New lawn tractor advice

With your lawn size (1 acre compared to my 5) and budget, given that you won't consider used, my recommendation is find one of these locally and add the bagger to it.

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Snapper-7800932-Lawn-Mower/p9776.html

Single blade means no worries about them getting out of alignment and mowing unevenly, proven design even Forest Gump approves of. When you find a local dealer they will probably have a couple of used ones that they have gone through that would be worth looking over too.

What did you decide?

You could probably add a bagger to one of these......we had a diesel one when I was a kid using a 7ft 3 point finish mower.....

Edit: nvm......with a 1ac yard you might as well just get one of those old snapper rider deathtraps....

oldopelguy wrote: With your lawn size (1 acre compared to my 5) and budget, given that you won't consider used, my recommendation is find one of these locally and add the bagger to it. http://www.mowersdirect.com/Snapper-7800932-Lawn-Mower/p9776.html Single blade means no worries about them getting out of alignment and mowing unevenly, proven design even Forest Gump approves of. When you find a local dealer they will probably have a couple of used ones that they have gone through that would be worth looking over too.

When I was pricing out mowers in the mid 90s, the Snappers were much more expensive that what this site says they are now.

I have a Cub Cadet Z-Force ZTR with a fabricated deck, similar to this: http://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/cubcadet/zero-turn-riding-mowers/z-force-riders

I've had it for about 4 years now. It's been mostly trouble-free, though the switches to stop the mower deck when you back up went wonky, so I just bypassed them. Easier to cut that way, and less wear and tear on the clutch. It's light years better than the Crapman tractor it replaced. My favorite thing about that was the outer deck wheels were mounted in single shear. Since they were the farthest thing out, they hit everything. I ended up buying 10 axle bolts at a time for that thing.

For leaf pickup, I'm still using one of these: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07124222000P?mv=rr

It's not ideal, but it gets the job done. I just pile the leaves up in a long pile behind my barn and let them decompose.

I bought bottom-of-the-line John Deere from a big box store ten years ago for 1500 clams. I've put maybe two parts in it in that time span. It's not great, but it's good enough. If it blows up tomorrow, I'll probably buy another one. I mow about an acre. The Deere works fine. I could not justify going with a more expensive machine if all you need to do is mow an acre.

1988RedT2 wrote: I bought bottom-of-the-line John Deere from a big box store ten years ago for 1500 clams. I've put maybe two parts in it in that time span. It's not great, but it's good enough. If it blows up tomorrow, I'll probably buy another one. I mow about an acre. The Deere works fine. I could not justify going with a more expensive machine if all you need to do is mow an acre.

Yup, I have an 84 318 and a 07 la140, I think I have 160 hours on the 140 and I've had to replace a seat safety switch. It was $1500 well spent. The 318 needs something all the time.

I bought the Craftsman and the bagger that I mentioned in a previous post. Sears has a better parts network than Airens, offered an extra 15% off the bagger when I bought the tractor and had a free delivery deal too.

I used gift cards to buy everything. By getting then from the local grocery store, I got about 60 gallons of gas for free. I bought the gift cards with a credit card that had points so I got an extra bonus there.

Everything gets delivered on 11/11. I'm going to check the torque on all the bolts, make sure that it's greased, filled with the right fluids and then add an hours meter and take it for a spin. After five hours I'm going to change the fluids over to synthetic and check all the bolts again.

I take care of my stuff so I expect it to last a while.

Wait, it doesn't already come with an hour meter? I can't understand why riding mowers costing nearly as much as a Challenge car lack an hour meter. At least that's an easy as pie fix.

In reply to jimbob_racing:

PGH area? Giant Iggle Perks FTW

what brand engine in the Craftsman?

following w/ interest

jimbob_racing wrote: I bought the Craftsman and the bagger that I mentioned in a previous post. Sears has a better parts network than Airens, offered an extra 15% off the bagger when I bought the tractor and had a free delivery deal too. I used gift cards to buy everything. By getting then from the local grocery store, I got about 60 gallons of gas for free. I bought the gift cards with a credit card that had points so I got an extra bonus there. Everything gets delivered on 11/11. I'm going to check the torque on all the bolts, make sure that it's greased, filled with the right fluids and then add an hours meter and take it for a spin. After five hours I'm going to change the fluids over to synthetic and check all the bolts again. I take care of my stuff so I expect it to last a while.

Ariens and Craftsmen use the same parts. Just like their Husqvarna and Bolens counterparts.

You bought the craftsmen which means you got the little transmission with the big tires and then added a bagger.

Be sure to change the transaxle oil to synthetic Rotella T

Flight Service wrote: You bought the craftsmen which means you got the little transmission with the big tires and then added a bagger.

You didn't mention that info in your other post.

Flight Service wrote: Husqvarna, Sears, Bolens, Ariens, weed eater- These are all the same tractor with different engines and body work. All built in the armpit of South Carolina. Worst plant in their entire global network build all of these tractors. Ariens at $1250 with a 42" deck is the same as a Sears with a 42" deck. Different body work but the working bits are the same. The trick in this price point is the gear and tires. Most of the hydrostatic units have a K40/K46 Tuff Torq transmission in them or a T2 Hydrogear. The T2 is a stronger transmission, but we are looking at marginal differences. There is no difference between a K40/K46 transaxle. Get the smallest tire possible and you will do fine. Switch the transaxle fluid over to Rotella T synthetic. In our testing we have found that is the best fluid for this class of transaxle. We bench mark everything else against this. That being said I would get the Ariens, check to make sure it is assembled properly (99% of their warranty issues are assembly problems, horrible factory), and switch the engine and the transaxle over to full synthetic and be very happy with your purchase. Remember, smallest tire, verify proper assembly, switch to all synthetic and enjoy. SOURCE: Engineer for Tuff Torq for 4 years.

I mentioned it, but if your yard is flat and you switch lube you shouldn't have any issues.