O/T Lawn Tractor

bmack95hd

Well-known Member
Sears Craftsman,not too much maintenance over the years but time for a new one. 3 acres dry Flagstaff high desert buffalo grass uneven terrain. Any one have recommendations?
 
(quoted from post at 20:35:53 06/22/14) Sears Craftsman,not too much maintenance over the years but time for a new one. 3 acres dry Flagstaff high desert buffalo grass uneven terrain. Any one have recommendations?


LOL on an N board? An N with a rear mount mower! I use a Woods RM59.

As far as lawn tractors go you get what you pay for.

In my little dream world a little Kubota diesel hydro with a belly mower!

Rick
 
Rather a lotta of acreage for a small mower.

However, CRAFTSMAN(tm) makes for a good old mower/tractor. AYP (American Yard Products) made a great work tractor way back in the 70's.

I have a 18 hsp. craftsman in my shop right now. Early horizontal shaft engine. ONAN/BRIGGS enigne suitable for running a 70 amp generator. Extremely heavy duty tranny and rear end.

John Deere makes a nice tractor/mower suitable for your acreage. For the price of $8,000.00 I would rather use my Ford 9N with a finish mower that has its own engine. PULL ALONGS. Check with TSC (Tractor Supply Stores) in your area.

Maybe it is time to do the maintenance on your Craftsman??

John,PA
 
I brought my old 36" Crapsman back from the lake yesterday. Tennant uses it on the acre and a half yard there and it isn't running right. I brought it to my hunting buddy. He retired last year after working on small engines for years. He had a Honda 2 cyl lawn tractor, water cooled, about 48" in his shop that he was fixing for a customer. Nice looking machine but Wow, Complicated!!
With all the rain we've had the lawn up there was 18" tall.
I tried to do it with the finish mower but it just clogged. So I cut it back with the brush mower. Looked like an old witch chewed it off but at least it knocked it down. Gonna sharpen the blades on the BH and do it again next weekend.
Agree with your suggestion about BMACK putting a finish mower behind his tractor.
Take 6' at a time instead of 3' or 4'.
 
(quoted from post at 23:53:04 06/22/14)
(quoted from post at 20:35:53 06/22/14) Sears Craftsman,not too much maintenance over the years but time for a new one. 3 acres dry Flagstaff high desert buffalo grass uneven terrain. Any one have recommendations?


LOL on an N board? An N with a rear mount mower! I use a Woods RM59.

As far as lawn tractors go you get what you pay for.

In my little dream world a little Kubota diesel hydro with a belly mower!

Rick

Unfortunately mine is gas but it is a really heavy duty machine with a 24HP 3 cylinder (.78l) automotive block style engine (gas or diesel) and a heavy gauge 60" deck. It bough it used and in show room new pristine condition (1 year, 100 hours) for $7K. It mows and handles beautifully but struggles for traction in some of the very steep areas - especially so if it is not bone dry.

In retrospect I wish I had been a little more patient and shopped a little longer. Just after I bought it I saw two late model BX series machines (bottom picture) for very nearly the same price. The BX machines are a lot heavier 4WD sub-compact tractor with a 3 cylinder diesel engine and are usually sold with a loader along with the deck. These two did not have the loader (hence the lower price) and would go up and down my hills as nimbly as a billy goat. When i saw them I was sorely tempted to buy one and sell the G2460 but TOOH was already pouting over the original transaction :roll:

TOH

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15984.jpg
 
My grandson who has been cutting grass for the public since he was about 12 years old just bought a new Kabota zero turn mower that he says is the very best cutting and operating mower he has ever had. He has had numerous used mowers that I gave him and a new Cub Cadet Zero turn, A new XMart Zero turn that he didn't like and then this Kabota. He paid $5400 for it with nothing down and zero interest with full coverage included including theft and major repair etc.

I've got his old Cub Cadet that he wore out and I rebuilt. He says that it was the best one till he got this one. Time will tell. I love tha Cub Cadet Zero.

Zane
 
like others have said if your mowing 3 acres, its time to step up to a bigger mnachine, some time back i bought a craftsman lawn rider so the wife could help mow,just around the house, only got 3 years out of it and its piled behind the shed,john deere and kubota make a unit that is larger than a lawn tractor but still smaller than a sub compact tractor they cost a little over twice what a new lawn tractor does, and you can outfit them to use several attachments too, you shouild check those out, i bought one for a community common area in town, they basicly gave me a check and told me to go get a good one, after 3 lawn tractors,from various box stores. the area mowed is about 3 1/2 acres, i picked up a john deere 260, manual shift, now that was back in 1994, and that thing [ with normal mantenence] is still doing just fine, everything still works on it and it mows great, more than worth the money!
 
3 acres of yard that needs mowing...ugh..I'd plant a forest or till it up... :D
your question
big money? Kubota BX with MMM or a pull behind (& the easy-on-off loader.)
old tractor? a 3-point rear finish mower. Big swath, done quick.
Lots of tractors? some with 3-points, some without?
A Swisher pull finish mower with its own motor, so you can pull it with anything....even your tired craftsman.
 
(quoted from post at 08:20:07 06/23/14) 3 acres of yard that needs mowing...ugh..I'd plant a forest or till it up... :D
your question
big money? Kubota BX with MMM or a pull behind (& the easy-on-off loader.)
old tractor? a 3-point rear finish mower. Big swath, done quick.
Lots of tractors? some with 3-points, some without?
A Swisher pull finish mower with its own motor, so you can pull it with anything....even your tired craftsman.

