lawn mowers

[A5]

damn, 3 hours half acre ......... making me swing towards rider, haha.

I'd wager most of that time was spent on trimming and edging. My yard is a touch smaller than that and it takes about an hour to mow it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Still sounds like a lot of work @ an hour.

 

[A5]

Still sounds like a lot of work @ an hour.

The way my yard is laid out, it would probably take me longer to do it on a riding mower. Honestly, nothing you do outdoors on a house is going to go fast - I spent like 6 hours last weekend figuring out how to put a downspout back on

 

[mvbighead]

Zero turn something or other for the win. SERIOUSLY.

The walk behind I have has a 52" deck and can turn on a dime (almost literally). I can also zip along at a very quick pace. If you have relatively flat ground, I'd find a decent zero turn and plunk down the money.

If you have hilly ground, I'd find a commercial walk behind and not look back. This is what I had to do as riding my dad's mower on my property was some scary stuff. The walk behind has a very low center of gravity and would be nearly impossible to roll. My dad's tractor got up on two wheels a couple of times and scared the crap out of me.

That's my vote.

 

[mvbighead]

Also, I'd give some thought to perusing CL. Could find a very reasonable deal there, and perhaps find a commercial grade one that is built to endure many seasons of day after day after day of use.

This is pretty much exactly what I have:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/for/3771590240.html

Grabbed it for 1300 a season ago.

This one is a bit newer, and closer to your size requirements:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/grd/3806532792.html

Hella expensive though.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I'd love to get one, but it might be a bit pricey right now ... I just reinsulated the attic haha

 

[Via]

half acre = riding

My lawn is WAY smaller, and if we get heavy rain for even a short period my push mower chokes. I'm going for a riding mower next purchase.

 

[Demo24]

Another +1 on the briggs and Stratton engines. I get the joy of mowing an acre with a 13 yr old snapper, damn thing just keeps going. Leaks oil quite a bit, but doesn't smoke and seems to be running fine. Change spark plug, oil, and air filter every spring and that seems to keep it reasonably happy. Sadly its only like a 24" blade and not zero turn. Gets the job done, but damn I want a zero turn with all the crap I got to go around these days.

 

[slag]

I have 1/2 acre and had the same dilemma of the riding mower larger than 40" not fitting through the door to the back yard. I ended up buying 21" Honda self propelled mower instead of making a larger door and buying a riding mower. It takes me around 3 hours to mow and trim/edge my lawn. It's not too hard yet but I'm sure it will be brutal come July/August.

The older snapper series of rider that you can pick up for a song at auctions/craigslist ads, will fit through the fence and are much quicker than a walk behind.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I think I might try to get a 2007-2008 john deere x320 ... I see a few local from dealers for 1200-1400

 

[ponyo]

The older snapper series of rider that you can pick up for a song at auctions/craigslist ads, will fit through the fence and are much quicker than a walk behind.

It's not that bad yet. If it gets to be too tiring in July/August, I'll either buy a 46" riding mower and enlarge the back fence door or go back to using lawn service company like I did for the past 10+ years.

 

[natto fire]

I think I might try to get a 2007-2008 john deere x320 ... I see a few local from dealers for 1200-1400

Good luck in your search. Not a lot of experience with JD here, but I hear lots of good things. Only dealt with Kubota and Massey Ferguson (diesel to boot) on the tractor front. As far as riding mower or suburbia tractor my experience is limited to a couple Craftsman units with 16HP and 20HP B&S motors. One with a 46" deck, the other a 50".

If the price is right for you, don't hesitate to pull the trigger, because I am pretty sure JD has not diluted their brand to nothingness like the others.

I still stand by my statement that a Briggs and Stratton engine costs half as much as a Honda because it is worth half (or less) than such.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I hear the JD stuff at home depot/lows sucks (coming from those who are tractor enthusiasts/snobs) ... the L/D lines. The X is the stuff you want to get where they put quality into still.

