Best lawn tractor question

[GotOne]

My 14 year old son has saved money from snow removal, mowing/raking, etc. lawns in our neighborhood. He has 1600.00 saved and wants to buy a new lawn tractor. He wants a zero turn, but doesn't have enough money. I don't really want him to buy used stuff, if possible. The base grade units at the big box stores all seem to get spotty reviews. What do you all recommend? He wants something over 20hp and 46 to 48" cut. BTW, I have a older M-Ward's 48" 18.5hp lawn tractor that I think works fine (needs a little adjustment on deck), he just has it in his mind that he wants something nicer and new. That's why I'm not paying anything towards it(did tell him if he buys one, he can sell ours and keeps the money he makes). We also have a "pull behind" core aerator that we use. He has about 8 lawn/driveway accounts, typical suburban size lots.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Fish Toys]

Have you looked on the web? John Deere, Simplicity, New Holland? They have some good programs. $1600.00 doesn’t buy much if he’s going to do a lot of mowing.

[beer batter]

Yea, new tractor for $1600 is going to limit him to Yard Machine or Murray. Why not used? Many dealerships have auctions this time of year to clear out their trade-ins from the the past year. These trade-ins have usually had some type of inspection and maintenance by the dealership, so they'll hold up well.

I picked up a JD about 5 years ago for $1100 and it's been solid for me.

[LwnmwnMan2]

How long has he been doing the work?

Is the $1600 something that he made in 1 year? Or 4?

If he wants something newer, and is looking at doing 10 yards per week, I personally would look at a Timecutter Z or something along those lines.

It's not going to last forever, but it should last him 3-4 years, as long as he's okay with it. Certainly it's not commercial grade, but it's not any different than if he were to be using a garden tractor style mower.

Most of the spotty reviews are going to be from guys that are using them commercially full time.

If you ARE going to buy one of these though, do NOT buy one at a big box store. Buy one at a local dealer. Try to get your son in, teach him a lesson on buying equipment. More than anything, if your son wants to do this for a long time, make sure you look at the service department.

If you buy the mower at a big box store, you're going to have to go to a dealer for service anyways. Buy from the dealer to begin with, so you have a relationship with the dealer before you ever need service. Hopefully he'll move you to the front of the line (or close to it) if it needs work.

If your son (or you) really want commercial grade stuff, he's going to need $5k +/- to get something that isn't going to be broke down more than running.

The last thing he needs is something that's broke down, getting behind with the work, and having crabby customers.

One last suggestion would be to keep the old mower if possible, so if he does get something newer and shinier, and it breaks, at least you already have a backup, so he can keep making the money.

[GotOne]

Thanks for the replies. Buying used, you never know how it has been taken care of and I'm not very mechanically inclined. The 1600.00 is from last summer and winter. Him and a buddy do most of it together. His buddy bought a used-big commercial walk- behind, so an extra is not a problem. Last winter one day, he came home with $120.00, after plowing with the wheeler and shoveling. What do you think of Husqvarna 20hp, Kohler-46" cut @F/F for 1550.00? Sears has a Craftsman's 24hp(Briggs&Stratton), V-twin, Hydro-auto tranny, fully pressurized twin cylinder with oil filter @ $1579.00. Live by Vally Sp & Lawn, talked to them a few times, but tough to afford prices. He likes making money (used to iron his dollar bills when he was younger), so he will be doing it for a while.

Here's another on 4-sale....18 hp Kohler zero turn lawn mower/50 inch cut /Craftsman 2004 Completely maintained by Sears service with maintenance plan 2007 new battery and blades. 1595.00

[Powerstroke]

He's 14. Of course he wants shiny and newer. Its great that he's industrious and values the money, but it sounds like a race to have the best.

He's going to be pretty limited and since he could never secure financing it might be time for a lesson about how new isn't always better. Let someone else pay the markup and buy a quality machine for far less. If he gets something that pretty effective and he adds more accounts to get more money he's going to value the durability of a commercial mower.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I started out with Wards tractors when I was 16. Went through one / year.

There's a reason why Sears, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Menards, all the big box stores are higher. They stock zero parts and have zero service. Therefore, overhead is less.

I would tell him as well to look for a walk-behind if he's set on getting a mower. You can find decent ones for $1500-2000.

If you're not too mechanically inclined, IMO, the worst thing you could do is get one from a big box store. It'll be 3-4 weeks everytime something breaks.

Been there done that.

[GotOne]

Thanks again. Sorry for asking so many questions, but....I don't think a walk behind would work, wouldn't have anything to pull the aerator with. Plus, I want something to sit on when I get to cut our lawn. He saw that zero turn (Craftsman on C/List) and fell in love with it. What do you guys think about that one?

