rlpickering13
Forum Newbie
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2019
- Threads
- 3
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- 7
Guys, I need your recommendations. I brought home my first riding lawn mower on Friday, the John Deere E130 with a rear bagger. I was at Lowes and I had been thinking about buying a riding lawn mower for several months but had not done a ton of research. The reason I went through with the purchase is because I have a 30 day test period with the E130 and I can return it with no questions asked for a full refund. I did get a great deal, total for the E130 and Bagger $2,025 plus tax. Now that I have the E130 I have caught the tractor bug and can not stop reading reviews and info on all types of riding lawnmowers. I have about 3/4 of an acre to maintain in a neighborhood setting. My front yard is flat but my back yard does have a slope, nothing drastic but probably 6' of slope to every 150'. I live in Alabama and have Bermuda Grass in my front yard and Zoysia Grass in my backyard. I love to work in my yard and I am very particular about the way my yard looks. That is one of the biggest reasons I have never used a riding lawnmower before, I didn't think I could get as nice of cut with a riding lawnmower as a push mower. I have a Honda HRX217HYA Push Mower that I have used the last 4 seasons. I bag and mulch with the Honda and it takes me 2-3 hours to cut the yard to my liking. Saturday I used the E130 to do the first cut of the season and cut the grass low (2") and bagged all of the dead clippings. The E130 did a good job, I did notice a few areas that scalped but this is not very noticeable now because the grass is still manly dormant. I guess my first questions is can I get as good of cut with a riding mower as I can with my push mower? If I can then I am tempted to return the E130 and purchase a X350. I got a quote Saturday from my local John Deere and I can get the unit for $2999.00, the rear bagger is an additional $628.00 installed. I may not get the bagger with the X350, but mulch this summer and then get a sweeper in the fall for leaves. I don't want to waste my money if the E130 is sufficient for my property but I have always been one to spend more upfront and buy the best. I don't spend money often but when I do I don't mind paying for the best. Is there another mower / brand that would sever me better. I looked into Simplicity Mowers but there is no dealer anywhere close to me. I called the only one I could find in the state and they said they didn't stock Simplicity but could order them, they then tried to sell me a Snapper and said it was the same thing so I don't feel like I would get good support even if I had them order me a unit. I have read so much info over the last 3 days that my head is spinning and I just want to make the best decision. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.