mystreba
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
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Hi all. My Craftsman GT5000 recently gave up the ghost, so I've been looking for a replacement. Today I borrowed a neighbor's brand-new Husqvarna YTH2348 just to keep the weeds at bay. I don't know much about tractors, but here's my comparison of the two.
The GT5000 is listed in Google searches as a "garden tractor". It was used when I bought it 4 seasons ago for $1800, but I don't know how old it was. I hear from neighbors that the previous owner was VERY rough on the tractor. It had a Kohler Command v-twin 25hp motor, and a 54" triple-blade deck. I don't know what transaxle it had, but it was hydro (using a stick). It started running very rough toward the end of last season, and it turned out that the barn where it's stored had mice which had nested in the engine compartment and chewed through some wires - it was running on one cylinder. The shop fixed it, and then it happened again at the beginning of this season. Shop says the engine is dead - no compression.
The Husq is brand new, purchased at Lowe's, 23 HP B&S Intek v-twin, and a 48" deck (thus, the 2348 designation). It has the Tuff Torq transaxle, hydro with forward and reverse pedals.
I mowed the back acre, which is fescue lawn mixed with various weeds (ie: not a hay field), a little bumpy with soft ruts carved in recently by some heavy equipment traversing the area. The shape is mostly rectangular for a pretty straight-forward cut. I use the inside-outside
method to keep all clippings blowing toward the sides of the field, gradually pushing them all to the edge - thus, no raking.
I know this can be rough on tractors - to continually re-cut and throw all the clippings. My GT5000 did it beautifully even when the grass was tall and/or wet. Today the grass was ~6-7", and I set the deck to 3.5" - as high as it would go.
My first impression of the Husq is that while the engine runs smooth, the tractor can't handle bumps very well. The feeling is that it bounces around a lot, and when it bounces the transaxle starts jerking. All in all, a very rough ride, and I felt as though I had to baby it. The forward/reverse is great, and it has a super tight turning radius - much better than the GT5000. It is not nearly as fast as the GT. You cannot mow in reverse, which I found to be a fascinating "feature". If you try to go in reverse with the blades engaged, it doesn't just kill the blades - it kills the ENGINE. This limitation is only somewhat compensated for by the tight turning radius. OVerall, this one feature alone makes this tractor a total PITA for mowing, and I wouldn't purchase it just for that reason alone.
The deck on the Husq is junk, imo. Its stepped-locking lever is superior to the dial-lever of the GT, and it raises and lowers very smoothly. But it seems as though the designers sat down and considered how to build a deck that traps grass perfectly. I mean, if you had to design a deck that clogs with clippings rather than throwing them out the side, this is the deck you'd design. There is a shelf along the leading edge, where it meets the chute. The only ostensible purpose for this shelf is to trap clippings and clog the deck. At least, that is what it does. The grass was wet, but what's the use of a tractor that can only mow dry grass? I literally had to stop the tractor after each inside-outside pass of the field, shut off the blades, reduce the throttle, apply the parking brake, get off the tractor, reach under the deck and pull huge clumps of wet grass off that shelf and out from under the blades. I know the first thing someone will say is that I caused this with the inside-outside mowing method. But a 23-hp mower should be able to handle this little volume of grass with no problem, imo. It's not as though it's throwing a huge amount of clippings - I think the mower has mulching blades because there really were very few clippings coming out the chute. Anyway, the GT handled this beautifully, and never once choked or clogged no matter how high the grass was, and no matter how wet it was.
I used the GT to pull all kinds of things around the yard in a tow-cart - stone, dirt, firewood, construction debris, etc. It never complained, and always got the job done. The Husq doesn't have that "tough" feel to it. Rather, it feels as though you have to baby it. I wouldn't feel too comfortable hitching a cart up and loading it with dirt, that's for sure.
All in all, unless you are simply mowing a well-manicured lawn I'd say the $500 price differential of the GT to the Husq is well worth it. But from what the mechanic at the tractor shop tells me, you may want to avoid the "Courage" line of Kohler engines that you find in some of the Craftsman tractors.