[keith schultz]

What ever you do DO NOT BUY SEARS the parts if you need them you can ONLY GET AT SEARS and they are spendy very spendy!!!!!!! there is NOT ONE REPAIR SHOP i know of that will work on them either. you would be better off buying a john deer. just my opinion....

[GotOne]

Who are they made by? Aren't most made by just a few manufacturers? Meaning, parts are interchangeable?

[LwnmwnMan2]

You'll have to get what you're most comfortable with.

If you're comfortable with getting a Craftsman machine, then when it breaks taking it to some small engine shop where it's going to sit for 3-4-5+ days before someone tears it down, then that person waits 4-5-6+ days for the part to arrive, if the part is available, and then wait another 2-3-4 days for the parts to be put back on, that's your decision.

Yes, you may have the ability to have the walk-behind as a backup, or even your old mower if you keep that, but I'm sure the kid will want to get more and more work once he gets the green taste in his mouth, at which point could he handle having a mower down for 2 weeks +?

One other thing. The hydros in that Craftsman are going to be weak. Pulling around an aerator, especially if it's heavier soil, is going to be hard on those hydros.

[keith schultz]

Wall,

I was told that NOT ALL PARTS are interchangeable, but the shop's DON'T like to work on sears products, REASON : money and parts.

[GotOne]

You guys are good. Now, I really don't know what to do. Where is the best place to look for auctions or do you just go to a dealer and look for a trade-in? I travel out state, would it be better to look in a small town? I have a small engine repair shop in Prior lake that is honest and good, so getting them repaired is not a problem. Plus, I'm not a total dork, I can do some repairs on them. Also, my son is learning how to maintain them, if I could only get him to put the tools away, we would have it made:). OK again, for 1600.00 what is a good option? Lman, best I could tell, the ones you recommended are in the 3000.00 range.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Tell you what. Have your kid hold off for a day or two.

I've got to pick up a rental sweeper from my dealer on the north side, and today I saw they had a bunch of trades.

I'm sure they'll still be a little out of your price range, but I'll check anyways.

If you're going to get something commercial grade, especially Toro or Exmark, parts are going to be fairly plentiful, and quite cheap online, which I could give you some sites if you'd like.

When I say "quite", I mean probably 20-45% off retail.

Personally, I'd have the kid run the equipment you have one more year, and save save save, dangle the carrot of a "Professional" mower in front of him, and run the mower you have now into the ground in the meantime.

[GotOne]

Thanks LwnM2, He is like me, when he makes his mind up-nothing stopping it. Plus, his goal is to make enough money to buy a snowcat next year. I don't want him to buy a snowcat, so hopefully, he will spend too much on a lawn mower and think twice about one next fall.

[Down2Earth]

If I was your son I'd look for a used Woods front mount mower. He will get a zero turn mower and something that is built to last. Not only will he get what he pays for he won't be paying an extra grand for it to have green paint.

[Tom7227]

The maker may be the same but the specifications aren't. Spend a few minutes talking to someone at the real small engine repair place and you'll learn a lot about what's good for the long run. If a $15 part goes on your Murray and you can't find the part you just got a big lawn ornament. The quality of the engines even difffer - Briggs and Stratton makes cheap engines and good engines. My advice to folks is to forget the big box store - shop at the repair places that sell new and learn from each encounter with a salesman.

Your son may be better off using the rig you have for this summer and getting thet $3k he'll need to get a real quality rig for next year. I have a 14 horse Simplicity that has plenty of power. I also bought a blade for it and it does a decent job plowing the snow. An ATV with a plow would be better, but that's a lot of bucks.

[BoxMN]

FWIW, I will agree on staying away from the big box models. A buddy burned up his MTD by running it out of oil. I took it, figuring I could just rebuild it cheap.... ha! It had a model of B&S engine that you could not get parts for AT ALL, and this was a buddy who runs a fairly big repair shop who was trying to find them.

So he put in a good B&S engine, with some custom exhaust and mounting, and I got a 48" tractor with a 24hp v-twin for about $900. Not bad for me, but it still has the "cheap" chassis but works. Key thing is, get something that you can get parts for easy and fast, especially if he is using it to make money.

Good luck, I admire your kid for working hard to get things he wants! That's the American way indeed!

[Tom7227]

Another point - sometimes the 'dead' lawnmower only needs some TLC. A neighbor was tossing his rig and I grabbed it for the kid to take apart. There was a lot of debris under the cowling and the motor had simply overheated. Cleaned it up a the kid had a rig for his lawnmower business - which I remember correctly lasted about as long as the good weather. Sometimes a tune up, an oil change, and/or a carb kit can make that 'junk' live on.