 

[SithSolo1]

As far as I can tell both the Toro TimeCutter SS3200(32" cut) and the Husqvarna RZ3016(30" cut) are right around 35.5" wide with the grass deflector in the up position. The Snapper RE 110(28" cut) is another good option if want to save money. Its under 33" wide and Snappers seem to last forever.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I might go re-measure my shed and see if I can't fit that snapper in it ... would love to have it in the shed.

 

[slag]

I picked up a lawnmower today from Lowes and got it for a steal. They had a bunch chained together outside the garden center and two of them had "For Parts" signs on them. One was $149 marked down to $60 and the other was $370 marked down to $150.00. If you tried to pull start them, it appeared as if the engine was locked up. I was able to get both working by just reaching underneath and moving the blade by hand for a bit to loosen them up. Ended up buying the $150.00 one for $150.00 OTD and a friend from work is going to go pick up the cheaper one. None of the garden center folks knew we got them running, and they still came with a 3 year warranty.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_421865-63311-961450010_4294747214__?productId=4346379&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

 

[ViviTheMage]

nice, now if only I could get a rider that cheap

 

[Mxylplyx]

I got a 50' Cub Cadet for my half acre. I know, pretty big. I was looking at a 46' originally, and wanted a mulching kit. For some reason the mulching kit on the 46" was new blades and such that was over $100, and the 50' was just a plastic plug. Also, the 50' qualified as a piece of farm equipment in my state, which significantly lowered the tax rate. When it was all said and done the 50' was only like $150 more, so I jumped on it. Mow my front yard in about 6 minutes.

 

[ViviTheMage]

50 feet you say ..

 

[Zivic]

Also, I'd give some thought to perusing CL. Could find a very reasonable deal there, and perhaps find a commercial grade one that is built to endure many seasons of day after day after day of use.

This is pretty much exactly what I have:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/for/3771590240.html

Grabbed it for 1300 a season ago.

This one is a bit newer, and closer to your size requirements:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/grd/3806532792.html

Hella expensive though.

best advise right there.

75% of how a persons lawn looks is due to the cut. keep it green and don't cut below 3.5"

I want a commercial walk behind, but I literally only have about 1500 sq ft that I can't get to with my zero turn.... I ended up getting a new honda this year to replace the "side of the road find" I used for the last 4 yrs for that area. I really should just cut the gate post and open it up to get my big mower through. anyways

I have a 52" scag tiger cub that I use on the main yard:

pics of my front yard. about 1/2 acre right there. I have about 3/4 acre of grass total. takes me about 18 minutes to cut

 

[ViviTheMage]

nice cut jerb!

I am realizing now that we are going to have a lot of leaves, I need something that bags...found a JD D110 for $1500 on craiglist ... not sure how I feel about a D110 though...

this guy:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/grd/3810722000.html

or a little beat up 2007 JD x320 with 650 hours on it, 2/3 of it were the guy just driving it from his house, about a half mile to his garage out on the farm ...

 

[postmortemIA]

get at least self propelled... 1/2 acre is pushing it.

 

[HeXen]

I'm starting to like the all natural no cut. So lush, so green.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

http://www.lowes.com/pd_288803-270-...currentURL=?Ntt=riding+lawn+mowers&facetInfo=
$1000 normal price. Get a 10% lowes coupon from the post office movers flyer thing. They will email you a 10% off coupon. Brings price down to 900. I've had mine for a year and a half. I have a pull behind trailer for it and I've loaded a couple hundred pounds on the trailer several times with no problems. The lowes lawnmower guy said they sell more of this single riding mower than all the other riding mowers combined and he never sees them come back with problems. I should thank the guy next time I see him cause the mower is solid.

As for the shed widen the friggin door. Time to get the man card out along with the hammer, skilsaw, and the lumber. I rebuilt my storage shed on my own. First time. Tore down all the walls, reframed it, added a pretty little window, had to re do the doors, etc.. Lot of work but it was about $600 vs $1500 for one from lowes.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I thought troy built was trash>?