I wanna get a decent riding lawn mower.
Don't need a zero turn radius. Just a basic riding mower.
Is there a brand that's better to get quality wise or is there just unnecessary markup?
Was debating getting either a cub cadet or a craftsman with a 42" deck
Honestly all of the homeowner quality ones are pretty much the same stamped sheetmetal bullshit... If you want something good you will need to step up to commercial quality or get an old one that was actually built solid to last.
Mostly this. Buy from a dealer who sells both at the very least. They'll have a better selection of the good homeowner level equipment. Most of the horseshit doesn't get kept around unless it's brand new and doesn't have a bad rep.
stihl and alko are proper welded frames but i honestly dont know what one gets from that beside another 100 pounds
the quality difference to american mowers is shocking, and ive had an mtd for a decade
I have an Exmark zero turn with 60" deck, an old Dixon Commercial zero turn with 60" deck, a Grasshopper 721D and a 54 or 60" Cub Cadet. And a smaller Cub with a 42" deck.
The small Cub was my first mower after I moved into a new place and needed a riding mower. It had a 17.5hp Kohler on it. Did the job for many years. I didn't have a place to keep it out of the weather during the winter so it sat behind the house. One spring my wife went out to fire it up and it had gotten a bit of water in the engine oil from winter. Ran for a while and threw the piston. I re-powered it with a twin cylinder predator engine.
While it was down for repairs I found the Exmark for sale locally. It has a 25hp Kohler horizontal shaft engine. The build quality of the Exmark is night and day different from the homeowner grade Cub. Even the hydraulics are commercial quality. Instead of a unitized pump/hydraulic motor combo driving the wheels it has separate pumps and actual wheel drive motors connected by lines/hoses. A grade stuff.
The older Dixon commercial zero turn front deck had a 25hp Kohler horizontal shaft. It was worn badly and using oil so I replaced it with a 22.5HP Kohler horizontal shaft as that was the closest I could find for the best price. The pump/drives on it are a combined unit.
The Grasshopper 721D has a 3 cylinder kubota diesel engine. Not sure on the deck size of it. I believe it might be 60" I bought it as a mechanic special and haven't had much time to mess with it yet. The diesel engine does run though.
The bigger Cub Cadet with 54" or 60" deck (can't remember off the top of my head) my dad bought brand new. It seems like a nicely built machine, but still nothing compared to the beefiness of the Exmark.
SCAG, Deere ZTs, Wright, and Ferris also have fabricated decks, no stamped bullshit. Independent wheel pumps and motors are nice, but rebuilding or repairing a transaxle isn’t that difficult. Tufftorq have readily available parts and info. Perhaps as a mechanic I’m overestimating the average DIY skill level, but it feels like something one should be able to do in the garage. A step above belt and oil changes, step below rebuilding an engine. YMMV.
The Craftsman lawn tractors are made by MTD and are pretty decent; pretty sure the 42" models have all gone to single cylinder motors that will be short lived if you exceed the yard size recommendations, so if you have more than .75-1 acre go for something with the Kohler twin.
Avoid Husqvarna like the plague.
I've used one lunger Craftsman riders for many years and collect used ones as the AYP (who make most low-end mowers) designs are easy to care for with a large aftermarket and the Briggs Inteks etc quite reliable. I am not kind to equipment and cheap stuff I can fix cheap is preferable to expensive gear with expensive parts.
Are you able to perform your own maintenance? Small engine repair? Or will you be putting this on a trailer for every oil change?
Don’t get a cub cadet, specifically with a single cylinder Koehler. The counter weights on the crankshaft are pressed on. They like to leave the engine block at high speeds after a couple years.
Get an older commercial grade mower, like a John Deere LX series
Ive got a LX178 and its pretty good for being an old piece of shit thats stored outside year round, never cleaned, and barely maintained. Over 30 years in use
Used to have an LX178 as well. Previous owner caught the engine on fire, why i got it so cheap. Had to replace the engine plastics, coil, and carburetor. Was an excellent mower for a long time even after catching on fire. Eventually sold it cause I wanted a 48” deck on the LX255
I fricking hate carbs so much. Ive spent more time working on the lx178 carb than the rest of the mower combined.
