Commercial lawn mower for residential use anyone?

[dean (archive)]

Hi there I have a about 1/3 acre of grass to cut. There are many obstacles like trees, garden beds, kiddy slide, dog run, etc that I need to negotiate, and it takes me a good 40 minutes on my normal craftsman rider. But I look out of my window every day and see the guys wizzing past in their toros and husqy z-turns and dream about them! I plan to live in this place for at least 10 years maybe my whole life, so I was wondering if it would be just plain silly to buy a commercial rider?

Assuming I make it through the night after I tell the wife, can I justify $6K?

2nd question - what makes is the prefered? I want a real commercial one, not the cheaper pretend z-turns from husqy.

Thanks

Dean

 

[Pasar]

Hi there I have a about 1/3 acre of grass to cut. There are many obstacles like trees, garden beds, kiddy slide, dog run, etc that I need to negotiate, and it takes me a good 40 minutes on my normal craftsman rider. But I look out of my window every day and see the guys wizzing past in their toros and husqy z-turns and dream about them! I plan to live in this place for at least 10 years maybe my whole life, so I was wondering if it would be just plain silly to buy a commercial rider?

Assuming I make it through the night after I tell the wife, can I justify $6K?

2nd question - what makes is the prefered? I want a real commercial one, not the cheaper pretend z-turns from husqy.

Thanks

Dean

http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/usa_canada.html

I'm still using my small JD rider bought around 1990. I have 1/2 acre in the back with a lot of obstacles like you have. It takes me about 1.5 hours. I only use the first or slowest forward speed. When I get down to a big pile in the center I keep running over it with the mower to get it into small pieces.

I mow the front every week to 10 days. The back I let grow a bit longer. Sometimes I split the back mowing into 2 days to let the mower rest in between.

It's been a while since I bought a mower and those prices sure are sticker shock.

I also have a brush mower from this site -
http://www.countryhomeproducts.com/
They are a decent company as well as J Deere.

http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=ZeroTurnMower36&src=AW51568XE25538 29

http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=ConvertaMower1&src=AW51568XE255382 9

 

[PoP]

I'll vouch highly for John Deere if you can afford
them. It's defiitely a case of getting what you paid
for.

 

[RBM]

I have a theory on this subject. Which is actually more expensive in the

long run? A wealthy person buys a sofa for ten thousand dollars, uses it for ten years and sells it for twelve thousand. A poor person buys a sofa for one thousand, uses it for ten years at which point it's trashed and pays someone to cart it away!!

I have an original Cub Cadet lawn tractor (1962) it was probably the most expensive thing you could buy back then, but has worked flawlessly until I took it out of service recently in favor of something my kids can use (safely). If you buy the run of the mill machine, it runs like garbage right out of the box, has a short life expectancy, and after the first few years, needs constant maintenance. There was a time that John Deere was the top name, as was Cub Cadet many years ago, but personally I don't think this is true anymore. My present machine is a three cylinder diesel, water cooled, power steering, Kubota, which I like a lot. All the top of the line machines are going to run you over 6k, but amortize them over the next twenty years and you're ahead of the game.

 

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Hi there I have a about 1/3 acre of grass to cut. There are many obstacles like trees, garden beds, kiddy slide, dog run, etc that I need to negotiate, and it takes me a good 40 minutes on my normal craftsman rider.

Assuming I make it through the night after I tell the wife, can I justify $6K?

I have about that much also. Takes me that long with a hand pushed mower. I can use the exercise so I can't even justify a cheap used rider. It would pbroably take me even longer to cut since I too, have obsticals. Years ago I had a self propelled mower and it took me longer as it was more awkward to use around obsticals than a push mower. They are nice for long straight runs but a PITA for tight maneuvering.

 

[Bob G.]

I have an original Cub Cadet lawn tractor (1962) it was probably the most expensive thing you could buy back then, but has worked flawlessly until I took it out of service recently in favor of something my kids can use (safely). If you buy the run of the mill machine, it runs like garbage right out of the box, has a short life expectancy, and after the first few years, needs constant maintenance. There was a time that John Deere was the top name, as was Cub Cadet many years ago, but personally I don't think this is true anymore. My present machine is a three cylinder diesel, water cooled, power steering, Kubota, which I like a lot. All the top of the line machines are going to run you over 6k, but amortize them over the next twenty years and you're ahead of the game.

I also purchased a Cub Cadet in the early 60's...ran it until about 5 years ago....still ran fine but all the tires (originals) were dry rotten and the mower deck had rusted thru and to replace thoise items made buying a new Cadet the better buy.... BUT I have to admit my New Cadet is not as good...most likely will only last 20-25 years...

However the original poster wanted a commercial mower... Have no clue as to why he feels a commercial mower is the "ticket" . I can understand his "desire" for a zero turning radius mower however...

Bob Griffiths..

 

[ds549]

if you hafta worry about the wife approvin then you really dont need one... a good zero turn will last most of us a lifetime, and mow twice as fast.....a freind just went from 1/2 acre with push mower to 5 acres and bought a 38" cut sears rider ,takes him all day and then some to mow the 5 acres.he said his wife couldnt justify spending 8 grand for a dixie chopper 5 foot cut when a 1000.00 sears rider would do it. but she aint the one who has to spend 10 hours cutting the yard every week. shes inside putttin laundry in the washer for her daily weekly chore....
lucas

 

[RBM]

I also purchased a Cub Cadet in the early 60's...ran it until about 5 years ago....still ran fine but all the tires (originals) were dry rotten and the mower deck had rusted thru and to replace thoise items made buying a new Cadet the better buy.... BUT I have to admit my New Cadet is not as good...most likely will only last 20-25 years...

