I'm look at buying lawn tractor. used 1

jagco

New User
I found 5 lawn tractors I'm looking at. Can you guy's help me pick the best 1 out of the 5. pros and cons on them. I have about 1.5 acres a little hill but mostly flat land. I been using a push mower for the pass 3 years. This is starting to give me a work out. I no nothing about lawn tractors. Or use 1 before.

1 craftsman LT 1000 42" cut 18hp not sure of the year, - 2 yard-man 42" cut 20hp model is a T604 about 2004, 3- Cub Cadet Hydrostatic Lawn Tractor, LT1018, 42" cutting width
Briggs&Stratton 31Q777-0305 18.5 HP engine, - 4 John deere 216 16hp 42" cut, - 5 John Deere Made (Scott's) Hydrostatic Drive 16 Horse Power 42 Inch Cut Lawn Tractor, 5 -

pricing range from 450 to 550. all seem to be in good shape. I no nothing about them or use 1 before. "O" man that john deere look sweet though.


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My $.o2 cents worth but the Craftman looks like a AYP machine. American yard products. They are a bit heavier in construction and mow super slick. I have three Husqvarnas and they are AYP machines. All are beautiful mowers.
 
The JD is missing the side panels, but it has the front PTO pulley on it(snow blower). You can rebuild the JD parts that will wear out for ever,the others maybe.
 
The Craftsman and John Deere are heavier built and look more like garden tractors than lawn tractors. The top 4 are all made by MTD and AYP is also made by MTD. The Craftsman is from around the late 90's. Are you sure that the Craftsman is only a 42" deck? I have a GT and it looks like that and has a 50" deck and 22 HP Kohler. If you take care of any of them they will give you good service. Some people run down Craftsman and AYP but my tractors are from mid to late 90's and have given me very little trouble. I am now just starting to replace mandrels for the very first time on these decks.
 
This would be an easy decision for me to make, if I was faced with it.

When it comes to QUALITY, there is a huge difference between the low end LAWN TRACTORS and even an entry level GARDEN TRACTOR. The only GT in the mix is the Deere 216. It weighs in at a solid
660 LBS and has one of the very best engines every made. The Kohler K-341. That engine is cheap and easy to rebuild should the need arise. That tractor has the traditional 12 inch rear rubber and 8
inch front rubber that most garden tractors use. Plenty of choices out there for tire tread patterns. I am not aware of a 42" deck for this tractor. It is either a 38" deck or a 46" deck. The newest the Deere
could be is 1987 and the oldest is 1979. However, it seems pretty obvious that the previous owner has put a lot of time and perhaps money into this machine because it certainly does not look its age. On
a really hot sunny day, your but might not appreciate that steel seat. They came with a padded seat originally and it is simple to change that out. Parts will be easy to come by.


Hydrostatic trans-axles on entry level lawn tractors such as the ones above are known to fail early. When that happens, the cost of repair is often as much as or more than the current value of the machine.
That is one reason why they depreciate in value so rapidly.
 
all of the units basically using same stuff to make go. the green one would be my last choice since parts will cost the
most and it will not mow any better than the others you have shown. the prices you show i would not give that much. i
sell those types used in the 300.oo range period. see people give way to much for used units. why would you pay that
for ones several years old when for little more you can be in a new tractor of that type 1200.00 and have 3 years
warranty. or get you a nice 50 inch zero turn for 300 to 500.00 good luck.
 
Tom you better look at pictures again. The Craftsman in the picture is not a Lt 1000. The tractor in picture is a garden tractor. It has the same rubber as the Deere on back. That tractor has a deck larger than 42" and it maybe a 50" deck. and is most likely is powered with a 22 or 24 HP Kohler Pro Engine and Hydro Gear transaxle. I have two of these in that design and one weighs a little over 600 lbs and the other 750 lbs.
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To ZTRMOWER

I have to wonder why you would consider a 300 dollar ZTR to be a good investment. At that price, you are scraping the bottom of the barrel and we are talking about some cheaply made homeowner machine, not a commercial unit. No matter what ZTR you are talking about, one way or the other it will come with TWO hydrostatic units. The configuration may vary but low end hydros are not engineered for high hours of use. A 300 dollar ZTR is pretty much at the end of its usable life and will require large injections of cash to keep it cutting grass.

Granted, ZTR's will mow grass faster than a GT will and they will negotiate obstacles in the lawn faster than a GT but at the price point under discussion in this thread, I would not touch a 300 dollar ZTR with a ten foot pole.

To the OP of this thread....

