Re: M T D - Yard-Man Lawn Tractor-hit or miss? Looks great for 2,500.00

Posted by Greg AZ on May 29, 2002 at 09:26:51 from (64.12.102.38):

In Reply to: M T D - Yard-Man Lawn Tractor-hit or miss? Looks great for 2,500.00 posted by Robert on May 28, 2002 at 17:13:23:

Robert.......I, too, have been looking at several different brands of garden tractors. I have considered premium priced brands...Cub Cadet, JD, Somplicity and also the lower priced brands...Sears, MTD, and Murray. Sears tractors are built my MTD and offer a wider array of attachments than MTD. Most Sears attachments will fit MTD, since both brands offer similiar models, and they are readily available and reasonably priced. For my money I have considered the following: John Deere, while no doubt the best of the breed, are rediculously high priced for my needs. The three thousand extra I have to spend to get a green paint job is simply not worth it to me. Kawasaki engines don't impress me either, as I much prefer Briggs and Stratton, for reliability and servicing considerations. MTD is almost exclusively powered by Briggs, a big plus. The upside to MTD is price. You can get a 38 inch deck on a 20 horse tractor if that is what you prefer, which I do. The larger MTD tractors have bolt on rear wheels, which,if you like to have both lug and turf tires for your tractor, or intend to install both sets for duals, are much easier to handle than the splined rear wheels, so watch out for that. MTD tends to get skimpy with grease fittings, so, if that is important to you, check it carefully. MTD tractors are belt diriven, so if you do a lot of heavy duty jobs, i.e. snow blading, pushing dirt, etc. these tractors may not stand up as well as direct or gear driven models from the higher priced manufacturers. I have been advised to steer clear of the "Automatic" transmission models made by MTD. The input I have received is that they do not hold up well, and are expensive to have repaired or replaced. The six or seven speed "Shift-on-the-go" models generally give satisfactory service. The one negative feature that I see about MTD tractors is that the gas tank is located under the hood. A really dumb place when refueling a hot engine. MTD also tends to fail to spec oil filters when ordering engines for their tractors. Although lawn equipment has run for decades without oil filters, they are a modern device whose time has come. Every manufacturer uses those dumb safety devices like the seat switch that shuts off the engine when you leave the seat (horrible for servicing or tuning the engine) and, worse, the switch on the shifter that kills the engine when you shift to reverse with the blades engaged! I will work diligently to defeat both these features, as I feel they are more dangerous than my using common sense when operating such machinery!! Murray equipment, while Briggs powered, is cheaply made and is not a consideration, as far as I am concerned. For your information, my yard is about an acre and is densely populated with "girl's stuff" and so I need a tractor to mow with, but with a relatively small deck for easy steering around obstacles. And I need to back up while mowing. I also will need lug tires for pulling a roller, sweeper, etc. and hate to get stuck on the hilly terrain. I apologize for the lengthy reply, but hope I have been of some help to you. Good luck and all the best......Greg

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• Re: Re: M T D - Yard-Man Lawn Tractor-hit or miss? Looks great for 2,500.00 bob 18:48:20 05/29/02 (0)

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