Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?

TSR6

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I have a lot that is .8 acres. It's got some elevation change to it, but nothing that's overly terrible as far as a hill goes (its a gradual elevation change at least). I've been looking at the 42" - 46" deck range, and aiming to stay under $2500 max but ideally I would like to stay under $2000. I'll be saving my push mower for the one ditch line, the on property line, and around some pine trees I have. It currently takes me around 2 hours to push mow it all.

So far, I'm really leaning towards the Cub Cadet XT2, but I am starting to look at the John Deere tractors too. I just figure I can probably get an XT2 and still get the bagger where with the John Deeres I'd probably be maxed out on the budget for the year.

Dealers don't matter so much - I have 2 John Deere dealers and 2 Cub Cadet dealers nearby. I have a Simplicity & Toro dealer in town too, but Simplicity seems to be out of my budget, and I havent looked at anything Toro.

I have attached a topography of my lot too.

mower-topo.jpgThoughts?
 

cruzenmike

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I honestly do not know how to read topography buy I can say that if you have enough elevation change that you have to put effort into walking up it, then its likely that a low cost rider (non-heavy duty trans) will see a much shorter life on such terrain. If getting a Cub Cadet, get a GT50 or a GX54D. Both have more robust transmissions; the GX having a locking differential. John Deere, you will need a X380 or better to get a transmission as durable as the GT50 I mentioned (although not as good as the GX54D's). The GT50 is $2699, the GX54D is $3499 and the Deere X380 starts at $4399. I know the prices are steep, but for a long term investment you cannot go wrong having something more durable. As always, you can shop within your budget and roll the dice but nobody here wants to see your equipment fail prematurely.

Mike
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I have a lot that is .8 acres. It's got some elevation change to it, but nothing that's overly terrible as far as a hill goes (its a gradual elevation change at least). I've been looking at the 42" - 46" deck range, and aiming to stay under $2500 max but ideally I would like to stay under $2000. I'll be saving my push mower for the one ditch line, the on property line, and around some pine trees I have. It currently takes me around 2 hours to push mow it all.

So far, I'm really leaning towards the Cub Cadet XT2, but I am starting to look at the John Deere tractors too. I just figure I can probably get an XT2 and still get the bagger where with the John Deeres I'd probably be maxed out on the budget for the year.

Dealers don't matter so much - I have 2 John Deere dealers and 2 Cub Cadet dealers nearby. I have a Simplicity & Toro dealer in town too, but Simplicity seems to be out of my budget, and I havent looked at anything Toro.

I have attached a topography of my lot too.

View attachment 36290Thoughts?

Sorry to rain on your parade but at the price you are willing to pay, expect to be back here asking the same questions in the next 3 to 5 years.
I have several commercial customers who mow yards of your size with a 32" deck Greenfields mower and they do it in about 30 minutes.
You can not get a Greenfields in the USA your government will not allow them to be imported because they use swing back blades.
These mowers are very fast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6M_dkGi5Tc&feature=youtu.be This video was not sped up.
They are $ 5000 to $ 8000 ( Aust ) which equates to $ 4000 to $ 6500 US. And that is the sort of money you should be looking at as a minimum spend to get a long life quality mower.

In your price range you will need to meticiously maintain the mower to get it to last and this includes lubing ( I use dry lithium chassis grease ) every place where a shaft passes through a hole in the chassis very regularly ( not yearly )
There are no bushes , cause bushes cost money , and all the holes quickly flog out oval.

I would not consider buying anything in your price range. This is purely and simply because I sell no mowers, I just fix them so I am underneath trying to sort out design shortcuts.
My sincere advise is to double your spend and look for dealer or manufacturer finance.
Most will offer interest free loans so take advantage of them .

If you insist on buying into the bottom end then the Cub has thicker steel ( thick does not mean good ) and the easiest deck removal
 

primerbulb120

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I'd recommend a good used commercial ZTR. You'll get a lot more mower for your money. I paid $1800 for my Gravely Compact Pro 44, which is a full commercial grade mower.
 

TSR6

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I honestly do not know how to read topography buy I can say that if you have enough elevation change that you have to put effort into walking up it, then its likely that a low cost rider (non-heavy duty trans) will see a much shorter life on such terrain. If getting a Cub Cadet, get a GT50 or a GX54D. Both have more robust transmissions; the GX having a locking differential. John Deere, you will need a X380 or better to get a transmission as durable as the GT50 I mentioned (although not as good as the GX54D's). The GT50 is $2699, the GX54D is $3499 and the Deere X380 starts at $4399. I know the prices are steep, but for a long term investment you cannot go wrong having something more durable. As always, you can shop within your budget and roll the dice but nobody here wants to see your equipment fail prematurely.

Mike

I'd probably say my back yard has about a 10' gradual rise. I never had an issue with the push mower on it with it's drive tires slipping - never happened. It was also right on the fringe of what I was OK doing without the push mower's drive tires engaged.

I'm really not looking at going with too big of a unit either. I mean I am aiming for 42-46" because that's what I've always been used to operating but it looks like turning radius and all that doesn't change between the 42 and the 50" units. I see the GT50 is even an "available at Home Depot" unit - is this an alright machine?? I mean, the whole reason I was looking at the XT2 over the XT1 was the v-twin, and that the XT1 uses bushings instead of ball bearings. I know most of the Home Depot units tend to be lesser units in some cases.

I really only plan on mowing, and then possibly de-thatching once a year with a rental pull behind. I won't be hauling anything.

Nice snowblower btw. I have the Ariens Deluxe 28 SHO. Great machines! ;)
 

TorqueMonster

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
Get a Cub Cadet GT50. It's by far the best bang for the buck. It's rated as a "ground engaging" tractor- that's up to 1000 lbs. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION!!!! ASk around AND More importantly READ up on the down falls and short comings with lawn mowers/ tractors etc.. I did my homework and realized that about 80%-90% of the time that a quality lawn mower quit performing it was because of the TRANSMISSION.

I live in Tennessee and ordered mine straight from the factory, cheaper than HD and they threw in a few things and maybe no tax (I don't remember for sure). Before I placed my order I also asked to speak to a Tech guy about the different transmission because their catalog wasn't the clearest and he set it all straight. The GT50 has a TOTALLY different trans than most of the others, thicker axle, posi traction and rated to PULL a load.

If you get a GT50 you won't be back on this forum complaining. Good Luck!!! Mark
 

RajunCajun

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
Get the XT2 model with real bearings.
 

cpurvis

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  • / Reccomend a Lawnmower to me, and let me know what you think about my own choices?
I mowed .75 acres for over eleven years with a Swisher 32" 6 or 8 hp (can't remember which) 3-wheel mower. The ground had 33 trees and about 5 feet of slope from the NW to SE corner.

It doesn't take a lot of mower to take care of .8 acres. My parents' yard was 1 acre and we used a 10 hp 107 Cub Cadet on that yard for over 20 years.

That being said, I don't think you're going to get much for $2k today.
 
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