New Lawn tractor

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Shockwave
I say get one of those commercial sized riders with the 2 lever steering control from Lowes.

Yeah, those things are awesome. They can turn on a dime. If you ONLY need to mow, they are an excellent choice.

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Roger
You have yet to list one good quality tractor.

Deer, cheap paper thin mowing decks, rust out very quickly.

Craftsman, same thing plus cheap sheetmetal frames.

Murry, everything is crap on these.

Yardmachine and Yardman, both have poor decks, poor bearings and lousy quality control.

You want a real machine ?

Go purchase a Gravely, an X-Mark, Scag, Bobcat, Arians or Simplicity.

Toro, MTD and Snapper are crap as well.

Take my advice, I used to work at several rental shops (A TO Z Rentals) and used to run a commercial landscaping machine repair business. (Fairfield outdoor power)

Right on buddy. Ariens and Simplicity are my favourites. Had a friend who worked for years at a shop that sold Wheelhorse and Deere mowers. The Deeres were _always_ back in for service. Deere's big, farm stuff is decent (I'm an AC man, myself) but the small stuff for home use isn't worth half of what they charge.

ZV

I'd run International or New Holland over Deere. Cat if I had the money, although I've heard the Cat combines are uber super heavy. No personal experience though so not sure on that.

 

[Kenazo]

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Roger
You have yet to list one good quality tractor.

Deer, cheap paper thin mowing decks, rust out very quickly.

Craftsman, same thing plus cheap sheetmetal frames.

Murry, everything is crap on these.

Yardmachine and Yardman, both have poor decks, poor bearings and lousy quality control.

You want a real machine ?

Go purchase a Gravely, an X-Mark, Scag, Bobcat, Arians or Simplicity.

Toro, MTD and Snapper are crap as well.

Take my advice, I used to work at several rental shops (A TO Z Rentals) and used to run a commercial landscaping machine repair business. (Fairfield outdoor power)

Right on buddy. Ariens and Simplicity are my favourites. Had a friend who worked for years at a shop that sold Wheelhorse and Deere mowers. The Deeres were _always_ back in for service. Deere's big, farm stuff is decent (I'm an AC man, myself) but the small stuff for home use isn't worth half of what they charge.

ZV

I'd run International or New Holland over Deere. Cat if I had the money, although I've heard the Cat combines are uber super heavy. No personal experience though so not sure on that.

What's this, farm boys on the Tech forums?

That being said: my family has the following:

2 john deere garden tractors (an early 1970's model and a late 90's model)
1 john deere 930 tractor (great big thing with pistons the size of icecream pails)
2 International tractors
1 Cockshutt

We have a turkey farm, so no need for anything too outlandish.

 

2 john deere garden tractors (an early 1970's model and a late 90's model)
1 john deere 930 tractor (great big thing with pistons the size of icecream pails)
2 International tractors
1 Cockslutt

When you are done with your sister, can I have a shot at her ?



j/k 😉🙂😀

Only kidding 🙂

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Real men do it with one of these...

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
1 Cockshutt

Haha. I love those tractors. A buddy of mine restores steam engines and he goes to a couple of big get-togethers for antique tractors and steam engines and there are always a few Cockshutts. And always a few people looking at them and giggling. 🙂

ZV

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: Kenazo

Originally posted by: Roger
You have yet to list one good quality tractor.

Deer, cheap paper thin mowing decks, rust out very quickly.

I think it depends what level of Deere you are looking at. Their lower end stuff is junk, granted, but their higher end riding mowers are quite good. It depends if you are looking at a "lawn mower" or a "garden tractor"

oh yeah... And Craftsman lawn mowers (and quite a few of the other cheap store brand mowers are made by electrolux!)

I agree the low end Deere Lawn mowers are for sh!t but I guarantee you anything above the 300 series has heavy duty decks and the 400 series and above are shaft driven decks.

Sysadmin

 

[JDub02]

If you have the cash, get a Walker. Great mowers. My brother uses them for his lawn care business. You'll have a great looking yard.

Otherwise, I'd suggest a Cub Cadet. My parents still have a 1966 Cub Cadet garden tractor that still cuts just fine. It's been a great tractor.

I would advise against a typical riding lawn mower ("lawn tractor") and suggest a garden tractor. These have larger tires and more horsepower. Just a better machine overall.

 

[JDub02]

BTW, my brother (Lawn Service owner/operator) has 2 Toro walk behind mowers that have been great. 3' deck and they book along pretty good.

