Lawn Tractor Replacement

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
Well, the lawn tractor that I received for free (from someone else who received it for free) finally broke the mower deck. Not only did it break the spindle (a simple enough fix), but the mower deck itself is actually broken where the spindle can't attach properly.

I could weld it back together and it would probably last for at least a bit. However, it seems most likely that we should just get a new mower. After all, this thing doesn't owe us anything, is old enough that nobody stocks parts for it, etc. The engine runs pretty well, but the carb needs to be worked on as it's running too lean.

We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.

A pull-behind is not out of the question, as I could get this tractor itself working fine pretty quickly with a bit of carburetor work. I haven't had any luck finding a new mower deck. I've also been intrigued with the gang-reel idea, but those seem to not tolerate hills very well and be very finicky from what I read.

Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
We've got about 2 acres to mow. :yikes:

Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
Click to expand...

Fixed for you, :D

I know your pain, I grew up mowing almost 2.5 + out of 5.
Now I have about 500sq ft of grass, the rest is desert landscaping.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Well, the lawn tractor that I received for free (from someone else who received it for free) finally broke the mower deck. Not only did it break the spindle (a simple enough fix), but the mower deck itself is actually broken where the spindle can't attach properly.

I could weld it back together and it would probably last for at least a bit. However, it seems most likely that we should just get a new mower. After all, this thing doesn't owe us anything, is old enough that nobody stocks parts for it, etc. The engine runs pretty well, but the carb needs to be worked on as it's running too lean.

We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.

A pull-behind is not out of the question, as I could get this tractor itself working fine pretty quickly with a bit of carburetor work. I haven't had any luck finding a new mower deck. I've also been intrigued with the gang-reel idea, but those seem to not tolerate hills very well and be very finicky from what I read.

Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
Click to expand...

Probably below what you're looking at, but I recently bought a new tractor from Lowes. Its a Troy-Bilt:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_336009-270-...d_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&facetInfo=

I absolutely love it. And it came with a free cart too, which has been immensely helpful.

You could pick one up for about $1300 at Lowes, and its already put together for ya. This tractor has cut my mowing time down to about 2 hours from the 4 it took before.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
Click to expand...

My brother-in-law is a farmer here in Massachusetts. A few years ago I asked him what lawn tractor he would buy for his own house if he could choose any lawn tractor. His answer was: John Deere.

Good enough for me.
 
I bought a Lilliston 7-6 for the ranch. It was the best mower money I spent, and the guy who bought the place in 1991 is still using it. Great finish mower and very stable.

Ted DuPuis said:
Well, the lawn tractor that I received for free (from someone else who received it for free) finally broke the mower deck. Not only did it break the spindle (a simple enough fix), but the mower deck itself is actually broken where the spindle can't attach properly.

I could weld it back together and it would probably last for at least a bit. However, it seems most likely that we should just get a new mower. After all, this thing doesn't owe us anything, is old enough that nobody stocks parts for it, etc. The engine runs pretty well, but the carb needs to be worked on as it's running too lean.

We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.

A pull-behind is not out of the question, as I could get this tractor itself working fine pretty quickly with a bit of carburetor work. I haven't had any luck finding a new mower deck. I've also been intrigued with the gang-reel idea, but those seem to not tolerate hills very well and be very finicky from what I read.

Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
Click to expand...
 
Just bought one today, see my previous angst thread about engine repair/replacement.
Considered a John Deere but no service available within reason.
Bought another zero turn Snapper, J just did the lawn in less than half of what it normally takes.
Expensive as h. - but a huge monkey off my back.
Google mower reviews, I saw quite a few discussing hills. That would be a bit scary without the correct equipment and skills. I see some JDs have a roll bar (do they have a seat belt too?) Apparently about 100 are killed in mower accidents each year, I bet quite a few are rollovers.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.
[...]
Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?
Click to expand...

We bought a 20 HP, 48" Craftsman lawn tractor from the previous property owners when we bought our present home; we have about 2 acres to mow also. The mower is now probably 6 to 8 years old. The manual says 15 degree slopes are recommended max for that model. Some of the slopes we have I would estimate to be 20 to 30 degrees. When dry it handles these - though on wet ground or grass slopes it has troubles because the transmission transmits power to the wheel with the least resistance.

