Need a good new riding lawn mower

[Zivic]

A good rider does probably 95% as well at mowing as a very good dedicated mower. And for most folks the extra capabilities are more helpful than that last 5% in mowing, which is less to do with quality of cut and more to do with maneuverability around trees.

95%? not a chance... I challenge anyone in my area bring their rider tractor out and we can go head to head on my lawn.

 

[Zenmervolt]

95%? not a chance... I challenge anyone in my area bring their rider tractor out and we can go head to head on my lawn.

Not everyone gets off on striping. For those of us who don't, a tractor with a good deck suspension system does just fine.

Growing up we had a 1970s-era Simplicity (in the early/mid 1990s) garden tractor. Our neighbor ran a professional lawn care business and did his own yard with professional, single-purpose mowers. There was exactly zero difference between our two yards as far as I was ever able to tell.

I'm sure that someone with a hard-on for lawn care would have found or invented some difference, but to most of us there just isn't.

ZV

 

[boomerang]

I wish it were that easy. I have just over 100 hours of seat time on it so I'm well aware of its limitations - unfortunately there are places where there is just no angle, speed, or approach that will solve the traction issue. I never had this issue with the Craftsman mower...while it was a POS in almost every area, it got very good traction. I could even do the ditches with it.

I had the kids in FL for a baseball tournament over the summer and my wife was home helping my neighbor after her hip surgery. My wife decided to mow the neighbor's lawn and called for a quick lesson on getting going. I warned her that the traction was horrible and to be extremely careful with it. She called me a couple of hours later to tell me she had gotten stuck and was going to have to call some neighbors to help get it moving. This was on my neighbor's fairly mildly sloped yard, but it had slid into the bushes. I've never had a problem in that area because I know which angle to take.

When you talked about the traction problem I knew you had sloped areas of the lawn to deal with because I do too. And this is the thing, people respond to posts in this thread with the assumption that the conditions they mow under are universal. That their flat lawn with sidewalks and no trees is the same as those of us mowing on rolling property with a ditch out at the road and trees to dodge around.

I was hesitant to go with a 50" deck because of the nature of my mowing conditions. I actually measured the width of the deck with the deflector, went home and made sure it would fit between some trees I have, between the rough, wild overgrown area I couldn't even think of mowing and the well head, as well as making sure I could fit in in my shed. Still, I was nervous about some downhill sections I had that necessitated me traversing them at angles. Especially since I was warned by the salesman that they could potentially be a big problem for the mower.

 

[Zivic]

Not everyone gets off on striping. For those of us who don't, a tractor with a good deck suspension system does just fine.

Growing up we had a 1970s-era Simplicity (in the early/mid 1990s) garden tractor. Our neighbor ran a professional lawn care business and did his own yard with professional, single-purpose mowers. There was exactly zero difference between our two yards as far as I was ever able to tell.

I'm sure that someone with a hard-on for lawn care would have found or invented some difference, but to most of us there just isn't.

ZV

I have a giant hard-on for striping.... those that don't care about it, generally don't really have a clue it even exists.... But please don't try to compare some generic decked rider to a nice commercial grade zero turn. the striping is just one aspect of what makes them better, but seems to be what you have focused your response on...

further, your 70's simplicity was probably a much better machine than what is available today (in terms of riders and cutting grass) so not surprising it did a nice job.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I mowed about an acre before I moved, I bought a new John Deere D105, and it worked great. You can get them from box stores, but i'd only do that if you have a nice % off coupon, like a movers. The dealers are really nice, and from what i've heard, do a better job setting them up prior to getting sent out then box stores.

I had it about 3 seasons, and only did oil changes, and greased it, all was good on it.