What to get? Ariens? Cub Cadet?

[Rpsls]

Or something else entirely?

I've got a self-propelled Husky that just isn't up to the job. It can't handle the sloped terrain, the differing grass densities, and the occasional squishy ground. It stalls, can't climb the grade and is not easily turntable on my terrain. (It'll be for sale here in a bit, would be better for someone with a nice flat lawn)

I was looking at one of the wider cut type mowers with the big wheels. Ariens makes the 911703, or the 911413 (probably overkill for us) or something similar that will have enough power to get through patches of wet ground and wet grass, and be able to traverse or climb a short slope 4-8' that can exceed 30 degrees. The Ariens is the upper limit of my budget at $1,200, so something cheaper would be nice if possible. Self-propelled is a must, I've got quite a bit of lawn. It's too sloped for a riding mower and has some narrow areas that are unsuitable for a true wide-cut mower. Ease of turning would be important, and reverse would be helpful if it's a heavy mower.

Thanks for suggestion and comments!

 

[DSepe]

Check out the ariens waw34

 

[Rpsls]

Ok, I made a purchase. I did a LOT of research on the different kinds of mowers available. I looked for new, used, commercial and homeowner products. I'd narrowed it down to a WAW mower and the Toro Timemaster. I discovered quite a few things about the WaW mowers, they're all made by the same company. The Craftsman, Cub, Granger, Ariens, etc. are made by MTD (at least the used to be, it may have changed). They just get different paint and trim. They suffer from a number of problems such as slipped belts, thrown blades, cracked cases and mounts. That said, many of them work just fine. The Toro has occasional problems too, but the chief complaint seems to be it being just barely adequately powered.

The telling factor was when I went to check out the mowers in person. The WaW's are not small machines. They have a long wheelbase and are pretty hefty in weight. This would not work for me as I've got a lot of obstacles to maneuver around, and the weight of these would be very difficult to control on the steep angles I previously mentioned.

So that meant the Toro was the one I picked up. Some quick likes/dislikes/tips I've learned:

It's got a really short wheelbase - almost square - so if your lawn has some clumpy areas the mower tends to get "hoppy". It's a pretty stiff ride, so if you're moving along it's going to be a jerky ride.

The short wheelbase/wide cut means I get high centered pretty easily. Any ruts, "V" shaped runoff channels or sharp shoulders in a surface will have you muscling the mower over them to keep going.

When I engage the blades, there's a nice slipping-belt screech as the blades spin up. That tells me the belt will glaze or wear out pretty quickly.

Constant-speed motor. No throttle, for better or worse.

The good -

Wide! It cut my mowing time in half. (Half because my previous mower was so underpowered I could only do half-width cuts so the motor wouldn't stall)

Like the previous reviews, the power is adequate. I never stalled it once, but I did have to let go of the blade engagement a couple of times to keep it from stalling - which leads me to this next tip:

To keep it from stalling when mulching, set the rear wheels higher than the front by 2 positions. This doesn't affect the cut quality, and keeps you running at good speed. Since I made this adjustment the mower has never stalled.

Maneuverability is fair to good. The previous complaint about the square wheelbase making it jumpy actually work in the mower's favor on slopes, it's very stable thanks to the width.

The best feature, hands down, is the Personal Pace drive system. You don't need to chase the mower uphill, it doesn't get away from you going downhill, and if you're maneuvering it one handed on a slope, you can move along slowly and steadily while keeping the mower right where it needs to be without slipping or scrambling to keep up with it.

If there was any one thing I would change about it it would be the wheels. Something taller that would grip a bit better and cut down on the jumpiness, but that's about it.

Hope the info helps.