We had a lot of blackberry brambles that I used that mower on - they were quite tall (over 6 feet in spots) so I simply plowed into them repeatedly like a battering ram to flatten them under the mower deck, which I had as high up as I could get - I really abused that mower, but it did the job. Two of the tires acquired slow leaks - Himalayan blackberries (a pest plant in Oregon) have some tough thorns. I've broken other things on it, but even though that mower model is no longer available, Sears online parts service almost always had the parts I needed. (Two glaring exceptions were the headlight wiring assembly and the battery ground cable; in both cases they sent the wrong thing. They did not have simple substitutes.) Drive and mower belts are available at the local Sears store. In fact I need to replace the drive belt but have been putting it off; if I put it off much longer I'll need a machete to make my way across the yard.
 
ZTR

As Dave says, it'll mow your 2 acres in 1/2, if not 1/3, the time it would take with a lawn tractor.

I mow 3 acres in 1.5 hours with my Bush Hog 51" ZTR. And it ain't flat and it has plenty of trees and other obstacles. This ZTR runs about 14mph when mowing...at 5' wide that's laying down the grass!

SkyHog said:
You could pick one up for about $1300 at Lowes, and its already put together for ya.
Click to expand...

I refuse to put anything together. It's really sad how the mfgrs (using the term loosely) have us trained to work at their factories for them.
 
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BillTIZ said:
Fixed for you, :D

I know your pain, I grew up mowing almost 2.5 + out of 5.
Now I have about 500sq ft of grass, the rest is desert landscaping.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I don't mind doing the 2+ acres of mowing. That said, I think we're going to opt for a zero-turn just to make it go quicker. I also have thought about getting a tow-behind to attach to the current tractor, but I'm thinking the best bet is likely to sell it on CraigsList to someone else.

What the big problem is (and one that we need to find a good solution for) is the hill that one cannot get a mower on. It's been the scourge of my existence at this house since I moved in. A mower can't go up or down it, and the only safe way to deal with it at the moment is with weed whackers - which take for frickin' ever to get the job done. Terracing is probably what we'll end up doing, but then that costs a ridiculous amount of money. I'd really like to just kill all the vegetation on that hill and leave it as a barren wasteland. Desert landscaping sounds nice to me.

That said, I do still love this house. As with anyplace, it's got a list of compromises that must be dealt with.
 
Ted post a picture of the hill?
Maybe it could be worked into something smaller without breaking the bank.
 
The brand I would get is ABMTD (Anything but MTD). Actually, I'm considering a "Bad Boy" ZTR made here in Arkansas ( http://www.badboymowers.com/ ).

One thing to keep in mind on the Sears mowers is that different models are made by different manufacturers. Good experience with one model doesn't necessarily apply to other models.

My current Troy Built (MTD) has been a real POS and I'm sorry I bought it. Pre-MTD Troy Built had a good reputation.
 
I too am in the market for a better mowing solution. My home in the mountains of NC is "interesting" to mow to put it mildly. I bought a Husqvarna 54" from Lowes and it has been a POS. I have replaced the transmission twice and rebuilt once more; and yes it is dying again. The hydrostatic transmission in the John Deere and Husqvarna's is the same model and is well known to be severly undersized. The entire "lawn" is on a pretty steep grade 10-30% with compound grades. Mowing with a "normal" non-zero turn mower is interesting enough and takes about 3 hours. I've heard that the zero-turn mowers like the Bush Hog mentioned above are ill-advised as you must abuse the independent hydrostatic drives to counteract the front end's desire to fall down the slope.
 
Graueradler said:
The brand I would get is ABMTD (Anything but MTD). Actually, I'm considering a "Bad Boy" ZTR made here in Arkansas ( http://www.badboymowers.com/ ).

One thing to keep in mind on the Sears mowers is that different models are made by different manufacturers. Good experience with one model doesn't necessarily apply to other models.

My current Troy Built (MTD) has been a real POS and I'm sorry I bought it. Pre-MTD Troy Built had a good reputation.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention that. MTD makes a lot of different brands/models for other companies. It's a pretty good assumption that most mowers seen at a big box/home improvement store are MTD-made, even though they have different color paint. Check the paperwork before you sign the check.

If you go J.D. - go to a J.D. dealer. Higher price, but better quality and better support.

