Lawnmower recs?

[linc]

Need a new riding mower. Any opinions? I had a craftsman and it lasted OK. But I've had problems with it. Nothing bad enough to take it in just had to be babied. Needed starting fluid to crank it for the last few months and it finally kicked the bucket today. Looked at John deeres but the local place in town I have been to twice looking to buy one, times when I couldnt get mine cranked when I was trying to mow, and I couldnt get anyone in there to help me. So if I get a JD its going to be from out of town. Wanted to stay two grand or less.

[rubydog]

There were only two major mfg companies that made riding mowers, MTD and Murray. One bought the other out and I always get them mixed up. I did all the research that I could and found that as far as a standard rider goes, they are all pretty much the same. There are marked differences in the zero turn mowers but there again you are talking about the SUV's of the mower world and out of the reset price.
Do yourself a favor and save time and money and go to Tractor Supply and by the biggest Husky mower you can. I save a great deal of money on mine versus an identical mower made in the same plant under the name of Try Built.
I can tell you from experience that dollar for dollar the John Deere is a very expensive shade of green that is made in the same plant as all the others.

Good luck

[gonehuntin]

I bought a new JD 155 riding mower last year from a dealer in Navasota. It was their demo and was marked way down and they even gave me $800 for my old John Deere mower. What keeps me buying JD riding mowers is the fact they will take a trade in. Do that with your old Murray or Yardman. I will be trading this mower in next spring because it is too slow and will get a zero turn.

[CaptainDave]

All I can say is that if you want a mower that doesn't have to be babied and will last a long time...$2,000 budget isn't enough.

[dustoffer]

I'm in the lawn-mowing business and I have a Husqvarna Rider in its 3rd year. Belts, tires, oil changes is all I've done. However, since it is 3 y.o. I'll be selling it this spring (do that with all my equipment).

I'll either buy a new model of the same mower or an equivalent Snapper. If you want to know what not to buy, go look at the lot behind the local lawn mower repair shop.

[slevin]

cant go wrong with jd

[Principally Bow]

Bought a Kubota lawn tractor when it was 4 years old. . . Have used it 8 more years. . . still works great! They're pricey, though. Might look for a used on ebay, which is where I found mine. It's a T1460.

[Froggy]

I bought my wife a John Deere X300 two years ago for Christmas. She loves it. That's the romantic kinda guy I am.

[linc]

Now thats some good advice, if I can get the wife to do it I'll get a push mower
Thanks for the info guys. I really dont want a jd just because of the service I got at the local place or lack of service rather. But they have all of them for a hundred off now. Gonna check out the snappers and kubotas too. Then again if there all made in the same plant?

[traindude]

Im in the lawn business to. I run all JOHN DEERE. I have had the best luck with them. Plus growing we had every rider under the sun. Until we bought a John deere in 1997. My mom still uses it to mow her yard to this day. By the biggest lawn mower you can afford. But I repeat don't by a john deere from home depot or lowes. These jds are cheaper made. The componets they use are cheaply made. The higher end jd models at the jd dealerships are made with higher end parts. One example is the spindels for the blades the ones from hd and lowes you have to buy the whole spindle when it goes out. The higher end models can be rebuilt everypart on the spindle is availble. BESIDES IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT BRAND IT IS THEY ALL BREAK DOWN IF YOU DON'T TAKE CAR OFF IT WITH REGULAR MAITAINCE.

[Burnadell]

I would suggest getting one with a cast iron axle, not the stamped out metal.

[bvincent]

kubotas are not made by MTD. But then agian it will be hard to get a new one for anywhere near $2k.

[TexaswBOWhunter]

I took the plung 4 years ago and went with the commercial zero turn.... Haven't had any lawn mower problems since!!!! Cost you a lot up front but I figured if these mowers were built to run 7 days a weeek for a few years with the proper maintenance, mine should last me a very long time!!!!

There are a lot of good one's in the commercial grade.... JDeere, Kubota, X-Mark, Toro, Skag, etc..... At this point it comes down to who is close to you to get blades, filters, etc... when they are needed!!!!

[Burnadell]

There were only two major mfg companies that made riding mowers, MTD and Murray. One bought the other out and I always get them mixed up. I did all the research that I could and found that as far as a standard rider goes, they are all pretty much the same. There are marked differences in the zero turn mowers but there again you are talking about the SUV's of the mower world and out of the reset price.
Do yourself a favor and save time and money and go to Tractor Supply and by the biggest Husky mower you can. I save a great deal of money on mine versus an identical mower made in the same plant under the name of Try Built.
I can tell you from experience that dollar for dollar the John Deere is a very expensive shade of green that is made in the same plant as all the others.

Good luck

I'm pretty sure that this is somewhat incorrect. I believe John Deere makes John Deere, and Honda makes Honda. Toro makes Toro and LawnBoy. MTD does make most all of the cheaper brands.

[JMG]

MTD makes almost all mowers with different names on them. I got a Cub-Cadet zero turn last year and there is no comparison to a regular rider. If you can spend a litle extra, I would get one of them but I also have to mow 2.5acres when I mow. Cut the time down by 2 hours. Like said above, regular maintence goes a long way with a mower. I can still go crank up my old Troy built mower today(MTD parts) and it will mow but I just can't stand to get on it anymore.