Yeah I went through that carb 3 times before getting it dialed in. The current Briggs and Stratton intek plastic carbs are a nightmare. Shitty quality and hard to dial in the air fuel mixture. Unironically worth it to get a chinesium replacement rather than frick with it.
Ive never seen a plastic carb, its insane to think that even exists, especially since the chinks have taught us that a normal metal carb only costs about $8 to bring to market
I also have a family heirloom LX178, its older than me, runs better than my grandpas brand new mower.
Just replaced the crankcase because I broke the oil fill tube flange when I was 14
can't beat a liquid cooled Kawi
Basic riding mowers are all similar enough that it won’t matter. Just pick a color. I went with just a deere 140 and it works just fine.
Older Ariens if you can find one
My grandpa bought a cubcadet similar to your picture a couple years before he passed away from 'rona, and now I use it to mow the lawn for my grandma. So far I don't have any complaints about it. It was left outside all winter the year he passed away, got buried in the snow. After changing the battery and air filter, it ran with no issues. One of the rear axel seals started to leak over last winter, but I was able to find a replacement seal pretty easy and it took me maybe about an hour total to replace it. Managed to do it without removing the axel from the unit, so that was a win.
i wish Grandpas never died
nah, imagine the smell
Riding mowers are for boomers and woman. Get a zero turn. I used to cut my 3 acres and it would take 4+ hours. ZT turned that to about 50 minutes. Also used to bushhog a 10 acre field, a ZT cut that down to about a 1/4 time too.
ZTs are nice but once they get out of alignment its game over. Not something the average joe can fix. Versus a lawn tractor where the steering is just a metal rod on ball joints
>ZTs are nice but once they get out of alignment its game over.
Every single one I've ever been around has adjustments on the steering lever linkages...
Thats a bandaid fix that wont work past a certain point. Every old ZT on craigslist is completely out of whack and worthless
ZTs also have 2x the transmissions and related parts and pieces to take a dump.
Nothing wrong with them if you *need* one and/or can justify the extra expense to buy one and keep it running and have room to store it, but they're overkill for most homeowner situations where you're mowing a couple of acres or less.
Also Craftsman makes traditional lawn tractors now with a five inch turning radius that are infinitely easier to work on and get into tight spaces with.
Cub Cadet prior to 1985 with a horizontal shaft Kohler
Wheel Horse with a horizontal shaft Kohler
John Deere with a Horizontal shaft Kohler
Gravely anything
MTD IF the gear shift is in the center in front of the seat and powered by a cast Iron Briggs.
Avoid anything with a Briggs Intek engine, plastic transmission or a timed deck.
i ride pic related
very satisfied
why not just get a 0 turn?
couldnt justify the price i guess
i have a local husqvarna and stiga dealer in my closest town and both brands have zero turn for about double the price of the rider
I have a MTD built Cub Cadet 2135 14hp horizontal shaft Kohler 38" deck. It's a really well built mower i been mowing with it for many years. It has a Hydro-Gear trans-axle which lawn tractors no longer have. They are easy to service and have spin on filters. They also have hubs so you can unbolt the rear wheels.
Lawn tractors now use Tuff Torque trans-axles now which are harder to service and some of them are even plastic. Stay far away from anything with a plastic trans-axle. The filters are internal and you have to take them apart to service. Also most of them use key way wheels which can rust on and you will never get off.
I had the Cub Cadet 1106 with a 44in deck. MTD made, International design. It was the best mower I've ever used.
I'd trade my very nice JD 212 for one in similar condition.
Stop being poor and get a Walker. A used one if need be. The only reason is that they're really really fun to ride.
(seriously though, they're way overpriced for most uses but offer pinpoint precision so you can circle your flowerbeds with sub-inch precision if you so wish and driving them feels like using a direct neural interface).
>Don't need a zero turn radius. Just a basic riding mower.
Zt's are fun as hell though, you're missing out.
Good shit, but has nothing on a 3-lever arrangement.