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Posted: 3/9/2012 6:32:41 PM EDT
I'm in the market for a riding lawn mower for home use. I have a good sized lawn less that 1 acre, but want a good riding lawn mower. I'm looking at John Deere, Cub Cadet, Ariens, Troy Built or Husqvarna. The only attachments I really want is bagger attachment for the grass clippings. Who makes the best riding lawn mower?
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I've had a John Deere that for about five years that I've been happy with. I can't speak to the other brand though. I know that they're less expensive, but I don't know anything about their reliability. |
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John Deere from a JD dealer. Cub Cadet, Ariens, and Troy Built are all MTD. I don't know about Husqvarna.
I have an old Cub Cadet from before MTD bought them out. That thing is a grass cuttin' machine. |
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John Deere from a JD dealer. Cub Cadet, Ariens, and Troy Built are all MTD. I don't know about Husqvarna. What does MTD mean? |
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I keep upgrading my Deeres. I'm up to a 2520 now.
John Deere makes some good stuff, but the models sold at Home Depot, Lowes and similar (ie. not at a true Deere dealer) have gotten some truly shitty reviews. If you think a JD might be something you are interested in, take a look at the models at a dealer. They are kinda pricey, but are really nice. Also, MTD is a brand of mower..... |
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Quoted: Quoted: John Deere from a JD dealer. Cub Cadet, Ariens, and Troy Built are all MTD. I don't know about Husqvarna. What does MTD mean? (Modern Tool and Die Company |
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John Deere from a JD dealer. Cub Cadet, Ariens, and Troy Built are all MTD. I don't know about Husqvarna. What does MTD mean? MTD is to mowers what GM is to Pontiac, Chevy, Olds, GMC, etc. |
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Commercial series Deere, or older 318 or similar. Built to last and everything is serviceable..
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Cub Cadet with v-twin Kohler and you`ll be fine. One finger steering is really nice. PLENTY of power and oil filters and air filters are readily available. I mow my yard , my ditches, my other yard, my neighbors yard, his ditches, my shop area, down by the lake, rocks,dirt and lots of small fallen branches. Seriously,,,this thing works. The hydrostatic "mow in reverse option" is really really nice.
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John Deere from a JD dealer. Cub Cadet, Ariens, and Troy Built are all MTD. I don't know about Husqvarna. What does MTD mean? MTD is the main company that builds most "consumer grade" yard equipment. Some's pretty good, some's junk, YMMV. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTD_Products |
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If all you are doing is mowing the lawn, get the cheapest one with the size deck you want. They are shitty but you aren't really using it as a tractor. I have a cheap troy bilt that I bought in 2006 for $800. I only replaced 1 cable and the battery. It was worth the money.
I also have an old Cub Cadet 100 that i use as a real garden tractor. |
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Husqvarna mowers are owned by Electrolux and used to be American Yard Products. I had a Wizard lawn tractor from Western Auto that was made by AYP, it was a damn good mower. I sold it when I got my brother's Cub Cadet after he passed.
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We have a JD from Lowes, it's allright, the 10% .mil discount helps and we got a "free" dump trailer to pull around with it.
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What is the main difference between the John Deeres from Lowes and the John Deere dealer? Is there much price difference?
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Cub Cadet with v-twin Kohler and you`ll be fine. One finger steering is really nice. PLENTY of power and oil filters and air filters are readily available. I mow my yard , my ditches, my other yard, my neighbors yard, his ditches, my shop area, down by the lake, rocks,dirt and lots of small fallen branches. Seriously,,,this thing works. The hydrostatic "mow in reverse option" is really really nice. +1, I finish mow 4.5 acres between two properties with a Cub and I wouldn't be without a hydrostat or the reverse mow option. This was my first hydrostat tranny mower and I wouldn't ever buy another mower with out those features. 300 hours on the Kohler and going strong after three years. |
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Hustler, very well built! My last jd mower was very lightly built, might be OK if you never hit anything or leave the lawn.
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Hustler, very well built! My last jd mower was very lightly built, might be OK if you never hit anything or leave the lawn. hustlers are ZTRS, not tractors. And honestly, they are kinda half ass engineered too. They almost seem like they got halfway through the mower and ran out of money so the finished it with shit. |
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My John Deere sucks giant balls . at over $4,000 new and many trips back to the dealer. I have had to fix a steady history of failed parts. The running gear is solid but it is made by Kawasaki . The deck was replaced once under warranty as well as assorted other issues. linkages and control cables fail and the dealer can not seem to get the right ones . They are also an honest pain to install . Never again will I buy another Deere.
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I've had a John Deere garden tractor for the last 16 years, in that time the only thing I have ever had to replace was batteries and ONE belt, no other parts have been required to keep it running properly. My prior tractor was a Wheel Horse, it was pretty good, I had it at least 20 years, I had to replace a few belts, and probably 10-12 pulley bearings on the mower deck, good service overall but the quality of the bearings they used on their mower decks was poor.
The John Deere garden tractor is my third garden tractor and it has been the best by far. |
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I own a business selling tractors, lawnmowers, and Stihl handheld power equipment. I do not carry any of the brands you mentioned, but unless you get a higher end Deere or Cub, they're all pretty close in quality and performance.