As Rick says - you will get what you pay for. A nice lightly used (200 hours) BX1500 with deck and [b:4fb0ad17b0][u:4fb0ad17b0]no loader[/u:4fb0ad17b0] [/b:4fb0ad17b0] will run you $6K plus. You can expect it to give you 2000 hours of service if you keep it well maintained and don't abuse it. This is just one one of many listed on Tractor House right now - asking $5900. Around here they show up locally on Craigs list every fall for about the same price.

Go by your local box store and sit on a $3k lawn tractor and then go sit on a BX class machine - JD, Kubota, or any other brand of your choice. Test drive one of each class and you will see what you are getting for the extra cash. Try as many different brands as you have time for.

I have owned a couple box store lawn tractors including one Craftsman. I mow well over 3 acres with them and I will never have another one. They require lots more maintenance to keep them running and give up the ghost altogether way too quickly. In the long run they wind up costing you more in down time, parts, and up front money. BTDT.

TOH

PS> I also mowed with a bigger loader tractor and a 72" Woods on the 3pt. You take a slightly bigger swath but don't get the same cut quality. Works great and is an excellent strategy for large open fields. But you won't get done faster or get as good a cut if you are mowing "lawn" and have a lot of stuff to maneuver around....

BX1500.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 04:47:22 06/23/14)
(quoted from post at 23:53:04 06/22/14)
(quoted from post at 20:35:53 06/22/14) Sears Craftsman,not too much maintenance over the years but time for a new one. 3 acres dry Flagstaff high desert buffalo grass uneven terrain. Any one have recommendations?


LOL on an N board? An N with a rear mount mower! I use a Woods RM59.

As far as lawn tractors go you get what you pay for.

In my little dream world a little Kubota diesel hydro with a belly mower!

Rick

Unfortunately mine is gas but it is a really heavy duty machine with a 24HP 3 cylinder (.78l) automotive block style engine (gas or diesel) and a heavy gauge 60" deck. It bough it used and in show room new pristine condition (1 year, 100 hours) for $7K. It mows and handles beautifully but struggles for traction in some of the very steep areas - especially so if it is not bone dry.

In retrospect I wish I had been a little more patient and shopped a little longer. Just after I bought it I saw two late model BX series machines (bottom picture) for very nearly the same price. The BX machines are a lot heavier 4WD sub-compact tractor with a 3 cylinder diesel engine and are usually sold with a loader along with the deck. These two did not have the loader (hence the lower price) and would go up and down my hills as nimbly as a billy goat. When i saw them I was sorely tempted to buy one and sell the G2460 but TOOH was already pouting over the original transaction :roll:

TOH

Years ago my dad had a little rear engine rider. Traction wasn't good at best. When he had the tire service guy out putting new tires on one of the field tractors he had him load the little tires on that rider. made all the difference in the world. You may want to consider loading the tires on that.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 09:58:47 06/23/14)

Years ago my dad had a little rear engine rider. Traction wasn't good at best. When he had the tire service guy out putting new tires on one of the field tractors he had him load the little tires on that rider. made all the difference in the world. You may want to consider loading the tires on that.

Rick

That and wheel weights are on my list.

TOH
 
John Deere's have three grades of mowers. The box store mowers that come from places like Lowes are really meant for the guy who has a small lot but wants a rider. The next grade is a 30% heavier. Then the commercial grade is 70% heavier than that. Looks the same but much, much better built. This refers to how much more metal that is in the deck ect. I have a 48' LX 279 water cooled JD commercial grade that I've had for over 10n years now and I'm still on the original belts. I mow about 2 acres. If I had any more to mow I would get something with a 60" cut. The only thing I don't like about the JD is it doesn't have the ground speed of a zero turn mower. If it were me, I would shop for a low hour zero turn.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll nurse this unit along until I can afford one of the larger tractors as mentioned.
 
(quoted from post at 14:52:56 06/23/14)

We mow 4 and 1/2 acres with our 54in craftsman we've had it at least 3 or 4 years

You must have a lot of time on your hands!
 

I have a buddy (retired from the phone company) that mows for the county park/fairgrounds. He swears by the zero turn mowers. He's used several but like the Kubota they recently bought for him to use. Says it's fast and give a good cut. He's doing something like 10 acres in total. He can't screw around with the job, the park is used everyday by the locals and the fairgrounds part is rented just about every weekend.
 
(quoted from post at 10:48:47 06/24/14)
I have a buddy (retired from the phone company) that mows for the county park/fairgrounds. He swears by the zero turn mowers. He's used several but like the Kubota they recently bought for him to use. Says it's fast and give a good cut. He's doing something like 10 acres in total. He can't screw around with the job, the park is used everyday by the locals and the fairgrounds part is rented just about every weekend.

If all you need is a mower a zero turn is the way to go. I seriously considered it and even demoed a Gravely and Kubota ZTR.

The Gravely was a residential gas model with 54" deck and priced at an attractive $2500. Just a little too light duty for my taste.

The Kubota was a real beast - commercial diesel with 72" deck but pricey ($10K).

Ultimately I decided I wanted something a bit more versatile and bought the garden tractor. For the kind of mowing I do it may not be quite as fast as a ZTR but it is not far behind.

TOH
 

WB I mow most of it for my dad it takes about 4 hours to do all of it but I'm outta school for the summer so i have plenty of time
 
(quoted from post at 00:03:18 06/25/14)
WB I mow most of it for my dad it takes about 4 hours to do all of it but I'm outta school for the summer so i have plenty of time

That's not bad, Nick. Not sure my old frame could handle 4 hrs in the seat anymore, I'd have to break it up over a few days.
 

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