However the original poster wanted a commercial mower... Have no clue as to why he feels a commercial mower is the "ticket" . I can understand his "desire" for a zero turning radius mower however...

Bob Griffiths..

I agree, especially for a small amount of grass. As good as those old CC's were,safety was your responsibility. You'd better be aware of what you're doing or you'll be missing some body parts Roy

 

[Duane Bozarth]

Hi there I have a about 1/3 acre of grass to cut. There are many obstacles like trees, garden beds, kiddy slide, dog run, etc that I need to negotiate, and it takes me a good 40 minutes on my normal craftsman rider. But I look out of my window every day and see the guys wizzing past in their toros and husqy z-turns and dream about them! I plan to live in this place for at least 10 years maybe my whole life, so I was wondering if it would be just plain silly to buy a commercial rider?

Assuming I make it through the night after I tell the wife, can I justify $6K?

2nd question - what makes is the prefered? I want a real commercial one, not the cheaper pretend z-turns from husqy.

Frankly, for the size you're talking about, I think it's a case of neighbor envy not need. First thing I'd do is rearrange the obstacles to be such that the turning radius required is such you don't need to back up to make the corners. That's the "first rule of planting" w/ SW(S)MBO.

If, otoh, you've got ready cash laying about and nothing better to do w/ it, there are several alternatives besides JD although there's certainly nothing wrong w/ green as long as you stay away from the "Sabre" line. Grasshopper is one that is quite solid, not quite as pricey, but doesn't have the "cachet" if you're after the Wow! factor...

 

[David Efflandt]

if you hafta worry about the wife approvin then you really dont need one... a good zero turn will last most of us a lifetime, and mow twice as fast.....a freind just went from 1/2 acre with push mower to 5 acres and bought a 38" cut sears rider ,takes him all day and then some to mow the 5 acres.he said his wife couldnt justify spending 8 grand for a dixie chopper 5 foot cut when a 1000.00 sears rider would do it. but she aint the one who has to spend 10 hours cutting the yard every week. shes inside putttin laundry in the washer for her daily weekly chore....
lucas

At a lawnmower race I saw a Dixie Chopper that had a real chopper motor (150 hp helicopter motor). Sounded cool, but in a drag race it was a handfull and could not quite beat the standard one. Those zero turn models that can revolve in their own length (2 levers with hydraulic motors) look like fun.

 

[Duane Bozarth]

Pasar wrote:
....

I think the original poster wants a commercial mower since they are tougher than some of the wimpy stuff that's sold to homeowners.

There are also much better "non-commercial" at lesser prices if one goes elsewhere than Borg's...

 

[Bob G.]

I think the original poster wants a commercial mower since they are tougher than some of the wimpy stuff that's sold to homeowners.

John Deer, Gravley, Simplicity, International, and More ... the list goes on...all "good" ...and all marketed to homeowners...

My limited experience ( 2 purchases in 40 years)...buy from a Farm machinery dealer...ones which have service departments..

Bob Griffiths

 

[dean (archive)]

HeyBub,

Flawless logic!

But I still want a mower!

 

[Edwin Pawlowski]

. Noise in our neighborhood is 24/7 - different garbage collectors, edgers and blowers running all the time....have to hide indoors to get away from it )

Pet peeve of mine in the summer. Nothing like sitting down to a nice dinner out of the deck at 6 or 7 PM on a Sunday evening and some moron fires up his mower, trimmer, chainsaw, or whatever. He's been sitting on his ass all week and decides now is the time to do something. I don't complain about weekday evenings after work, Saturday be fore say, 5 o'clock, or even Sunday afternoon. Nice to have some quiet time though.

I made a point with one neighbor that did that most every week. He fire up the mower every time we sat down to eat. He had a family gathering one day so I fired up my mower, took it to the property line and let it sit there. I just walked away for 15 minutes. He was always more considerate after that.

 

[Doug Miller]

2nd question - what makes is the prefered? I want a real commercial one, not the cheaper pretend z-turns from husqy.

http://www.lastec.com

 

[Duane Bozarth]

John Deer, Gravley, Simplicity, International, and More ... the list goes on...all "good" ...and all marketed to homeowners...

....International Harvester (the old Cub) is now Case/IH although they did reintroduce the "Farmall" logo/brand name a couple of years ago.

 

[berkshire bill]

Hi there I have a about 1/3 acre of grass to cut. There are many obstacles like trees, garden beds, kiddy slide, dog run, etc that I need to negotiate, and it takes me a good 40 minutes on my normal craftsman rider. But I look out of my window every day and see the guys wizzing past in their toros and husqy z-turns and dream about them! I plan to live in this place for at least 10 years maybe my whole life, so I was wondering if it would be just plain silly to buy a commercial rider?

Assuming I make it through the night after I tell the wife, can I justify $6K?

2nd question - what makes is the prefered? I want a real commercial one, not the cheaper pretend z-turns from husqy.

Thanks

Dean

I've owned Scag SWZ 48" and a Gravely Hydrostatic of similar size and used a sulky behind them, bought each used and sold them for what I purchased them at! My favorite now is a Toro Landscaper Z580, love to ride in comfort now.

Bill