# Ride on Lawnmowers



## numbercruncher (5 January 2008)

Anyone up to speed on ride on Lawnmowers ?

I have 2 acres to cut every 2 weeks.

I was thinking a John Deere, any thoughts please ?


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## prawn_86 (5 January 2008)

A tractor with a slasher is what my old man uses


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## sam76 (5 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> Anyone up to speed on ride on Lawnmowers ?
> 
> I have 2 acres to cut every 2 weeks.
> 
> I was thinking a John Deere, any thoughts please ?




I can vouch for kubota

http://kubota.com.au/home/default.asp


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## ithatheekret (5 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> Anyone up to speed on ride on Lawnmowers ?
> 
> I have 2 acres to cut every 2 weeks.
> 
> I was thinking a John Deere, any thoughts please ?




If it was me I'd put some sheep or a couple of goats on it , but that might not be an option for you .

Given that there's 2 acres , I'd say you'd need a minimum of 8-8.5 hp .


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## numbercruncher (5 January 2008)

Thanks for feedback guys, checking out Kubota now ...

Tractor and slasher would be over kill for my needs ..

Animals is a good Idea, but unfortunately i cant, have dogs and one is a beagle so would harass them from dusk till dawn 

Get dozens of roos grazing, but hardly enough to keep the grass under control, copped like 200mm of rain here last few days, ill be upto my neck in weeds in a week lol


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## Mouse (5 January 2008)

Heh,

I just went and took a look at our mower and all it says on the side is "White".  But the thing is actually grey!    It's been brilliant though.  

We have 2.5 acres.   Did the goat thing .. until they ended up on a neighbours bed (no idea how they got in the house).

cheers
Mouse


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## hangseng (5 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> Anyone up to speed on ride on Lawnmowers ?
> 
> I have 2 acres to cut every 2 weeks.
> 
> I was thinking a John Deere, any thoughts please ?




Just so happens I was admiring the JD's in the shop this morning whilst buying another toy  I will be upgrading to a JD diesel 4WD with all the toys 

For you they have some great smaller mowers and all built tough as.


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## ithatheekret (5 January 2008)

We bought a JD self propelled mower in the late 80's , cost $1500.00 back then and was an arm and leg job . But its as solid as the day we bought it and if you want exercise , just fire it up and hang on .

We have a smaller mower for around the main house , a Honda , another arm and leg job , but it too has never failed me and always starts first pull .

We must have had a good half dozen small mowers prior to that , they're probably scrap in China by now .

The gist of the post is that you get what you pay for and good ain't cheap .

My boys are allowed to use the JD , but can't touch the Honda , they don't respect my hard spent dollars like I do .


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## IFocus (5 January 2008)

NM just bought a MTD 42" Troy Built a couple of months ago I have 5 acres.

Paid $2700 new here in WA

I went cheap because, well I am tight LOL, also mainly bought for slashing around the house bush fires being more frequent now days we seem to have a resident fire bug (shoot the prick if I catch him) not so much lawns but now use for the lawns as well.

My brother has had a 38" MTD for three years mainly for slashing still going fine.

Not as good as the reel but good enough to get by now takes 15 to 20 mins where as before 1.5 to 2 hrs working on making a grass catcher.

Pos is the price, plenty of power (I have some steep slopes) nothing broken yet and being WA its pretty sandy but makes its way around OK.

Negs cost of belts, blades etc higher than Torro and others.

This is what I got and where I got mine 

http://www.smallmotors.com.au/I175/175hp-42-pony-rideon/

I think if I wanted quality value for money I would look at Torro as a few gardners I asked recommended them for toughness , I know guys with John Deeres who are happy with them also.

Hope this helps

Focus


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## numbercruncher (5 January 2008)

Many thanks again, all good input!

researching researching ........


Im still swinging towards the JD, I read the entry level one is 3k , I dont want to spend anymore than about 5.

The mower guy here wants 100 bucks per mow, so figure the ride on is free after about 2 years. 

I think the warranty is an important part. Ive always rathered to buy new, sell after a few years and buy again, seems most cost effective strategy rather than buying used and copping repairs.


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## ithatheekret (5 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> The mower guy here wants 100 bucks per mow, so figure the ride on is free after about 2 years.
> 
> I think the warranty is an important part. Ive always rathered to buy new, sell after a few years and buy again, seems most cost effective strategy rather than buying used and copping repairs.




*Cwaaar ... $100 a mowing , he wants you to pay off his business loan*

Warranty and new are wonderful , I've never had anything but a service on mine , except for a cable on the JD that I snagged on some mesh and took off with . I can't remember how much the new cable cost , the missus says I whinged for a week about it so it must have cost a bit to fix . 

But the reason behind this post , is that IFocus has mentioned an important point . The terrain ....... I don't know anything about the area you'll be mowing , so remember to mention it to the rep. , you don't want a heavy on sandy areas etc.. , width of blade  , engine make Briggsy etc.etc. solids or pneumatic tyres , turning circle etc etc .

.......and be f..n careful on the slopes if you have any .

cheers .....


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## S&R (5 January 2008)

Number Cruncher

   I have had a HUSTLER zero turn mower for 16 months now,
and in that time there has been about 5 people i know in our rural area who have bought one also.They are made in the USA and BULLET PROOF.
Contractors use them alot.Price $5000 and up.I mow 2 acres in 1 hour.


