So I have about 3/4 acre of open field to mow, plus two more 2500 sq foot 'yard' sections of grass to keep cut.  The field is wide open, however the front and back yard lawns are strangely shaped along the perimeters.  

I currently have an old Sears Suburban SS16 twin with an Onan engine, and its nice that its a true garden tractor, it even has a Cat 0 3 point hitch (with a few implements), but the reality is I never use it for such tasks now that I have a real tractor (Kubota L3200).  The cutting deck is a nice wide 3 blade one, but honestly I'm tired of having to work on the thing.  In the past year I've had to remove rust from the tank via reverse electrolysis, replace the carb float, run new fuel lines, clean the carb monthly, and now it looks like the built in flywheel alternator is bad meaning it won't run longer than a battery can provide spark, at this rate I'm going to eventually have to just bore it and rebuild the thing which is a timely and costly procedure.  



I'm ready to sell the little Suburban and just get a functional lawn tractor.  The most I'd have to do with it is maybe haul a cart around behind it, or perhaps a seed spreader/aerator, but nothing at actual 'garden tractor' levels. Any recommendations on what I should be looking for?  I tried the neighbors Husqy hydrostatic and it sure seemed to mow nice, but it definitely isn't built like the old stuff.  The JD's look nice but they have about the same amount of 'plasticy' feel to them, at an increased cost. I'm really hoping to spend under $2k if possible but have something that will be trouble free for many years.  A reasonable length warranty would be nice for this.

Any recommendations?  Is it true the mowers they sell at HD and Lowes are actually lower quality than the real ones?

The JD you see at Lows come out of the same Factory as the MTDs, now the ones sold at John Deere are not the same, that's why they are 2x3x the price. I will just say this if you are going to spend 3-5k  look at zero turns, they decrease mowing time by 30-50%.
If This is not an option and you want to stay in the 2K range I would almost look at used mowers over new.
The mower decks are a dead give away on how durable the mowers will be with the exception of John Deere 7 Iron, all other high quality decks are welded not stamped.
Its hard to find but some old JD 318 and up have power steering and are build like little tanks, have to really look at the decks on these though.
Engine wise I am seeing a decline of Kolhler over Briggs, they are on the same level now, they have started pressing on cam lobes.
Kawasaki seem a cheaper alternative to Honda, I have been running an old JD 185 at my Grandmothers for years and gets great fuel economy.
Older JD Jd Store mowers start with LT/LX in the model, now are X and 190s-1980s were just 3 digit.
The ones at Lowes are D designation, can't remember but I think it wass something else when they first came out.
I am not saying that the MTD/JD other brands will not get the job done, just don't expect to get the service life out of them you have gotten out of the old Sears.
 

In my experience, the JD LA175 I bought at Lowes several years ago, is the exact same mower I could have bought at the local JD dealer.  As a matter of fact, it IS the exact same mower, because, that's where it came from.  It even had the local dealer's decal on it.

I inquired about it at the dealer when buying a new chainsaw a few months after, and was assured they were the same.

Now, that's not intended to insinuate my $1900 LA175 compares in any shape or form to one of JD's "garden tractors", but the mowers are the same.   And yes, built by MTD, not JD.

Just did some checking, John Deere has not let MTD make a mower for them since the Sabre Line. they do have their own plant making LA series, and the D series. These would be a good choice since parts should be readily available.
If your ground is flat should not be a major concern, if you get the bigger models word is the LA175 has the same trans-axle as the x series so it would take a little more abuse. People who bought smaller models and tried to use them where they should have got a X series or commercial reported having bearing/hydrostatic problems.
They have quit making push mowers and contracted Briggs to make those.
MTD does make the majority of the box store mower brands so if you are debating on those it would just come down to cost.




List here.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTD_Products
I do like having foot control of my hydrostatic drive, leaves a hand free for picking stuff up or drinking a cold one.
 

I assumed the MTD part.  I never bothered to check, actually.  It mows my three acres cheaply.

I mow about 3-4 acres, sometimes I use the old 318 for giggles, or a Kubota  G2000, if time is crucial I bust out the Gravely and back in the house in 45-55 min. Just like mine 72" deck. Going strong for 20 years figure I put 20 hours on it a year. Bought it for 8K and it now has 450hours on it. It might wear out before I die but I doubt it.




 

I re-built one of those Onan engines quite a few years ago in the same mower/garden tractor.  They are VERY well made engines....just like a car engine with main and rod bearings....but they are VERY expensive to buy parts for.  If you can rebuild it yourself, I'm guessing you'd be looking at $500 in parts....and possibly more.  Does the engine actually need rebuilding?  Using oil?  Or, do you just need to put a new alternator ring on it (I can't remember for certain but there might be a diode that goes bad on those alternators causing it to not charge), put a new carb on it and run it for another 100k?  