The same applies to the Scott's and the Cub Cadet. Both are low end entry level machines with a limited life span. The exception here is the Craftsman. Apparently it is not the model you said it was and I concur because it does have rear rims that bolt on to the axles. While I do not consider any Craftsman a true GT, it is certainly a better choice than the MTD made Cub Cadet or the Deere made Scott's. As for the Deere 216..... if you do some research you will find that this model was held in pretty high regard by owners. Whomever it is that did the work to it, obviously treasured that tractor. I think that they took it apart and did whatever was necessary to bring it back to good working condition. That is the tractor that I would go and see and test drive. I would ask for the detailed history of it. I would much rather have a Kohler K horizontal engine any day over many of the throw-away singles and twins used in lawn tractors.

If by chance, it did not pan out, then the Craftsman would be my next choice.
 
Almost every thing that John Deere makes are good product but I would shy away from this one as it is cobbled up. It has wrong seat,no side panels, wrong grille and front tires show a lot of wear.So who knows what else is cobbled up on it and paint can make a piece of junk look like new.
 
You call it "cobbled up" but I see it as a customized tractor. The seat is no big deal and the side panels are neither here nor there when it comes to how well this tractor will perform. The change in the grille is of no real consequence either. As I said, the OP should go and look at this one and take along someone who is well versed when it comes to these tractors. I agree with your paint comment but a personal visit will quickly reveal if the paint work is first-rate or just lipstick on a pig. Photos do not tell the whole story.
 
just telling like i see it at the shop no need get all excited. yes they all have the 2100-2300 or so series hydros in them and they will run along time period that three hundred dollar unit alot places sell for 750 to 900. they have been good units and still are to some people. even the brand new units are now running the same hydro but 4400 or 5400 series.in the large stuff. in fact just got another load of new units in have same hydro as in the used 300 dollar units i sell as used.john deere units of any kind when i get in on trade are the hardest for me to resale period,usually always end up taking them to the consignment sale just to get rid of them. they all have different grades in the units no matter what the color. you will just find that most of the public wants 300 to 500 dollar priced machines period. i didnt say it makes sense or that i agree its the best buy. you still always get what you pay for. all i DO know is my new 2999.00 units have been by far more trouble free than the ten to 12000.00 dollar units that go out the door. and they are being used to mow cemeteries etc. the average home owner does less than 20 hrs a year on a mower. life to short to get all worked up about a xxmm mower. also people are still spending 400 to 700 for the cone chain style trannies in the used market. and there is alot of those still going today.
 
OK.... so how about disclosing the brand names and model numbers of these 300 dollar ZTR's you are suggesting? And do any of them come with an hour meter that has been working since the unit was new? Inquiring minds want to know these details. LOL
 
Craftsman, yardman, MTD, Polan, and John Deere are nothing but junk. Cubcadet is just a little better junk. They are made by MTD.
 
I just got off an older Craftsman a few minutes ago. Got a seventeen horse B&S engine in it with a fourty two inch deck. Nothing it won't cut.
 
That Cub Cadet in that picture up above can't hold a candle to the John Deere and Craftsman tractor pictured. MTD (Modern Tool & Die) builds parts for for a large number of companies and builds the parts to their specs.
 
4516k 4515b ram 50 all dixons, most in that era came without hr meters,5000 series 60in $1995 750hrs. i don't pick the mowers the customers do they all want a 300 to 500 dollar mower majority of time. 5 here last night wanting same price stuff. if it runs mows and moves thats all they care about. like i said i did not say i approve of this its what the public asked for. color is of no importance 90% of the time. try selling to the public for one week you will learn ALOT. have a good day
 
Maybe have a look at the deere, at least it's worth more than that as a trade in on an new deere. For what your gonna do, go get a new liquid cooled efi deere and mow your lawn without problems. If you can score a good used X485 , it's well worth the money.
 
For what the OP is going to do, a liquid cooled, fuel injected tractor is pure overkill. He is not in the grass cutting business so why buy an expensive tractor that is also a high maintenance cost unit as well? Air cooled, carbureted gas engines have done a fine job of powering lawn and garden tractors for the past 80 years. There are thousands of used units out there that are upwards of 60 years old that are still mowing lawns every week for their owners and OH MY GOSH.... they don't have EFI or liquid cooling.
 
I'm definitely not an expert but long story short is that you get what you pay for. I have a John Deere GT-242, definitely not a big tractor but it cuts my lawn and does a lot of snow plowing and has been doing it for about 18 years. The only things I have done is replace a couple sets of mowing blades, a couple belts, and two front tires. Of course you need to keep in mind that I also check and change the oil regularly, hit all the grease fittings at least twice a year, and it is kept inside my garage. It seems that everyone is talking about 20+HP, mine is 14 and will out-pull my neighbor's 18 HP Sears. (Gearing). BTW, my brother has a 425, bigger tractor, bigger yard, same type of performance, the just keep doing the job. When/if it comes time to replace the tractor, pretty sure it will be green and say John Deere on the side.
 

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