Which Riding Mower

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Hey All, I know a push mower will do for my lawn but I want a rider anyhow.  Will always have under a half acre but looking for a mower that wont fall apart.  I have inherited two murrays now that were older with Briggs engines and both have been disasters.  Extremely thirsty for oil, replaced engine on one starters, deck, solenoid and many others.  I'm done with the repairs!  Looking for something of decent quality for around 1500.  I dont need a 5k lawnmower and have a snowthrower for the driveway already.  Any thoughts?

Thanks,

[delcecchi]

I used Murrays for years and then bought a John Deere, one of the consumer models, L110 I think.  It has a better brand of engine (Kohler, I think) with an oil filter and everything.  Hydrostatic, 42 inch deck, etc.  I really like it much better.  

They are sold at places like HD, but I bought mine from a local JD dealer (Podeins in Stewartville) for the same price, and they do service etc.  

Looks like they are now the D100 series. 

[Moon Lake Refuge]

1 hour ago, delcecchi said:

I used Murrays for years and then bought a John Deere, one of the consumer models, L110 I think.  It has a better brand of engine (Kohler, I think) with an oil filter and everything.  Hydrostatic, 42 inch deck, etc.  I really like it much better.  

They are sold at places like HD, but I bought mine from a local JD dealer (Podeins in Stewartville) for the same price, and they do service etc.  

Looks like they are now the D100 series. 

I like the kohler engines but found out recently that Kohler started selling their engines in tiers like B&S and one of the lower tiered engine is just as low quality as the lower B&S.  I think its the kohler courage.  and the kohler 7000 series bumps to a new price point.  May wait and see if a spring sale pops up.

 

[delcecchi]

Looks like the D100 series starts with a single cylinder and moves up to a twin.   Didn't notice any information about the manufacturer.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

1 minute ago, delcecchi said:

Looks like the D100 series starts with a single cylinder and moves up to a twin.   Didn't notice any information about the manufacturer.

Most lower priced Deer's seem to be B&S engines that I have seen so far.

[rustysetter]

15 hours ago, Moon Lake Refuge said:

Most lower priced Deer's seem to be B&S engines that I have seen so far.

I'm not sure of the quality of the newer John Deeres, but I can share my experience with the 2 that I have. Both are 25 years old and between the two I have replaced belts 3 times and 1 steering bushing. I do annual oil changes and  tune ups every 5 years or so plus blades as necessary, they are an LX172 and LX176.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

7 minutes ago, rustysetter said:

I'm not sure of the quality of the newer John Deeres, but I can share my experience with the 2 that I have. Both are 25 years old and between the two I have replaced belts 3 times and 1 steering bushing. I do annual oil changes and  tune ups every 5 years or so plus blades as necessary, they are an LX172 and LX176.

From what i'm finding online the older deeres are the gold standard.  The newer ones look to be good units in the higher price points but the lowere $ ones look to be comparable to most others in the range.

6 minutes ago, Down2Earth said:

Moon Lake,

Im sorry but I don't think you can find what you are looking at for $1500.  Every brand new at that price point is junk and will be a throw away mower.  Sure you might get a few years of trouble free.  I would personally find something like a used JD 345 with a 20 horse Kawasaki.  Make sure it's the 20 horse as you don't want the 18 horse unless the plastic cam gear has been replaced.  Will you have to fix sometimes......sure but for $500 or so more you will actually have something.  For your smaller yard you will be turning a lot and power steering will sure be nice.

I've seen a number of mowers in that range last plenty of years, I take care and maintain my stuff pretty well.  Looked that mower up and unless I'm missing something they are selling at 2500-5000 with 500-1000+ hours on them.  I don't want used because I've been burned more times than I can count on used sales.  I know enough to fix small engines but somethings you cant find without a tear down and I would rather buy new.  I'm finding that the new Kohler 7000 series engine seems to be getting pretty decent reviews and have found it in a few mowers in the 1600-1700 price range so I may start there.  Power steering would be nice but overkill for me.  I don't have any issues with modern mowers steering and mow an acre at the cabin each weekend with a good number of trees and obstacles.  Hoping the 3-5 year warranty I'm seeing on most helps weed out any lemons I may run into at least.  Appreciate the input!