However, when you are done, you would have a basically new engine.  

Personally I would re-build that one.  New seat, new paint, completely rebuild the deck....it would be like new.  All your repairs so far are normal repairs for an older tractor.  That's a better mower by a wide margin than most on the market and you'd still be into it for less than you would have in a new mower.  You won't get anything nearly that quality for $2k.  

New stuff won't go that long before needing little stuff.  Plastic fuel tanks won't rust, they just deform and crack.



Seems like new stuff goes for a few years, I give em 3, with no real care needed other than basic oil change and air filter and what not.  After that seems like it is always something.



I would take an alternator ring on your commercial quality garden tractor over some of the junk decks that need bearings about the time they need a belt.  



The above statements are for the cheaper stuff.



As mentioned, look at the decks and buy something with a nice welded deck and yeah it should run for a while but it blew out your budget.

I think you guys are spot on with the quality point of view.  The new stuff just isn't built the same way as the old stuff.  You literally don't see working condition stuff on the used market past 5-10 years old -- its all dead by then.  On the other hand stuff built 30-40 years ago is still running.  

Unfortunately a full rebuild on that Onan is probably going to be extremely expensive.  I've done a little research online and just a single piston kit is easily $150 (its a twin so x2), new stator is about the same, rectifier is even more, when you add valves, spindles, boring, carberator parts, and everything else into a full restoration the price could get extremely high. .  Everything about that engine is pricey. I just got back from speaking to the local small engine guy and he seemed to be of the same opinion.  It could be done, but parts would be a problem, and after doing all that work it'd probably be smart to restore the whole tractor, and a lot of those gears, pulleys, and parts are no longer available for the chassis either.  But without restoring the whole thing theres a real chance something else would break that could be just as difficult to replace.

I'm sort of at a loss.  I'd like nothing better than to keep my old SS Twin running, but I'm not sure the costs can justify it.  If a throw a spindle in the deck alone its' likely I'd have to get a replacement custom made. I'm going to try and dig into the electrical this weekend, and perhaps I'll find an easy fix to get her running for another 5-10 years without having to do a full rebuild.  But I can't help but feel like I'll still be sitting on a ticking time bomb.

If I'm going to get something new, I'm realizing I'm probably going to have to increase my budget substantially. Is it worth it to jump into zero turn territory?

I've beat the hell out of a "consumer" level JD L118.  For around five years I've used it to clear pastures, mow across ditches, hit hidden stumps, uncover enough rocks to build a National Park, and cut grass/brambles that were too tall to see over while seated on the mower.  I won't say it took it all without complaint... I've had to replace both steering tie rods, and the gear that transfers the rotary motion of the steering wheel to linear for the tie rods.  The bearings in the mower deck are shot, so it looks like I'm getting a new mower this year... not really cost-effective to replace/rebuild the deck, since I think I only had about $1300 in the mower.

I'm pretty happy with how long it lasted given the amount of abuse.  On reasonably nice turf, with regular maintenance I'd have probably got another five years out of it easy.  I see no reason not to shop for a similar model this time around.

After I bought my Kubota tractor 10+ years ago, I ended up buying a Kubota Zero Turn diesel 60" mower too.  Expensive?  Hell yeah, but man that little diesel is a joy to operate.  I got it on one of their 4 year pay plans at 0 percent interest.  They run that plan often.






 

Update on the old tractor.  After taking off way too many hard to reach bolts to access the electronics, I found a terribly burned out rectifier/regulator.  

The stator/rotor assembly is actually also testing OK. This could turn out to be a fairly easy fix and maybe last me another year or two.  I don't want to sink too much time or money into it though as thats been the problem from the get go with this thing.

YEAH!!

Fix that old beast up!!!

I hate seeing those great old garden tractors go to the scrap heap.

I'm looking at getting a old Case/Ingersol tractor for future restoration/use.

I've got a JD LA110 and a LA135 to mow three acres. I like the Vtwin a lot. Both have been great mowers.

It is winter.  Get that thing running well and put it up for sale.



Best price comes when it is up and running.



Act like you get it running for them to have it for spring.



Start looking at dealers for last year's zero turns.



Financing is what it is.  I like zero interest but a lot of times a cash price paid in full is less than what they finance at zero percent.  Run the numbers for your budget and go from there.



Lots of folks want that tractor you have.  You should be able to sell it for a decent bit if it is all running and working.  Have a list of what it will need soon if you have such knowledge.



I understand the whole rebuild thing and actually thought a lot about my first post while playing in the parking lot at work today.



Lots of carbed stuff at work, this is the employees parking lot, did not want to start at 9 degrees or whatever it was this morning.  All the new diesels started up without being plugged in, did not see or hear of any old diesels at work today.  All the fuel infected stuff fired right off.