When I worked for a company with a private grass strip, they had a Grasshopper mower. It went through a LOT of hours of mowing that runway, but seemed to be pretty reliable. Not sure how it would handle your hill, but I seem to remember it having a roll-bar.
 
I have a 300 series John Deere (about 1-2 years old). Stay away from the 100 series, but those are probably too small for your job anyhow. Most JD tractors and gators are made just up the road from me. They make two models of home-owner zero-turns there, too.

If you are an EAA member, don't forget about the JD discount available to you through their partner program.
 
How much do you want to spend? If no budget, get a John Deere, if money is an issue, consider an older Wheel Horse, especially before Toro bought them. Nothing wrong with Toro, but the old Wheel Horses are pretty bullet proof. Mine was built in 1985, and is still going strong.
 
Look at a JD X749. I have one and absolutely love it. It is ALL Wheel drive with 4 wheel steering. With a 6" turn radius, it is very close to zero turn. I have has it on hills as much as 40 deg up and down, and feels comfortable sideways on a 25 deg.
 
skidoo said:
Look at a JD X749. I have one and absolutely love it. It is ALL Wheel drive with 4 wheel steering. With a 6" turn radius, it is very close to zero turn. I have has it on hills as much as 40 deg up and down, and feels comfortable sideways on a 25 deg.
Click to expand...


I need a lawnmower not a new airplane! LOL Holy cow $10K for a lawn tractor - I guess I'm too cheap for anything other then airplanes. You get what you pay for I suppose.
 
Graueradler said:
The brand I would get is ABMTD (Anything but MTD). Actually, I'm considering a "Bad Boy" ZTR made here in Arkansas ( http://www.badboymowers.com/ ).
Click to expand...

I had a MTD lawn tractor. Beat the **** out of it for years. I mowed at full throttle, top gear, bouncing off the trees to get close - never lift. Added a plow / chains / weights for the winter. Same thing. One throttle setting. Push the snow 'til the wheels spin. Back it up for a flying start and smash it again.

Never let me down. I only sold it because I moved to a house with a postage stamp yard.

Great machine.
 
Well, we ended up going with a 52" Snapper with a 24 HP V-twin Briggs engine. I wasn't aware of the Snapper brand, but my fortunately Laurie wasn't raised in New York City, so she actually learned useful things growing up. The Snapper definitely had the best fit and finish of all the mowers we looked at, including both a cup holder and a water bottle holder, which we can use for holding both beer and more beer. And the cigarette lighter allows us to plug in a beer cooler, to keep the beer an appropriate temperature. Very comfortable, and felt like it would hold up well. The Husqvarnas we read about had poor reviews, and they felt cheaply built when sitting on them. The problem with the zero-turns once we were looking into them is that they're really better at flatter surfaces than what our property has. So even though we didn't need the tractor for its tractor capabilities, we decided it would be better for mowing on our terrain. See picture 1.

IMG00142-20110731-1542.jpg

With all the discounts at Sears, we ended up walking out the door with it $1125 below list. Not bad at all. I just mowed part of the yard with it (before the rain started). I was going at full speed and it was doing a better mow than the old mower did at low speed. Finished that part in probably 1/3 the time of what I was doing before. Very nice, I think this was a good purchase and am happy with it. Now to sell the old mower on CraigsList...

As for the hill, that's picture 2. I'm open to ideas on this. It looks bad, and it's actually worse. An ATV would climb it, but even that would be somewhat challenged to do so. We've got a self-propelled push mower that can work with it... poorly. A riding mower wouldn't climb it, would fly down it and into our living room, and would tip over sideways. Even one of those professional-grade brush hogs tries to flip over on it (tried already). Any thoughts appreciated.

IMG00144-20110731-1600.jpg
 
Ted DuPuis said:
See picture 1.

View attachment 23316
Click to expand...

I need a seat like that in the RV! Maybe it would reduce the butt-sweat issue that comes with flying around here between March and November. :D

BTW.. I still chuckle when people call lawn mowers 'tractors'.

Ted DuPuis said:
As for the hill, that's picture 2. I'm open to ideas on this. It looks bad, and it's actually worse. An ATV would climb it, but even that would be somewhat challenged to do so. We've got a self-propelled push mower that can work with it... poorly. A riding mower wouldn't climb it, would fly down it and into our living room, and would tip over sideways. Even one of those professional-grade brush hogs tries to flip over on it (tried already). Any thoughts appreciated.

