Which Riding Mower (virgin here)?

We now have 1.2 acres of slightly sloped land, fairly rough, with a septic mound. Several trees, some obstacles.



What riding mower under $3500?

 

@Tractorman

 

Well either this:

Or this:

 

a ztr

 

I vote the first one

 

You dont like the yard bug? Its nearly 9 horsepower of murray-powered cuteness.

 

Get something with power. 20 hp or more. Power is time. My neighbor takes 4-5 hours to cut his lawn. I can do mine in 90 minutes. Both 1 acre lots. I’m running a 23 hp Brigs & Stratton powered Sears special.

 

You should be looking a 36-48" cut with at least 10 HP and a mulching kit.

I'd suggest a Zero Turn Radius mower. This will likely be above your budget. Although, many landscape people are getting new mowers. Hit the commercial mower distributors, many times they will have a mower from last year or a used unit for a reasonable price.

ExMark, Ariens, John Deere, Walker are some of the good commercial brands.

I will also suggest to steer clear of the Big Box stores for this type of mower. Their offerings are built to different life/use/endurance requirements.

There are other options. Walk behind commercials are good durable mowers. Once upon a time, I had an ExMark 36" walk-behind ZTR to mow 1 acre. I could trim, mow, clean the deck in about 50 minutes.

 

Is that the Scooty Puff Jr.?

 

Recommend a zero-turn as suggested above. If you can increase your budget just a bit, I HIGHLY recommend you get something with serviceable pumps/transmission(HydroGear ZT-2800 or better). Many of the ZTRs sold at the big box stores have sealed transmissions that go bad and are very expensive to replace. I have about the same size yard but quite steep and I picked this Gravely HD 44" up two weeks ago. Look at the Gravely XL models or the Ariens (Gravely parent company).

 

SOB is sweet. Did they get the full $4999 out of you?

 

I negotiated a bit off as I was paying cash. But not really a buyers market for mowers right now unfortunately.

 

Get a used Deere - I just bought a 217hr 2015 John Deere x320 with 48inch deck for $2850

Had my LX277 18 years just general maintenance

Highly recommend Kawasaki motors for lawn equipment but nothing wrong with Briggs or Koehler

I hate the company but they (did) make a good mower, just don't buy from Lowes or Home Depot and I don't recommend the new stuff - too expensive and they're getting cheaper to make

 

High weeds, Honeysuckle, Greenbrier, Poison Ivy, Oak or Sumack, you name it. Best tool for the job

 

There is a company around my town that has a herd of goats they rent out - they do some serious work and eat ANYTHING

 

Yes, the goats convert the weeds into fertilizer pellets.

 

May go goats this year.

I live kinda boonies, not much used around here.

 

Nice gravely!
I got a new Spartan last week, it replaced the bad boy.

 

I’m not familiar with Spartan but that looks like a hell of an upgrade!

how do you like those knobby tires?

 

I'm just a little pissed that these mowers look more badass than my truck. Do they come with a Batman costume or do I need to buy that separate?