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## nioka (5 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> Thanks for feedback guys, checking out Kubota now ...l



I have just traded in a Kubota and gone back to a Cox. The Kubota was diesel and was doing a good job until I had a drive problem. Quote to fix was $3000. Had a Cox before the Kubota and found them to be simple, easy to maintain and cheap to run. Had a rover years ago which was OK too. All I can say is dodge hydrostatic drives and make sure the one you get has forward and reverse on the same pedal. Avoid having a gear change.


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## numbercruncher (5 January 2008)

S&R said:


> Number Cruncher
> 
> I have had a HUSTLER zero turn mower for 16 months now,
> and in that time there has been about 5 people i know in our rural area who have bought one also.They are made in the USA and BULLET PROOF.
> Contractors use them alot.Price $5000 and up.I mow 2 acres in 1 hour.




Wow, thanks S&R, they are damn nice, wonder if you can road register and go to the summer nats in one lol, attaching pic for folks.


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## numbercruncher (7 January 2008)

Decided to go for the John Deere Lawn tractor, LA110

Gets delivered tomorrow, hope I made the right choice  I like I can attach a trailer, front blade etc, 2 year warranty 19.5hp.





Good little business they have Importing these to Aus, retail in USA is US1650 , here is AUD3700.


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## blind freddie (7 January 2008)

Just sold off 68 acres, that just happened to have a golf course on it.  Bought a JD zero turn for the roughs.  Had a very good deck on it.  Motor was difficult to clean, had a plastic shroud over the motor that had to be taken off every 20 odd hours to clean the grass out, which was a bitch to do.  normal ride on with the motor up front probably would not have that problem though.  Worked the damn thing about 10 hrs per day 6 days per week during the summer, and never missed a beat.  Would prefer the ZT's over normal mowers just for manooverability and simplicity!  Mind you the only bigger one available to me was the diesels.  These are no good on steep blocks & banks, they tend to slip.


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## Uncle Festivus (7 January 2008)

numbercruncher said:


> Decided to go for the John Deere Lawn tractor, LA110
> 
> Gets delivered tomorrow, hope I made the right choice  I like I can attach a trailer, front blade etc, 2 year warranty 19.5hp.
> 
> ...




I bought a similar series JD a year ago (42" cutting deck for similar sized area), very good so far. Just make sure you buy the run hour meter also, which was/is an optional extra.


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## Smurf1976 (7 January 2008)

I can only comment on smaller (push) mowers not the ride on type. 

Let's just say this. I will NEVER again buy a certain very well known iconic Australian brand fitted with a Briggs and Stratton motor.

I had one of their two stroke mowers for years and it was bullet proof. Mowing about 800m2 and ran straight over all the fallen tree bits, pushed through long grass on a low cut etc without problem. 

But it was getting a bit old and starting to have a few issues. Starter cord broke. So did a wheel. Nothing major but I decided to get a new one.

That was 3 years ago. The new one has been used pretty gently compared to the old one but let's just say it's got more problems than I can remember and I've had to do 2 modifications to the original design to fix problems that just shouldn't have happened. 

Also the thing vibrates enough to squirt fuel out of the cap and onto the motor (!) if it's more than 3 quarters filled. Which is a bit of a problem considering the ridiculous amount of fuel it needs. Can't mow the lawn without at least 2 refillings. And you have to bend the throttle cable out of the way to get the fuel in too which is a nuisance.

And then there's the air filter. Never had a problem with the old mower. I just changed it once a year for a service. This new one however has it nicely placed to cop the maximum amount of dust - now I just clean it when it's so blocked that the mower stops running. That's been known to happen in less than a single use on a suburban block under dry and dusty conditions.

I should have paid the extra $250 for the Honda. I'm told they are pretty good. Either that or stuck with the 2 stroke which was the exact same price as the 4 stroke I so foolishly bought. Even buying a sheep would surely have been less trouble than this thing. 

On the positive side, I'm doing what the experts recommend and letting the grass grow quite long these days. No surprises for guessing that the real reason isn't to save water etc but simply because I'm never looking forward to another battle with the mower. I used to mow every 2 weeks with the old one.


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## aza (9 February 2013)

numbercruncher said:


> Anyone up to speed on ride on Lawnmowers ?
> 
> I have 2 acres to cut every 2 weeks.
> 
> I was thinking a John Deere, any thoughts please ?




hey mate i suggest a big dog zero turn mower 
not sure were your located but glenorie mowers sell them


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## CanOz (9 February 2013)

aza said:


> hey mate i suggest a big dog zero turn mower
> not sure were your located but glenorie mowers sell them





OP...



> 5th-January-2008, 11:45 AM




LOL, if he hasn't cut that grass by now he'll need more than a ride on lawn mower!

CanOz


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## awg (10 February 2013)

Smurf1976 said:


> I can only comment on smaller (push) mowers not the ride on type.
> 
> Let's just say this. I will NEVER again buy a certain very well known iconic Australian brand fitted with a Briggs and Stratton motor.




Yes, these mowers are very poorly made, with thin sh!tty pressed-steel bodies that rust like mad from day 1.

You would think the idiots would understand that the base of the mower gets hit by rocks and covered in damp grass?!

If you are "environmentally conscious" and/or cheapskate like me, you will find the older ones had a magnesium base alloy that lasts forever, I have recovered several from roadside throwouts or from the scrap metal guy, for the various properties I have to mow. The parts often interchange. Usually I had them working very quickly, the carb get blocked with crud.


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