[outdoorgirl02]

Seems like a good time to hire out this service. Although my 80 year old mom and 90 year old stepdad have matching riding mowers and still cut 5+ acres on their own every few weeks.

 

[Walt34]

I also agree that at age 86 she would be better off hiring it out. If she is stubborn though, consider a used higher end riding mower of whatever make the pros use locally so you can get parts/service easily. Or even a cheaper lightly used one - people move all the time and don't usually take something that big with them.

My former next door neighbor used a powered 20" walk-behind until he was 83, then memory and physical frailty issues forced them to move.

 

[MBAustin]

Our neighbor across the street is 88 and still mowing his lawn with a riding mower. I think Walt's suggestion for a used mower is a good one.

 

[imoldernu]

Didn't mention how big the "yard" is.
My frugal thinking is to buy from a local mower repair shop. Not just for the initial price, but for any repairs that might be needed.

Can't speak to "new", but we're in a semi rural area, and there are 5 shops that I'm aware of. All of them sell new and take trades, so there are always deals, many well under $500. The nice thing about this is that the shops live on their reputation, and follow through is assured.

 

[haha]

I'm with those who favor contracting it out. Safer, and I am sure when all is considered it is also cheaper.
Mom can go bowling with the time she saves.


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[audreyh1]

My 86 year old DM just told me she is going to buy a new riding lawnmower. She is healthy and in good shape for her age but I'm certainly concerned about this. My useless nephew who lives next door (I'm 2 hours away) will wind up mowing her lawn most of the time but he is totally irresponsible when it comes to taking care of anything and I envision the mower sitting out in the rain to rust or him forgetting to put oil in the crankcase. I gave her a riding mower about 10 years ago and he loaned it to one of his worthless buddies who returned it in bad mechanical shape. Nephew parked it in his yard until the tires rotted.

She really wants to enjoy taking care of her yard on nice, cool days and realizes her limits. I would at least like to guide her on the purchase and help however I can... any tips on type, brand? Budget is less than $1,500.

My rather frail 85 year old (almost 86) father with poor mobility handles his zero turn riding lawn mower just fine. I think it's now his main form of "exercise".

 

[W2R]

I'm with those who favor contracting it out. Safer, and I am sure when all is considered it is also cheaper.
Mom can go bowling with the time she saves.

+1

That's what I do. I'm not sure it's cheaper (OK, at $35/mow I think it costs more), but my life is so much nicer without that chore. The older I get, the more valuable my time is to me. My lawn guy does a wonderful job, much better than I would do when exhausted by the heat.

So, I pay my lawn guy and then pay for my gym membership since I don't knock myself out mowing every week. To *me* (not necessarily to everyone), that makes perfect sense.

 

[audreyh1]

We'd love to have someone mow the acres around Dad's place, but apparently finding someone reliable in a very small town is nigh impossible.

 

[Car-Guy]

If she lives in an area where there are folks who provide grass cutting services, then that's the way to go. If not and you must get a lawn tractor and you are limited to $1500, then in my experience they are all about the same in that price range. I have a full sized diesel Kubota for the majority of my property but I've had several small gas powered lawn tractors for close in work around the house, barn etc. The last one I bought about two years ago was a new John Deere (a D125 I think) and I only paid about $1500 for it on sale. It's only been two years but so far I've liked it the best.

 

[ls99]

Slight tangent, but reminds of a story I read some years ago. A guy gets a call at work about his 80 some year old father up in a tree. The panicked caller caller said, do you know what your father is doing? He say he is trimming his tree!

The guy answeres back, well if that is what he said, then that is what he is doing.

BTW a neighbor of mine at 80 re-shingled his roof with 50 year shingles, hauling every bundle by himself up there via a ladder. Refused all help.

He died last year at 92. He was also an Auschwitz survivor. Tough but very pleasant guy.

 

[Tailgate]

OP here... DM called me last night to tell me she bought a Sears Craftsman for about $1,200. She had already taken it for a spin around the back yard and was thrilled to have accomplished something she hasn't done in years, but enjoys doing. I think she'll have a month or so to cut grass until the heat sets in.. Still worry about her falling off the darn thing.

 

[btdt22]

At the risk of being cantankerous, I have to ask at what point can the 'elderly' no longer think for themselves? Short of dementia, Alzheimer's, or personal safety, why not let us 'old-folks' enjoy what we 'enjoy' doing? How much longer will your Mom or Dad live if you manage to protect them from evil-outsiders, like riding lawm mowers? In the OP's case why not buy her a riding lawnmower with hydrostatic drive, air ride seat, and a sunshade? If the 'old-farts made the money why can't they enjoy it in their 'golden' years? Do you really think old-folks enjoy the isolation of being a couch potato, versus riding around their yard on a '4-wheeler'? Perhaps mowing the grass might give them an excuse to stop and talk with a new neighbor?

I'm not questioning whether children should help parents in need, but I have witnessed far too many instances where a parent dies and self-absorbed, well intentioned, children take over as the head of the 'family' and literally dictate lifestyle and spending habits, and God forbid, sometimes even try to insure maximum inheritance for themselves or their children.



Notice- I was paid to write this ad by old-fart friends who have children

 

[Act2]

Exactly! Keep an eye open for real danger, but remember they earned their money by working hard all their lives and they didn't survive to old age without at least some common sense. While they still can enjoy themselves, they should. Life is not without risks.

I'm not saying an adult child should ignore real danger. I am saying that one shouldn't try to override a parent's choice just because it's not as the adult child would prefer.


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