🏡 Better Homes Need a Riding Mower - Where to Start?

[LikeABauce302]

I bought my dad an entry level Troy Bilt 2 stage self propelled snowblower a couple years ago on sale for $400 around black Friday. He really likes it, but man that thing takes up some space. For the 3-4 times a year it's needed, it's really not worth tripping over it or it constantly being in the way the rest of the year.

 

[Z28Camaro]

also on the topic of the snow situation Z28Camaro, i haven't used my snowblower in two? years and im way north of peoria...

What do you got? Sell it to me.

 

[Yaj Yak]

What do you got? Sell it to me.

some fuckin monster yellow one

 

[CMNTMXR57]

One thing I will add if you decide to go the lawn/garden tractor route... Get the one with the most common, readily available parts, accessories, etc...

Generally that will be the Husqvarna built Craftsman tractors. Yes, I get that they aren't the snazzy JD's or Cub Cadet's with fancy shaft drives, hyrdrostatic transmissions, drive over decks (I do like that feature), heated seats, etc.... Rather simple, solid, durable and will keep running. Parts are cheap, plentiful, and pretty much any accessory you might want can be mounted to them being that they're the swiss army knife

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

biggest thing is i hate storing it, i need to just sell it.

If I had another 3-4’ of garage depth, I’d be putting a plow blade on the ATV. Overkill? Absolutely. But a lot more fun than pushing a shovel.

 

[Z28Camaro]

Jumping on board with zero turn and something else for snow.

I have a 79’ Deere 214 that I use for grass and snow. Eventually I’ll go zero turn and an ATV/plow setup for winter

As much as I’d like a nice lawn tractor I think a ZTR is in my future. Saw an old Dixie Chopper online and might go look at it if it’s still around in a month or so.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

FREE NINETY FREE 2-STAGE SNOWBLOWER CHECKING IN.

Ok, for realsies now, I need a zero turn. Or a ride-on, idgaf. 42" LT1000 is a fucking beast but mowing ~2 acres and guzzling 4 gallons of gas wasn't fun this past Sunday. Need me at LEAST 60" zero turn because fucking why not.

 

[Pewter-Camaro]

my FIL has a John Deere 0 turn 60” for his 1/3 acre of lawn because why not. ?

 

[boostedguy05]

my FIL has a John Deere 0 turn 60” for his 1/3 acre of lawn because why not. ?

Bam. Done in 10 minutes.

 

[Yaj Yak]

my FIL has a John Deere 0 turn 60” for his 1/3 acre of lawn because why not. ?

unless it can't get everywhere it needs to

 

[Pewter-Camaro]

Bam. Done in 10 minutes.

True but He has tight 2 car garage, no shed, and shit tons of stuff. Takes him longer to move the cars and shit to get It out of the garage than it does to mow the lawn. ?

unless it can't get everywhere it needs to

he actually got rid of a flower bed so it would fit in the one tight spot. ?

 

[NEILZVETTE]

I grew up in Peoria, where exactly are you. The terrain can differ greatly in that area. I use a 60” brush hog that I pull behind my 4 wheeler to do my 5 acres. I usually can knock it out in about 1.5 hours. Being that I hate mowing so if I get to ride some form of motorcycle it makes it bearable. Plus my yard is hilly and the woods but up against the grass I can use it to “trim” the edges.

 

[Z28Camaro]

Ended up getting this. Hustler Super Z, 25 HP Kawasaki, 500 hours.

The market is stupid and getting something decent. This is more than I need but should hold value over the next few years.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

Nice pickup man!

Hoping I can upgrade in a couple years to something similar

 

[SleeperLS]

Damn nice pickup

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

BUMP. I guess I need a small rider or zero turn, finally acknowledging this is a bit too much to push. Leaning towards a rider. The slope in the back is about a 12' drop across a ~50' distance. It's not a whole bunch to cut, half acre lot and the house/driveway/landscaping take up a lot of it, but the slope is a killer.

Any manufacturer preferences, deere vs husqvarna? Those are the frontrunners right now and i was surprised to see husq wasn't mentioned in this thread

Contour and slope shown below, I'd really prefer to push the front given how curvy and tight it is but I don't want to keep two mowers and weekwacker. Grrrrr

 

[GTPpower]

I'd do a hustler zero turn if you have a dealer somewhere close around there.

 

[LikeABauce302]

Deere, Husqvarna, or Cub Cadet.

I have a pretty similar slope on my property. I have 19.5 HP 46" Craftsman that's about 5 years old that I bought from marketplace. It does fine on the slope, but I think drive belts are going to be a regular maintenance item every couple years. Last year it was struggling up the hill, but now it's fine after replacing all of the belts a few weeks ago.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I'd do a hustler zero turn if you have a dealer somewhere close around there.

heyyyy they have one with a 34" deck, I like that, didn't know that was a thing in zero turns. There's a dealer 2 miles from me

Briggs vs kohler engines, any notable differences there?

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Deere, Husqvarna, or Cub Cadet.

I have a pretty similar slope on my property. I have 19.5 HP 46" Craftsman that's about 5 years old that I bought from marketplace. It does fine on the slope, but I think drive belts are going to be a regular maintenance item every couple years. Last year it was struggling up the hill, but now it's fine after replacing all of the belts a few weeks ago.

I've been wondering about the HP for sure. Deere has 17 and 22hp 42" riders, husqy has a 19hp 42". Need to look up the max hp available in a hustler 34" mower.

I'll mostly be cutting the back side to side but it still needs to be able to go up/down the hills. The left side of my house in that top picture is a long run, probably an 18-20' drop across an 80' distance.

 

[GTPpower]

heyyyy they have one with a 34" deck, I like that, didn't know that was a thing in zero turns. There's a dealer 2 miles from me

Briggs vs kohler engines, any notable differences there?

Briggs or Kohler are usually pretty good. I would lean more towards Kohler, but only because that's what I'm more familiar with.

Hustler does make a nice mower for the money. Imo, much better than deere and the others you see out front of the big box stores.

 

[GTPpower]

I used to have a snapper 33" zero turn. That was a nice mower, but it was only a single blade deck, so it didn't work as well for multching.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Briggs or Kohler are usually pretty good. I would lean more towards Kohler, but only because that's what I'm more familiar with.

Hustler does make a nice mower for the money. Imo, much better than deere and the others you see out front of the big box stores.

My bad, I went to the specific model that I'd get and actually it's a kawasaki engine.

Hustler Dash® XD | Residential Zero-Turn Mower

The Dash XD is a residential zero-turn lawn mower for smaller yards of up to 1 acre with 34", 42" & 48" decks sizes of and a 2yr/200hr warranty.

www.hustlerturf.com

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

This seems like a good option too. 34" toro, 22hp (dayumn) kohler, fabricated deck

| Toro

www.toro.com

 

[Z28Camaro]

An update on my Hustler - I put probably 6 hours on it at most over 3-4 mows at the end of the year. The last mow I was mulching a few leaves and it was doing pretty well.

Was backing it into my shed for the season and idled it down because backing it up with the throttle cranked way up is kind of sketchy. So I look down at the controls after setting the stick to a high idle and the engine warning light is on. I put the stick back up to 80% or so and the light went off. Then slowed the engine down until the light started flickering on and then solid. I was pissed off and didn’t touch it again until a few weeks ago. I noticed a puddle of oil under it for the first time this spring. Up until then it never leaked a drop and I had probably added half a quart since owning it.

I gave the dealer I bought it from a call and they came out with a trailer on Monday. Started it up and oil was running out of it all the way on to the trailer. They have had it for a couple days now but no call. Not sure what i am in for but I bet it’s not going to be cheap.