[Down2Earth]

No problem moon lake.  Wow they are still that much.  I sold mine 5 or so years ago with 960 hours on it for $2500.  Good luck with your purchase.  

[Moon Lake Refuge]

5 minutes ago, Down2Earth said:

No problem moon lake.  Wow they are still that much.  I sold mine 5 or so years ago with 960 hours on it for $2500.  Good luck with your purchase.  

Thanks! Hoping a small yard means not much wear on it.  And hoping even more my pessimistic attitude towards today's junk that they sell is not accurate....

[Tom7227]

I learned the hard way that trying to add implements to a mower can be a disaster.  I bought a plow for my Simpilcity and things were fine.  Then I found a used blower and the transmission on the mower went out in 2 years.  The dealer told me that there had been a recall but of course I was outside of the limits of that recall.  When I bought the replacement  I was sure to talk to the dealer about what all I was planning on doing and then buying what they recommended.

So my advice is to go to a real honest to god mower dealer and talk to them.  No one at any of the big box stores is going to know half of what a dealer does.  The rigs and the big box stores look the same as the ones at the dealer but you will notice when you go to the dealer that they have a couple or three different models that look the same but the prices vary.  That's because the manufacturers build different quality rigs and they have different prices.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Definitely wont have any attachments on mine except the occasional trailer for hauling a little mulch.

 

[rundrave]

the older deeres are way better than the big box store deeres of today. You want to look for something that was sold at an implement and not a big box store. If your not familiar with model nbrs etc, you can tell a nicer machine apart from a cheap one as the cheap ones will not have many if any at all grease zerks, and everything is all proprietary and nothing is serviceable on them like the tranny etc.

I have an Deere LX277 AWS with a 17HP Kawasaki and its been a good unit that I bought used. I have a little over an acre to mow and have a 48" wide deck. There are days where I wish I had wider deck but that would also keep me from getting into other smaller areas etc. Its been a good unit and completely different machine than the L130 I had that didnt last me 2 years and the tranny started to go bad, it could barely make it up a small grade. The lx277 goes up and down a hill reverse and forward with no issues at all

[delcecchi]

My L110 was bought from implement dealer.  So far so good. 

[Down2Earth]

12 hours ago, rundrave said:

the older deeres are way better than the big box store deeres of today. You want to look for something that was sold at an implement and not a big box store. If your not familiar with model nbrs etc, you can tell a nicer machine apart from a cheap one as the cheap ones will not have many if any at all grease zerks, and everything is all proprietary and nothing is serviceable on them like the tranny etc.

I have an Deere LX277 AWS with a 17HP Kawasaki and its been a good unit that I bought used. I have a little over an acre to mow and have a 48" wide deck. There are days where I wish I had wider deck but that would also keep me from getting into other smaller areas etc. Its been a good unit and completely different machine than the L130 I had that didnt last me 2 years and the tranny started to go bad, it could barely make it up a small grade. The lx277 goes up and down a hill reverse and forward with no issues at all

I think rundrave is exactly right.  The L series and the current D series will just end up in the garbage can.  Step up to the S series I think those can be had for $2500 new and come with the Kawasaki engine.  Make sure to buy from a dealer because they will do the warranty work.  If you buy from the big box store and need any work done you will be put on the back burner, all their customers come first and rightly so.  doesn't have to be Deere either.  Maybe you have a good dealer of another brand closer.  A good dealer is more important than the brand I think when it comes to home owner grade mowers.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Down2Earth

[gunner55]

We bought a used Husqvarna, low hours(~ 200), with a 24 hp Kawasaki motor. It came with a heavyduty Berco blower for $2500 at a auction 2-3 years ago. I've spent 10+ seasons working on a golf course & another 3-4 running a snow removal/lawn care business so I've ridden a few. We had 2 of the bigger gas JD's & a Toro zero turn( commercial deck) at the business. Personally I wouldn't look at anything that wasn't at least a twin cylinder & hydrostatic drive. Briggs best used to be a Vanguard but not sure about either Kohler or Briggs these days. 

