My dad is 85 and he is having to work on his Craftsman lawn tractor every time he goes to use it.  He is hard headed and earned the right to be that way.

He likes the old style garden tractors, engine in the front....does not even want to talk about a zero turn.

I want to get him a new lawn mower....thinking about the Husqvarna from Lowes, he lives near a Lowes for service.   He has right at 2 acres to cut, all smooth and wants a 42" cut...

What so you think about Husqvarna lawn tractors?

I've never seen a lowes with a small engine repair department.

I bought my YTH24v48 in 2015. Been abusing it on a 4 acre lot ever since. Never had an issue other than expected maintenance. I've drug many logs around and abused it quite a bit. My next will be a Husqvarna zero turn if this one will ever die.

I have 20 hours this year on my new Husky 24 HP 54 inch lawn tractor.  I love it.  
It's a nice ass piece of gear so far.   I also cut 2 acres of relatively flat lawn.....best lawn investment I have made.

Craftsman and Husquvarna are made by the same company MTD... IIRC

I thought Husqvarna was the only big box store brand not made by MTD?
At any rate, anything sold at Lowes is made to last 50-100 hours, and that's about it. Better luck if you go to a heavier duty lawn tractor, generally the ones with lug nuts on the rear tires are going to be the longer lasting better ones.

This is going back 20+ years, but Husqvarna mowers were made by AYP. They were absolutely not craftsman or MTD at that time. They were probably one of the best residential mowers at that time, on par with the lower end John deere mowers.

I briefly looked at some a couple months ago, seemed much better built than the cheap garbage mowers sitting next to it.

Is he doing anything besides cutting 2 acres?  Push snow, pull around a garden trailer, etc.?

I don't have anything against the box store mowers, as long as you go into it knowing what you are buying.  I think that most of them have certain parts ("sealed" transmissions I think is a big one) that are not meant to be serviced, when they go out, the machine is kaput.  

My vote would be a lightly used heavier mower.  My local small engine mechanic loves John Deere 425's.  They have very reliable Kaw engines and are built much heavier than most (maybe all?) box store mowers.

I bought one of the 48" Husqvarna "fast tractors" about 6-7 years ago....I'm pretty sure the model is a YTH24K48. It's got the Kohler Courage motor in it. I mow a little less than two acres with it, I can knock is out in a little more than an hour. I just hit 400hrs on it last weekend, and the only thing I've done to it is grease a few times a summer, sharpen the blades every now and then, put a new battery in it, oil changes, and just replaced the belt on the deck a coupe of weeks ago.  Needless to say, I'm a big fan.

I have an old 46" Husqvarna I bought from Lowes in 2011.  At that time it was the only brand NOT made by MTD that was under the $2000 price point in my area.  Things may have changed.  

Mine has a Kohler engine that has given me no trouble.  I do not do a great job of maintaining it, annual oil change is about it for the engine.

The tires on mine have been junk, which is not the mower's fault.  The replacements have also been junk.  I wish I could buy solid tires for a residential mower since.  It already rides horrible, why not keep the tires from going flat.

The deck on mine finally gave up this year. I live on very sandy soil area, so the deck gets sandblasted thin from the inside out, then support brackets break off. I've been welding it back up for the past 3 or 4 years.  I was going to give up and buy a new mower, but a replacement deck was $700 off ebay complete with blades and belt.  I hope to get another 5 years out of it, but we'll see.  

I cut about 2 acres of yard with mine.  None of it is really large open areas where a zero turn would be super fast.  I have a small fruit orchard behind my workshop which takes a lot of time around all of the trees. I have never looked at the hour counter to see how many hours it has been used.

I have an early 90s JD 425 and it's an absolute beast of a mower. Diff lock, hyd steering and deck lift, liquid cooled, full frame, etc. It's showing its age though and does require quite a bit of attention.

I have a huskvarna 1742 and I love that thing. My neighbor loved it too so he bought one just like it. I have a septic mound and a ditch. This thing kicks ass

I have the same one.  It has the Tuff Torq K57 transaxle in it.  I use mine to mow and in winter I attach a bercomac snowblower to clear my long driveway.  I bought it from a local dealer, he said it wasn't made by MTD.

I picked up a 18542 a couple years ago and it has been problem free and mowing about 1/2 acre twice a week. Don't expect a fantastic even cut if you have a lot of turns in the yard as the deck doesn't seem to "float" as well as some mowers. I just put some max power mulch blades on it and they are much better than the factory setup.

For the price they are ok as long as you maintain them properly. Beats the old Honda 21" self propelled twice a week!

Been using a Lowe's Husky riding mower with a 52 inch deck for ~5 acres the last 3 years.   125 hours on it so far.  Change blades, the occasional belt/spindle.  Change the oil.  No complaints.  If I were to "upgrade" it would be to either a commercial zero turn, or maybe one of the new battery powered ones.  That's because I am waiting for a phone call to sign papers for a Kubota tractor!

There's a Cub Cadet zero turn at Home Depot that's battery powered with a 42 inch deck.  Deck looked light duty, but it could all be perception.  Now that I'm only going to be using the lawnmower for the small finished lawn, I expect it to last longer.  They claimed the electric zero turn can do 2 acres.  I assume that's no overlap, and cutting very little grass off.

If he's set on a riding lawnmower I'd find a local commercial dealer and try to find Snapper SPX mower. Made in the USA and my dad was still using my grandfather's 30 year old Snapper rider until he sold his house and it went with it.

Close...

I believe you would be correct if you substituted AYP for MTD in your statement.

The Snappers of 30 years ago are not the Snappers today....my first Snapper was a rear engine rider, 1987 31" cut, 12 HP Briggs and it was outstanding, lasted until 2012 and I bought a new one, same exact model and within three years was at the shop at least every 3 months for something.  The guy at the shop said they went to plastic, non lube bearings and etc.

I purcahsed a Gravely 42" ZT HD last year and this thing is a beast...

He is in Louisiana like me, snow plow duties every 200 years ....so will be used just for cutting, no plowing, no towing....he has an old plastic truck bed liner that he drags around the yard and uses it for a leaves and stick gathering sled...actually a very good idea.

Did not know that. That's a damn shame.

Here is a snip from an online review, my exact experiences with my last Snapper mower....they dont even list the rear engine rider as a currect product in the line up....my 1987 RE rider was just great


snapper.com
Jun 13, 2019
Bought in 2017. Can't stay out of shop. Wouldn't pull. Idle not set right. Steering wheel loose. Wouldn't pull again Burned up belt to engage blades so it is back in shop again. Front tire wouldn't... Full review

I sure hope they are. Bought one for my sister this year because I was getting fed up with keeping her other POS lawn tractor running every other freaking week!

I bought a Hustler zero turn at Lowes a number of years ago.  It's got 700 hours on it and still mowing well.  A few minor repairs but nothing big.  Still on the same belt.  

As far as the OP's question, for what his dad needs, the Husky mower will do just fine.  They aren't the top end but they are the better of the box store mowers and should last his dad for the rest of his life.

He got his Craftsman running agasin, belt issue, and refuses to let me buy another mower for him.  If the mower crtaps out agin,  I am not going to ask him, I will bring him a new one.

Thanks for all of the input

Bronc

I have the same model, bought in 2016.  Got it to replace a Craftsman that I'd had for 14 years.  I compare everything, liked the Husky over the Deere (and I grew up on a farm with all John Deere equipment).  The Husky uses heavier steel on the mower deck, other features like the reverse setting, great warranty.  Very happy customer.