Lawn Mowing

walk behind http://cgi.ebay.com/2005-Exmark-Viking-Walk-behind-Mower_W0QQitemZ150331458203QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTractors?hash=item150331458203&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

Lawn tractor with SBC http://cgi.ebay.com/John-Deere-C317-with-a-HP350-small-block-Chevy-Engine_W0QQitemZ110361854138QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTractors?hash=item110361854138&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1309|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

IH Cub with FEL http://cgi.ebay.com/International-Harvester-Cub-Lo-Boy-154_W0QQitemZ150330125400QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTractors?hash=item150330125400&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50

ZOMG a Hondah.. It's got VTAK http://cgi.ebay.com/HONDA-RT5000-H5013-5013-TRACTOR-4WS-4-WHEEL-STEER-4X4_W0QQitemZ270354022158QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270354022158&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50

GRM mower choice.. .Needs a mower deck though http://cgi.ebay.com/Sears-Suburban-18hp-Hydraulic-Loader-Garden-Tractor_W0QQitemZ190268290483QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Watch out for any tractor, mostly japanese grey market ones, that is very shiny and has just been (rebuilt). These are vietnam slap together fixer jobbies.. run if it has a bulldog loader on it.

I can't wait till I get my next house with some land and a tractor for digging and making a 1-2 acre garden..

On the Dixie Chopper, check out their home-owner series called Silver Eagle. Still way overbuilt & even available with the Generac engine, but priced much less than their professional ones.

^ That's what we have. 50" is perfect for our 2 acres.

You guys amaze me.

$5000 is a GOOD price for a LAWN MOWER??? That's 2 1/2 Challenge cars.

Around here, the pros get about $50 per mow for an acre lot- including trim and bag. That's 100 mows.

Our mowing season is pretty darned long- probably about 7 months of the year. Mowing every other week usually keeps it pretty decent.

So, I could buy that "discount" mower for $5k and have all the aggravation of maintenance, sweat, and allergies, or pay someone else to do it and sit on the couch for 6 1/2 years! Of course, after 6 1/2 years my mower will be pretty worn out, so I'll have to start over.

Or, I could buy a $500 mower twice in that time, pocket the $4000 difference, and effectively pay myself $26 per hour (it takes me about an hour and a half to mow my 1.25 acre lot with my crappy $200 42" rider).

I don't get it.

I DID have a mower growing up that I could ride wheelies on.

Please don't tell my Dad.

My sister just puts a horse in the front yard whenever the grass needs cutting.

Yeah but then you're shoveling that grass instead of cutting it :D

I bought a 42" Cub Cadet when we moved in. It is the greatest lawn mower I've ever used. It starts easy every time, has needed nothing but regular maintnace and a couple blade sharpenings and has a beverage holder. The only things I've done to it were add a holder for my XM radio and a caddy on the back that holds the weed eater and extra beverages. My only regret was not getting the snowblower attachment. It even has one of those fancy oil change reminder lights.

SVreX wrote: You guys amaze me. $5000 is a GOOD price for a LAWN MOWER??? That's 2 1/2 Challenge cars. So, I could buy that "discount" mower for $5k and have all the aggravation of maintenance, sweat, and allergies, or pay someone else to do it and sit on the couch for 6 1/2 years! Of course, after 6 1/2 years my mower will be pretty worn out, so I'll have to start over. I don't get it.

Trust me, I went through all this before buying mine.

I've had plenty of used riders, but none of them held up. I'd spend $300-$500, and after a few years it would be breaking down every-other mow. Now, keep in mind I HATE mowing. I don't care if I have any grass left, I just want to get it done & over with, and forget about it for another week or 2.

I researched all over teh interweb before buying my Dixie Chopper. Of course there were fans of all the major brands out there, but in almost every discussion there was someone who'd state: Yeah, I used to like ____, but I switched to Dixie Chopper & I'm never going back. Not one single time did I find anyone who went the other way.

The expected life between major overhauls on my mower is 10,000-hours. I put about 50 on it in 2-years. It will probably outlive me, I'm certain it will outlive my days of yardwork.

I also drive it like I stole it - full throttle all the way, all the time. I've changed the oil once & bought new blades once($17 for all-3 blades total). No problems at all.

Yeah, it's a really frickin' expensive mower - it cost as much as my Miata - but it's with it.

SVreX wrote: $5000 is a GOOD price for a LAWN MOWER???

I don't get the thinking either. I've never spent that much money on a car, boat, motorcycle or airplane. I'm darn sure not going to spend it on a lawnmower.

That said, a POS is a POS, even if it's a cheap POS.

I equally don't care for spending an hour or two a week trying to get the mower to start every time I go to use it.

I've gone all the way up to a Gravely (genuflection required). About 40 years old, cost something like $300. Works like a champ, especially with that Kohler engine. It handles my 4 acres with aplumb and ease. With its larger tires, it handles my land where I ztr would get stuck (btdt).

Equally, those rough crude things known as Snappers work superbly for decades on end with no maintenance. Cheap to buy new, even cheaper used. As in under $50 frequently. And that's a still running still mowing unit. Because their engine is in the back, they don't get stuck like regular riders do.

SVreX wrote: You guys amaze me. $5000 is a GOOD price for a LAWN MOWER???

I agree. Thats why If I'm spending money it's got to have some sort of other functionality. A pure lawnmower like a ZTR is useless to me.

