City slicker looking for advice to buy used or use $$$$$ for downpayment on new?

borysd5

Forum Newbie
Joined
Oct 27, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
1
  • / City slicker looking for advice to buy used or use $$$$$ for downpayment on new?
Good day forum members, my first post here. I`m a retired city slicker looking to relocate to the country side. Just me and my dogs. Have my eye on a beautiful 7 acres of mostly flat land, small 2 bedroom house on a hill, with a deck facing a pond and overlooking the property. About 3 acres are fenced (overgrown garden and what looks like a overgrown hay field) all has to be mowed eventually. And no I`m not going to be a gentleman's farmer...maybe plant some tomatoes :) The grassy areas are well taken care of by the real estate people and are mostly flat except the house sits on bluff/hill. The problem is the mowers I have my eye on (jd x590/x730, toro titan 2500 and simplicity prestige, all cost an arm and a leg. All cost more than the $5,000 I have on hand after I buy the homestead. I`m pretty mechanical inclined ,worked in industrial boiler maintenance for 30 years. I could buy used but know very little about mowers and I need something reliable since my property borders on a well manicured, fancy, high price residential property.....and I want to be neighborly and keep the grass cut. So if I buy used what should I look for? what does the hour gauge tell you? are 300 hours a lot? 500 hours?...... I could afford a Ariens Apex but I`m not sure I have trust in Home Depot fixing anything under warranty. There is a John Deere dealer and a Toro dealer in the area so should I bite the bullet and buy new with the $5000 down?
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
  • / City slicker looking for advice to buy used or use $$$$$ for downpayment on new?
Get a Spartan.
They are a new company where the owner is an engineer , not an accountant or money slush fund for lawers .
They offer good finance deals the mowers are made in the USA and they want feedback from customers so you will be important to them , not just another 0.5% sales bonus.


A bit latter on plant some small flowering trees / large shrubs in a random pattern around the fence line, far enough to be mowed around easily when they are a mature tree.
That will draw every ones eye upwards towards the tree tops and away from the grass.
They also break up field of view so you don't notice patches of funny grass ( weeds ) .
Landscapling wise the absolute worse thing you can do is plant large wide expanses of grass
Cut you grass high 4"- 6" at that height you can race over the grass full speed which makes mowing quick , easy. gives much longer blade life & clippings vanish almost instantly..
Long grass at different heights is far less noticable as short grass with a patch that grows substantially better than the surrounding grass except when seeding.
 
Top