My best advice is pick a dealer that will service your equipment after the sale. I don't care what brand/model you buy, it is man made and mechanical. It will give you problems and it will give those problems when you need it the most. Something about a guy named Murphy. Pick a dealer that you can take it to for repairs and have confidence that they will fix it correctly and in a timely manner without raping your wallet in the process. Just my .02 |
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Everything at home depot and lowes, etc. is shit.
That said, you can probably get by with shit if all you do is mow your half acre lot. |
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What is the main difference between the John Deeres from Lowes and the John Deere dealer? Is there much price difference? They are made for different customers/markets . The Lowes ones have a life goal of 1000 hours and the Dealer ones (more expensive) are designed to last 5000. |
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John Deere, My dad owned a '79 317 it was still running great when he traded about 3 years ago for new John Deere 379LX, I miss the old 317 though, wish he would have kept it, while it didn't the nicest since it had a brush deck, it could cut through anything even grass 3ft tall with out issue. Then new more would bog down and die in longer grass, but this is mainly due to the mower deck being designed for grass, and not brush. The new mower floats better, so we can mow the regular lawn with it, and not just the field. I am sure the 317 is still running strong as long as the new owner doesn't mow any long ditches with it, that was the down fall of the 317 no forced oil into the cylinders so when you mow long ditches all the oil goes to one side of the block and blow the motor up from what I am told.
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What is the main difference between the John Deeres from Lowes and the John Deere dealer? Is there much price difference? They are made for different customers/markets . The Lowes ones have a life goal of 1000 hours and the Dealer ones (more expensive) are designed to last 5000. Is this actually true? What are the lesser parts? I looked at two Identical JDs in the LA1XX series at dealer and lowes. |
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JD.
I also live in the country, large area to mow. I burned through several cheaper mowers before i bit the bullet and sprung for a JD. got a F525 from an auction for $900 with about 300 hours on it. runs great, very nice mower, worlds apart from the toro and crapsman and others before it. FIL also runs a few larger mowers (about 3-4 ac of lawn) he has a grashopper, something else and a larger F-xxx JD. the JD is by far the best. |
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I've been mowing for 45+ years on many different tractors. Gravely, FarmAll Cub, Case, Cub Cadet and a few others that didn't stick around long enough to remember. Bought this 3 cyl diesel JD about 6 years ago and I couldn't be happier with it. Well built and has so much power and torque that it doesn't matter how high or wet the grass might be, it just mows through fast. I mow my 5 acres every week. NO break downs or a single problem with it so far. http://4-riders.com/pics/Mix/X49501.jpg If you can swing it, buy a real John Deere. |
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Do you want a "Mower" or a "Lawn Tractor"? There certainly are many nice tractors/mowers out there, and I wouldn't hesitate with any of those mentioned (Husqvarna would be near or at the top of your list, they make outstanding tools). I've mowed commercially and we used Bobcat brand mowers(they were very nice... and pricey), but another very reliable one is Toro.
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Riding mowers for basement dwellers or real riding mowers SCAG for the WIN.... Made in America with an American made Kawasaki motor! http://www.scag.com/images/TurfTiger_low-angle-450.jpg This man knows! |
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You can always find deals on Craigslist, somebody is always buying a 52" and selling his 45" to upstage his neighbor. I'd suggest Deere just for the parts availability.
Kharn |
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Kubota!
I have my parents old one. Its 16 years old but still runs like new. Hydrostatic with 19 HP. Perfect ergonomics, quiet, and comfortable. Really easy to drive. One battery, some oil, and a new set of tires (dry rot got the others), and she's still running like a champ. We had a John Deere too. And while it was a solid tractor, the ergos sucked, hydrostatic sucked, and it was just a really cumbersome tractor to drive. I hated it. |
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Pretty much all of the homeowner grade/MTD ones are the same chintzy crapshoot.
Step up to a commercial or heavier model if you want a quality machine. Stick to Kohler Command or a Kawasaki motor, water cooled if possible. Greasable spindles and a heavy deck are a good measure of a mower's quality - if they go cheap here, they've gone cheap everywhere else. |
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First of all you do not want a lawn tractor.
They are too slow. What you want is a a riding mower preferably a ZTR. My favorite is the Dixie Chopper. They are proud of these mowers but you only cry once. I mowed 4 acres in less than 1 hour with my 50" Dixie that used to take the previous owner 6 hours to mow with a 48" Sears riding lawn tractor. (there were lots of trees to mow around) To me time is money so the Dixie was worth the 5K I had invested in it. Also repairs are easy on the Dixie. I have had mine 15 years and only had to sharpen the blades and replace the belts. |
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Riding mowers for basement dwellers or real riding mowers SCAG for the WIN.... Made in America with an American made Kawasaki motor! http://www.scag.com/images/TurfTiger_low-angle-450.jpg I have owned a Scag fo 7 years it mows 2 acres twice a week and 9 acres 5 times a season, tuff machine. |
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Hustler zero turn. have 2 acres and had a cub cadet. Nothing wrong with the cub but it is slow. Took almost 2 hours to mow. The ZTR Hustler does it in under an hour. 2 years and no problems. 60" cut and 8 mph.
hustler mowers |
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