Zero-turns cut better than tractors do, but if you want to move stuff around the yard (stone/mulch, etc), you can't beat a tractor with a little cart. 🙂

 

[Perknose]

I have a Simplicity Broadmoor tractor with a floating 52" deck for my two and a half acres. Ask around, they never die, and are built by people who care.

Still, if I had to do it again, I'd go commercial -- Gravely, most likely. Commercial decks (as opposed to consumer grade) are allowed to spin at higher rpm = less time spent mowing. Also, if you have lots of trees (or other stuff you have to mow around) like I do, by all means go zero turn radius. Again, you will save time, more than you realize, which you will appreciate more and more every time you mow. My Simplicity is not zero turn, but does have an amazingly small turn radius, which I lovingly appreciate, tree by fusking tree.

John Deere home stuff is overpriced and way overrated, most often bought by clueless yuppies who think they now have a Mercedes. They don't.

 

[woowoo]

Consider a herd of goats
No work cutting the grass
Free meat and milk

Be the first in your neighborhood.......

 

[Sid59]

on a side note ..

im oddly compelled to watch Lawn Mower Racing on ESPN2. It's more entertaining than NASCAR.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Perknose
I have a Simplicity Broadmoor tractor with a floating 52" deck for my two and a half acres. Ask around, they never die, and are built by people who care.

Still, if I had to do it again, I'd go commercial -- Gravely, most likely. Commercial decks (as opposed to consumer grade) are allowed to spin at higher rpm = less time spent mowing. Also, if you have lots of trees (or other stuff you have to mow around) like I do, by all means go zero turn radius. Again, you will save time, more than you realize, which you will appreciate more and more every time you mow. My Simplicity is not zero turn, but does have an amazingly small turn radius, which I lovingly appreciate, tree by fusking tree.

John Deere home stuff is overpriced and way overrated, most often bought by clueless yuppies who think they now have a Mercedes. They don't.

I love the Broadmoor. Last design left from when Allis Chalmers owned Simplicity. The full-floating decks are amazing. We replaced a '76 Simplicity Baron with a 2002 Broadmoor, the new Vanguard V-Twin is a great engine.

ZV

 

Perknose !!

How the hell are you doing my friend ?

Long time,no see.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

The Deere, had our's for about 4 years now and is doing great without any problems!

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Roger
Perknose !!

How the hell are you doing my friend ?

Long time,no see.

Hanging loose, and full of juice, my great good friend!

I see, as always, that you're still trying to baffle the rest of us with undeniable facts borne of unmatched, hands-on experience. Such a puny ploy will NEVER work here, MUWHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 😀

 

😀😀😀

It is good to hear from you, you are greatly missed.

 

[GeekDrew]

For that tiny amount of space, you don't need a Deere. I strongly recommend everyone avoid the small Deere lawnmowers like the plague.

That said, my family owns and operates several farms, and we also help the farmers around us if they ever need it.

We have, in the way of tractors:

2 - John Deere 1530 w/ front end loader
1 - John Deere 4230
1 - John Deere 'lawn mower'
2 - Olivers... can't remember the model numbers... they are from the 50s and 60s... we pulled them out of normal operation, but they still run if we need them to
1 - Cockshutt (tho I'm not sure that's the right spelling)
1 - Ford (don't know the model no, don't care)
1 - Cub Cadet lawn mower
1 - Rally lawn mower

The Deere tractors are by far the most reliable of all of the ones on our farm and ALL of the farms around us. While they were in daily operation, the Olivers were just as reliable, as was the Cockshutt... they still are, but they rarely see any activity. The Ford has been an absolute nightmare... it's a mid-70s model (as are most tractors in this region of Ohio), and I swear it is broken down at least once a month. The Cub Cadet has been absolutely horrendous, as has been the Rally. Grandma bought them so she would have something to ride around the farms on... and that's just about all they could take. We are frequently asked to do things for a couple of neighbors that have Fords, ACs, etc. Our family is the one that you can turn to for help (emergency or otherwise) with farming and equipment, even if we are extremely dysfunctional and sometimes hate each other.

As for combines... one of my uncles owns two John Deeres... he uses them all year round - he takes the harvesting heads off, and has made utilities for his own use. Those combines are very reliable. That same uncle owns two 4030 John Deere tractors, as well as a couple of very small Ford tractors (think lawn & garden type). Those John Deere tractors have been abused by everyone and their brother, and they still keep going. The Fords, as per all of the others I've seen in our area, have fallen apart at an early age.