[Surface Tension]

  If you have a lot of obstacles to mow around,  will be turning around often then hydostatcic drive is a feature that will make a mower stand above a shift n go mower.   Instead of plodding along at one speed your going to slow down at a turn and punch is on the straight a ways.  It's going take you a lot less time to cut the grass and you won't be board when " Cutting Your Grass ON The Edge".  Time yourself fine tune your skilz.     Deck size.   Look at your yard and what you have to mow between.  If you can't move an obstacle, mow it over. Then go as big a deck as you can.

 There isn't a gas engine that compares to the Kawasaki Twin(liquid cooled of coarse) or a tractor like a John Deere.   Its runs smoother then all others, has the power you need and you won't have to crawl your tractor at MAX RPMS to cut grass.    PTO, hydrolic lift, power steering saves time and what you'll get with a better tractor.  What size tractor do you need?  If you have rough terrain a larger the tractor smooth out the bumps.   

The above might be overkill for your yard and you can join the millions of home owners that put up with the noise, vibration,  slow, and awkwardness of a lesser riding lawn mower.   Who is going to give away a perfectly good tractor/rider, not me.  Hand me down mowers all have something wrong with them. If you can't get at least 10 years out of a cheapo it usually isn't the mowers fault.

I'd buy whats on sale and take care of it.  Check the oil before every use.  Change the oil at regular intervals.  That right there puts you ahead of most small engine owners.   Clean the top of the mower deck and inside. after every use. That'll keep it from rusting out sooner and burning up belts.  Store it inside a shed or at least buy a cover for it.   Keep the gas fresh and use a stabilizer when in storage.

 

 
 

[LindellProStaf]

I bought a L175 from our JD dealer here.  Same price as the big box stores.  I love it.  Easy to maintain and comfortable to use.  Mine is a 54" deck that may be bigger than what you want but they come in different sizes.  They even brought it to my house for me.  I felt since I bought it there I may get better service if ever needed.  Shouldn't matter but might.  

Hydro is the only way to go.  I wouldn't get a 4 spd type is it was half price.  As a matter of fact I wouldn't take it if it was 75% off.  Had them and they are no fun to mow with.  

[Tom7227]

Would it be fair to say that if there are zerks on a rig it is decently designed and likely to last if well maintained?

I was at Cartpenters Small Engine in North Saint Paul last summer and I can't remember which of the big box stores the guy mentioned but he told me that one of them was not doing any type of work on anything and was referring all warranty work to him if he wanted the business.  He couldn't take it because he was so busy with what he had and couldn't find enough qualified mechanics to work for him.

[delcecchi]

I don't believe that any of the big box stores, unless you count L&M up north as a big box, do any work on small engine stuff.  

[Bobby Bass]

I cast a vote for  a cub cadet you can get one in your price range and for a half acre lot will do the job. I service my own stuff but I still bought it from a fleet farm because of the service, the last one is still going strong after 6 years and I did some commercial mowing with it. Deere is nice but if this is just a home lawn you don't have to spend the big bucks for a decent cut. Regular blade sharpening , change the oil and filter and don't run into trees, it should last you. Paid less then 1500 with a 46" cut, mulch package and hydro trannie.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Bobby Bass

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Thats what I decided on... The 46 is 1700 now but I think i'm going to get the 42 and that should be big enough for my lawn.  Just waiting to see if they go on sale ever.  The enduro series looks like a nice little rig, just wish there was an entry level mower that didnt have the k46 tranny.  Looked at a couple CVT's with decent reviews but the newer cvt trans didnt seem to have a long enough life yet for solid reviews.