NOTE - the tranny disengage lever (located in the back, below the seat) used for free-wheel pushing of the tractor is CHEAP on the Husq. On the GT it was pretty heavy-duty. On the Husq, I literally have coat hangers that are much thicker.
The GT5000 is listed in Google searches as a "garden tractor". It was used when I bought it 4 seasons ago for $1800, but I don't know how old it was. I hear from neighbors that the previous owner was VERY rough on the tractor. It had a Kohler Command v-twin 25hp motor, and a 54" triple-blade deck. I don't know what transaxle it had, but it was hydro (using a stick). It started running very rough toward the end of last season, and it turned out that the barn where it's stored had mice which had nested in the engine compartment and chewed through some wires - it was running on one cylinder. The shop fixed it, and then it happened again at the beginning of this season. Shop says the engine is dead - no compression.
The Husq is brand new, purchased at Lowe's, 23 HP B&S Intek v-twin, and a 48" deck (thus, the 2348 designation). It has the Tuff Torq transaxle, hydro with forward and reverse pedals.
I mowed the back acre, which is fescue lawn mixed with various weeds (ie: not a hay field), a little bumpy with soft ruts carved in recently by some heavy equipment traversing the area. The shape is mostly rectangular for a pretty straight-forward cut. I use the inside-outside
method to keep all clippings blowing toward the sides of the field, gradually pushing them all to the edge - thus, no raking.
I know this can be rough on tractors - to continually re-cut and throw all the clippings. My GT5000 did it beautifully even when the grass was tall and/or wet. Today the grass was ~6-7", and I set the deck to 3.5" - as high as it would go.
My first impression of the Husq is that while the engine runs smooth, the tractor can't handle bumps very well. The feeling is that it bounces around a lot, and when it bounces the transaxle starts jerking. All in all, a very rough ride, and I felt as though I had to baby it. The forward/reverse is great, and it has a super tight turning radius - much better than the GT5000. It is not nearly as fast as the GT. You cannot mow in reverse, which I found to be a fascinating "feature". If you try to go in reverse with the blades engaged, it doesn't just kill the blades - it kills the ENGINE. This limitation is only somewhat compensated for by the tight turning radius. OVerall, this one feature alone makes this tractor a total PITA for mowing, and I wouldn't purchase it just for that reason alone.
The deck on the Husq is junk, imo. Its stepped-locking lever is superior to the dial-lever of the GT, and it raises and lowers very smoothly. But it seems as though the designers sat down and considered how to build a deck that traps grass perfectly. I mean, if you had to design a deck that clogs with clippings rather than throwing them out the side, this is the deck you'd design. There is a shelf along the leading edge, where it meets the chute. The only ostensible purpose for this shelf is to trap clippings and clog the deck. At least, that is what it does. The grass was wet, but what's the use of a tractor that can only mow dry grass? I literally had to stop the tractor after each inside-outside pass of the field, shut off the blades, reduce the throttle, apply the parking brake, get off the tractor, reach under the deck and pull huge clumps of wet grass off that shelf and out from under the blades. I know the first thing someone will say is that I caused this with the inside-outside mowing method. But a 23-hp mower should be able to handle this little volume of grass with no problem, imo. It's not as though it's throwing a huge amount of clippings - I think the mower has mulching blades because there really were very few clippings coming out the chute. Anyway, the GT handled this beautifully, and never once choked or clogged no matter how high the grass was, and no matter how wet it was.
I used the GT to pull all kinds of things around the yard in a tow-cart - stone, dirt, firewood, construction debris, etc. It never complained, and always got the job done. The Husq doesn't have that "tough" feel to it. Rather, it feels as though you have to baby it. I wouldn't feel too comfortable hitching a cart up and loading it with dirt, that's for sure.
All in all, unless you are simply mowing a well-manicured lawn I'd say the $500 price differential of the GT to the Husq is well worth it. But from what the mechanic at the tractor shop tells me, you may want to avoid the "Courage" line of Kohler engines that you find in some of the Craftsman tractors.
NOTE - the tranny disengage lever (located in the back, below the seat) used for free-wheel pushing of the tractor is CHEAP on the Husq. On the GT it was pretty heavy-duty. On the Husq, I literally have coat hangers that are much thicker.
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