I have a real desire right now to have a 1-2 acre garden at my house(next house that is) so a tractor would pull a tiller, move dirt, and raise beds. Plus help me build a pimping garage.

I just put tarmac over my entire property, and now i have a gigantic skidpad instead of grass.

SVreX wrote: You guys amaze me. $5000 is a GOOD price for a LAWN MOWER??? That's 2 1/2 Challenge cars. Around here, the pros get about $50 per mow for an acre lot- including trim and bag. That's 100 mows. Our mowing season is pretty darned long- probably about 7 months of the year. Mowing every other week usually keeps it pretty decent. So, I could buy that "discount" mower for $5k and have all the aggravation of maintenance, sweat, and allergies, or pay someone else to do it and sit on the couch for 6 1/2 years! Of course, after 6 1/2 years my mower will be pretty worn out, so I'll have to start over. Or, I could buy a $500 mower twice in that time, pocket the $4000 difference, and effectively pay myself $26 per hour (it takes me about an hour and a half to mow my 1.25 acre lot with my crappy $200 42" rider). I don't get it.

The difference is that $5k mower will last 15-20 years with normal maintenance. We got 12 years out of a new Craftsman as a kid that we paid $2200 for new. Great lawn tractor, terrible mower. If I had to use it on my current property I'd spend 4 hours mowing and 2 hours trimming every week.

When you work 60 hours a week, have property,house, vehicles and a wife to maintain AND want Sundays for racing you don't have 6 hours a week to spend sitting on a mower getting sunburnt, sicking in all hte pollen and dust. Time is a valuable thing and it allows me to come home on a weekday at 7pm and hop on the mower for an hour and a half and have the yard mowed, then the next night spend 45 minutes trimming and now I have the weekend free to go auto-x'ing.

Even better, this will be the last mower we buy. Dad's used 60" Dixie he purchased with 2600 hours on it. Still mows and runs like a champ. Now, I put 1.5 hours per mowing... to get me to 2600 hours that's 1733 mowings. We mow about 7 months a year, minumum of 3 mows per month (more in the spring) so that's 82 years .... I think this will be the last mower I ever own.

93celicaGT2 wrote: I just put tarmac over my entire property, and now i have a gigantic skidpad instead of grass.

http://www.waterlessgrass.com/ ?

foxtrapper wrote: I've gone all the way up to a Gravely (genuflection required). About 40 years old, cost something like $300. Works like a champ, especially with that Kohler engine. It handles my 4 acres with aplumb and ease. With its larger tires, it handles my land where I ztr would get stuck (btdt).

Dude. We used to have a Gravely dually with the big Kohler engine, a 42" deck, and a steering sulky, plus a snowblower and tiller and a few other PTO attachments. As an implement of destruction that Gravely was insane, but as a pure lawnmower, the Yazoo beat it silly.

I have several thoughts on this. 1) if you hate mowing that much, you can hire someone to do it cheap. 2) there is a certain amount of satisfaction from owning machinery that works as it should (like the chopper) 3) although I sometimes mow grass for a living (on a scag turf tiger), I still enjoy mowing my own lawn on a Sunday morning with my John Deere lawn tractor (stx38 bought used for $400 9 years ago). I sometimes run race fuel in it just for the smell...

Jeez. What a bunch of lawnmower snobs.

I bought my Montgomery Ward (MTD) about thirteen years ago for $100, put four tires and a set of belts on it, painted it with rattle cans including some rather amateurish flames and fiddled with the governor to the point where the thing would fry the tires on asphalt. Yes, I am a redneck. Ran it like that for about six or seven years until the 12HP Tecumseh OHV chucked a rod. I bought a John Deere with a nearly new B&S 11 HP but a badly rusted deck for $100, swapped the motor into mine and sold the hulk for scrap. It's still running. Oh, had to replace the deck bearings, ~$40.00.

And then there's sheep. They do a pretty good job of mowing, and they fertilize as they cut.

At the end of the season, you eat the lawnmower.

In between you could also buy some hip waders and have a date, too.

I never minded the Craftsman we have... Just hate spending 3-4 hours on it at a time. If it was damp, don't even think about mowing. If it rains a lot (like, say MArch til June) it can't cut over 2nd gear. The grass we have is A.) awesome 2.) Grows faster than snot and III.) is thicker than crap which makes it hard to mow.

Sometime, being cheap just ISN'T the way to go.

I like your listing style there bobzilla

Yeah... I saw that somewheres and thought it was hilarity.... then again simple things amuse me. I mean, I drive a pair of Hyundais daily....

I bought a Craftsman 42" last spring, I think I gave $1100 for it instead of the $1700 or so Sears was asking. Preseason blowout deal plus a craftsman club discount got me about 35% off of a pretty nice mower. It's doing well, a definite step in the right direction after the crappy old Murray I had been limping along for the prior 2 years- a lawnmower that starts without drama every time is a definite plus in my book.

That's how I did it- I hear all the big brands (Deere, Cub Cadet, etc) are really just re-badged brand-x mowers for the big box home improvement stores, and that you have to spend more to move up to the actual tractor line if you want a "real" Deere, etc.

think of it this way....

MTD makes 98% (I maybe a bit lower on that percentage) of all Riding Lawn mowers and probably 80% of all Lawn Tractors

I have a small yard, so last year I bought one of these:

https://www.reelin.com/

It works, if you aren't in a rush, and don't have a large area to cover. As a bonus, you can mow at night. (quiet)

You do get a workout mowing though, and they can't cut through branches.