Fella had trouble this afternoon when shift was over, carbed truck needs lots of work and engine is still going to be tired.  He put a lot of wear on his starter and battery getting that thing warmed up and running decently.  Truck and carb need some work.



Anyway, now that we have emissions on lawn mowers and stuff I figure if you are going to go you best get gone.



That little tractor should sell well running, it will sell for parts when broke but right now you won't have much money in it and you have pics of what you just fixed this winter.



It is easy to sell it with the story that the zero turn or whatever will mow faster, they do.



A zero turn does not pull a trailer and they don't do steep inclines and some don't do well on minor inclines.  Read about the specific one you look at.



I bought a commercial walk behind a decade ago.  It finally dry rotted the rear tires, lots of time outside.  Needed a tune up and fuel filter and blades sharpened and normal stuff.



I did not like the riding mowers a decade ago, probably like em more than what is out there right now.



I could not justify or afford a zero turn plus I had some hills and stuff I wanted to mow and the walk behind was perfect.  Still is.  Mine can handle that little wheel you ride on but I never bought one, I need the walking exercise.  But the wheel would let me mow faster.

Nice.  

I am going through my Simplicity this winter; pulled the rear end (similar to JD 318) and had to change a few oil seals.  Good for another 750 hours.  Either keep an old one running and work on it, or make payments on a new one and dump it when it is worn out since there is nothing left.  The old stuff was built simple and to last forever (at least with maintenance and attention).  The new stuff is built complex to satisfy an option driven sales environment, lawyers, and warranties; and all at a price point (and is maintenance free compared to the old stuff- try and find a zerk).  The joy of machinery.  

If I were you, I would start looking into a re-power with a small surplus diesel, but I am a little strange

There are good quality mowers available both Zero Turn and conventional. The issue is  people balk at the idea of paying $6000-$14000 for a "lawn mower" when they can buy a riding lawn mower at a box store for under 2K.

Then when it doesn't last they complain that they don't make things like they used to.

John Deere and done.

Belly mower not an option for the OP. The Kubota model he has does not have a Mid PTO option. He'd need to go with a 3 pt mower.

I think he'd do best with a zero turn.

Yeah it's true, stay away from Big Box store mower purchase.  If you're on a budget, pick up a good, used, better grade machine.  JD makes the best lawn tractors.

Honestly, and I don't mean this to sound ugly...but..

you dont' have enough lawn to justify a zero turn mower.

They are the fancy trendy keep-up-with-the-Joneses thing. But they are useless for anything but cutting grass.

A good lawn tractor would be great for you.  

DO NOT buy a Husqvarna.  I have one, and I spent nearly 2K on it.  It's a bitchin mower if your lawn is a golf course. But if you have any bumps or rough spots, this mower cannot cut it.

A John Deer from a JD dealer is a good bet.  That's what I would buy if I could afford it.  If you get the right one, it can take a blade to move snow, and it can take a bagger for grass or leaves.  If you spend $2500 you can get a tractor that will do damn near anything you need for a normal homeowner lawn.

There are other brands that are excellent.  I just don't know about them. You should investigate those, or maybe somebody here will know about them.

I've used zero turns a lot.  I don't recommend them unless you're mowing more than two acres of actual grass.

Well an update on the Sears Suburban garden tractor.  It turns out it was merely a bad rectifier/voltage regulator that was causing issues.  I wasn't going to pay $150 for an Onan OEM replacement but I found one for $20 on amazon prime that seems to be working great now.



New Rectifier:


Now I'm getting a nice solid charge when the motor is running!


Decided I made it this far so I might as well hook up the headlights.  Sure enough we have lights now!


Tractor is running really nicely now, engine sounds really good.  So I decided to powerwash the tractor and deck and found a new problem, the deck is a clamshell design and theres a big hole on the underside thats allowed the clamshell to fill with dirt/lawn clippings and debris.


So I have to take this damn thing apart now, clean it up, and fix the hole to keep this from happening.
Powerwashing it here:


Now I Just need to JB weld the hole and put it back together and I should be able to get another year out of this beast.  Unless I find another problem.

This sort of went the opposite of what I was intending, but after all the feedback I've gotten buying a new machine that was worthwhile just wasn't in the budget at the moment.  I'll check back in if/when I get the deck working.

Nice nail polish.

Neat old garden tractor. Is that the one you could get a front end loader for?

Haha, yea I just noticed that, had to get the SO to hold the leads while I took the pic.

Apparently they did have some of these with little front end loaders, I'm not sure how much they could've lifted but they did look neat.

Awww, shoot. I was all over the idea that you were a girl. Great nail polish.  

(I'm a girl.  )

see
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=124427


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