Lets Talk Riding mowers

[MRG]

I disagree. I have about 1 acre of mowing and my 50 inch Toro zero turn is game changing. Until you have tried it you will never know. Time to cut is cut in half and it is truly fun to drive. I have used a regular lawn tractor and I would never go back. The $3-4 thousand price tag is for a machine beefy enough to last years and years. I am a tight wad (as are many here), but I have no regrets dropping the $4k I spent. Fear not!

+1

My last yard was 3 acres. My Zturn Scagg 61" would mow it in 1.5 hours at a very comfortable speed. It would have been 3+ hours with a 65" conventional mower(I'd owned one) at a higher speed that really wasn't comfortable.

 

[Jerry1]

I disagree. I have about 1 acre of mowing and my 50 inch Toro zero turn is game changing. Until you have tried it you will never know. Time to cut is cut in half and it is truly fun to drive. I have used a regular lawn tractor and I would never go back. The $3-4 thousand price tag is for a machine beefy enough to last years and years. I am a tight wad (as are many here), but I have no regrets dropping the $4k I spent. Fear not!

I agree. I had almost two acres and a small riding mower. When I moved up to a bigger, better machine, it cut mowing time in half, from about 4 hours, to 2. I don’t have a zero turn, but time is money, unless mowing grass is fun for you. Had it not been for my desire to have something that would help teach my grandsons how to drive a car (steering wheel, backing up, . . .), I would have got a zero turn with the biggest deck that I could handle to work on. As it is, I got a 300 series JD for my current acre and it does get the job done pretty quickly. I should have got a bigger deck but I did not realize that I can get the blades off without removing the deck and, I miscalculated in that my other machine had to have the deck removed to plow snow. In this house, I don’t have or need a plow, so I don’t need to remove the deck. To me, get more than you need for the quality benefit and time savings. Face it, a 10hp craftsman is working harder than an 20hp.

 

[mountainsoft]

I'd say that most people that want to cut their grass and spend as little as possible would go ahead and fix their 8 year old mower for $300.

I agree, fixing the old mower is almost always the cheaper option. I have a Honda HR214 self propelled mower that I bought 27 years ago. I've had to replace the cloth grass bag a few times, a couple of control cables, and a new carburetor last year. I was starting to have some issues with the drive wheels and debated buying a new mower. Four new wheels and associated hardware cost me a bit over $100 but a new comparable mower would cost me over $1000. I opted for the new wheels.

I have about one acre of partially hilly yard to mow. I still prefer my self propelled walk behind over a riding mower. For one it's about the only exercise I get, and it only takes about 45-60 minutes to mow so it's not a huge time investment. We also have a lot of tight areas that would be difficult to reach with a riding mower. A riding mower would take up a lot more space and be harder to store. I may get a rider when I'm old-der and can't walk that much anymore, or if my Honda blows an engine or something else major. Otherwise, I'll keep the walk behind.

Self-propelled makes a HUGE difference. My mother-in-law has a city lot and mowing herr little yard with a standard push mower wears me out.

 

[jazz4cash]

Not to dispute your experience, but I have owned several of the John Deere series over the years. The D series are good daily mowers for smaller yards.

They are not built like the X300,X500 series from John Deere. Walk up to them and look at both. You will see a big difference in quality. Having said that, I think they work fine for most non-commercial jobs.

I agree with you regarding the D models vs X300, X500, and also the S240 (I think). I am happy with my D125 but wish I had sprung for the S240 (eg blow that dough) which is a notch below the X models. My point was that the 100 series sold by dealers is very similar to the 100 series sold at big box stores.

 

[Bamaman]

On a different direction: My cousin has a medium size lot in the city. He's recently bought a Ryobi rechargeable riding mower for $2,499 at one of the big box home improvement stores.

The Ryobi runs 8 mph--one mph faster than my new Ariens zero turn. He wil length cut his yard and the next door neighbor's yard twice before the battery required recharging. Technology may have finally come our way.

 

[Tetto]

I just bought a JD 370X and it’s a nice tractor. Mower deck is only 42 inches, but it works for my acre I mow. Takes about 50 minutes to do. I’ll be putting a 44 in snow blower on the front as well, they work very well! But I do miss my Simplicity 7117 sometimes; that tractor was a horse, but no power steering like the JD!

 

[jazz4cash]

Love those JD “ it’s not how fast you mow, it’s how well you mow fast “ commercials. They do mow fast, but the bagging is not as good as my old Wheelhorse and it puts a ton of debris into the air. A breathing mask is mandatory.

 

[jazz4cash]

Love those JD “ it’s not how fast you mow, it’s how well you mow fast “ commercials. They do mow fast, but the bagging is not as good as my old Wheelhorse and it puts a ton of debris into the air. A breathing mask is mandatory.

 

[Bill55AZ]

I have a self propelled mower and a snowblower that has to be winter-ized/summer-ized once a year. Then there is air/oil filter changes, oil changes, blade sharpening, cleaning, etc. Nearest maintenance facility is not close so I need a trailer or get hit with pickup/delivery fees when more difficult stuff needs done. All that for .48 acres with big house, 40x40 shop, and paved lane to the back, so not much grass
How does this fit in with the idea of retirement?
So I got smart.....grandsons live close, have a truck, small trailer, zero clearance mower, snowblower, and I have cash. And they have girl friends so they can use the money. Yard is small, so they don't mind.