Riding lawn mower recommendations

precisionk

So I am looking at purchasing a riding lawn mower. I don't have a terribly big yard and just need something to get the job done. Been looking at Cub Cadets at the Home depot so far and they look decent. Anyone have any personal experience with that brand or others?

TexiKen

John Deere's are good machines. My parents house has a big front and backyard due to where the house was positioned in the subdivision, and I was the mower when I was younger. It was a '91 model made for yard work that has 10 or 12 HP, not a commercial grade machine, but it has performed just fine. Just a change of the mulching blade beneath it every 4 years or so and no problems. Still has the original tires on it (like it really matters).

rfalias

Get one of them Hydrostatic ones. Those things will make you want to mow your lawn.

fatmouse

TexiKen wrote: »

John Deere's are good machines. My parents house has a big front and backyard due to where the house was positioned in the subdivision, and I was the mower when I was younger. It was a '91 model made for yard work that has 10 or 12 HP, not a commercial grade machine, but it has performed just fine. Just a change of the mulching blade beneath it every 4 years or so and no problems. Still has the original tires on it (like it really matters).

john deere lawn tractors are not always made by john deere. be careful when buying high end name brand lawn mowers. What a lot of people don't know about mowers is that there are only a few factories that make the main mower parts (deck, transmission, frame, engine, etc). The plastic body pieces and the stickers are stuck on and boom its a cub cadet oooooooor an el cheapo Bolens or a yard machine or a troy built...They are the same tractor essentially, with different price tags.

fatmouse

rfalias wrote: »

Get one of them Hydrostatic ones. Those things will make you want to mow your lawn.

These are wonderful for mowing lawns....until you have to have one repaired. They are not as reliable as the plain old manual shift and are more expensive.

If you do get one, DO NOT MOW WHEN ITS WET OR IF YOU HAVE STEEP HILLS...slipping tires really wear out this type of transmission.


sorry for the double post...I used to do landscaping for a living

rfalias

Me too! (Landscaping)
Well, we never did lawn maintenance but we had one of those mowers, it was some fun!

Elrosst

Dixon. My parents had one, and it made mowing a treat.

matt has a problem

fatmouse wrote: »

TexiKen wrote: »

John Deere's are good machines. My parents house has a big front and backyard due to where the house was positioned in the subdivision, and I was the mower when I was younger. It was a '91 model made for yard work that has 10 or 12 HP, not a commercial grade machine, but it has performed just fine. Just a change of the mulching blade beneath it every 4 years or so and no problems. Still has the original tires on it (like it really matters).

john deere lawn tractors are not always made by john deere. be careful when buying high end name brand lawn mowers. What a lot of people don't know about mowers is that there are only a few factories that make the main mower parts (deck, transmission, frame, engine, etc). The plastic body pieces and the stickers are stuck on and boom its a cub cadet oooooooor an el cheapo Bolens or a yard machine or a troy built...They are the same tractor essentially, with different price tags.

Yep, the only difference between the Bolens push mower I recently bought and the Troy Built mower that was $70 more was a cushioned grip and slightly larger rear wheels. Also one was green, the other red.

precisionk

So I was eyeing the cub cadets as the old dudes at home depot both had vastly better things to say then over the ariens and the john deeres. I also noticed Sears craftmans mowers for reasonable, but I imagine they are a bit on the cheap side?

Boutros

My suggestion is to buy a good John Deere from a John Deere equipment dealer. Home Depot and Lowes carry the very bottom of the line. And I too recommend hydrostatic drive, though if you get a nice mower it is a given.