View attachment 23317
Click to expand...

I've got 2 1/2 gallons of ag. grade RoundUp WeatherMax in my garage. I say you smoke it and pray for a dry winter. ;)

Seriously though.. You could kill it off (carefully so you don't ding the trees), put in a few of those railroad ties you already have laying there and put in 3-4" of pine mulch and call it a day. Put some Preen on it every spring before the weeds start re-seeding and it should be fairly maintenance free other than a fresh inch or two of mulch every-other year. If you didn't want to mulch all of it, you could put in some Juniper, which will gradually spread and take over the whole hillside.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
As for the hill, that's picture 2. I'm open to ideas on this. It looks bad, and it's actually worse. An ATV would climb it, but even that would be somewhat challenged to do so. We've got a self-propelled push mower that can work with it... poorly. A riding mower wouldn't climb it, would fly down it and into our living room, and would tip over sideways. Even one of those professional-grade brush hogs tries to flip over on it (tried already). Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...

Terrace it and bring it a shrubbery. Nicht.

Seriously, terrace it and put in some nice plants. Forget trying to mow it.
 
The terracing is pretty much what we'd settled on. However, that's going to cost a small fortune. But probably what we'll have to do.

I've done the whole weed killer thing. It doesn't work well enough. Ground cover would be nice, but we'd need something that we could plant that would take over the hill very nicely, without taking over the lawn.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The terracing is pretty much what we'd settled on. However, that's going to cost a small fortune. But probably what we'll have to do.
Click to expand...

Rent a Bobcat for a week.

If you want to leave it grass, get a couple of goats.
 
Here are some other ideas for the hill:

-grow creeping pllox or purple vetch, no cutting required.
-seed buffalo grass, very slow growing.
-plant shrubs, bushes etc until they have taken over the hill
-plant a small forest
-electric wire and sheep.
-let it revert to the wild.

Let's see whose snapper lasts longest, I bought mine yesterday!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Here are some other ideas for the hill:

-grow creeping pllox or purple vetch, no cutting required.
-seed buffalo grass, very slow growing.
-plant shrubs, bushes etc until they have taken over the hill
-plant a small forest
-electric wire and sheep.
-let it revert to the wild.
Click to expand...

Those are some good ideas - I especially like the electric wire and sheep. :)

Let's see whose snapper lasts longest, I bought mine yesterday!
Click to expand...

Yours must be different though as a zero-turn.
 
Jim Logajan said:
We bought a 20 HP, 48" Craftsman lawn tractor from the previous property owners when we bought our present home; we have about 2 acres to mow also.
Click to expand...
I have a 18 HP Craftsman and two acres to mow also, although I don't do the whole two acres any more than about 3 times a season. Mine is coming up on 20 years old and I've never done anything to it except change the oil, clean the air filter and replace the battery every few years. When it started getting flats from the cacti I squirted some tire goo in the tires and they have been fine.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
What the big problem is (and one that we need to find a good solution for) is the hill that one cannot get a mower on. It's been the scourge of my existence at this house since I moved in. A mower can't go up or down it, and the only safe way to deal with it at the moment is with weed whackers - which take for frickin' ever to get the job done. Terracing is probably what we'll end up doing, but then that costs a ridiculous amount of money. I'd really like to just kill all the vegetation on that hill and leave it as a barren wasteland. Desert landscaping sounds nice to me.

That said, I do still love this house. As with anyplace, it's got a list of compromises that must be dealt with.
Click to expand...

A guy I know who cuts grass for a living uses these:http://ventrac.com/
They seem to be able to take on any sort of terrain - up, down, sideways, - you name it. They are professional grade equipment, and I'm sure are priced accordingly.

Dave

Edit: I should have been more specific - he uses 4000 series mowers with dual wheels: http://ventrac.com/products/tractors/4000
 
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Ted DuPuis said:
snip...
A riding mower wouldn't climb it, would fly down it and into our living room, and would tip over sideways. Even one of those professional-grade brush hogs tries to flip over on it (tried already). Any thoughts appreciated.

View attachment 23317
Click to expand...

A JD X749 would handle that just fine... Just say'in...
 
The front of Steinholme boasts ivy. It grows upwards, requires no maintenance, can be mowed if it gets out of hand, and will annihilate grass, weeds, and just about anything else.
 
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