Buying first mower, need help

J

j1crimmins

New member
Based on research, I've narrowed down my choices to the following:

Cub Cadet GT1554VT @ $2,500

John Deere LA175 @ $2,750

Cub Cadet LTX1050 @ $2,000

We have six acres, fairly flat with a few small rolling hills. Would like to include a cart to haul some things around. I have also looked at some of the Craftsman product but haven't felt real comfortable about what the salesperson is telling me. Tractor Supply seems to be the most knowledgable.

Feedback or other suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

John
 
Like Jerry said ..We.come to Net Tractor Talk. I'm glad you found us.

I do not know those particular mowers but would focus ergonomics. Sit on each and see which is more comfortable. Pay attention to layout of the controls and leg room so that you can be comfortable. Six acres is a lot to mow, you want to make is as easy on yourself as possible.
 
John, the models you're looking at have a 50-54" mowing deck. At best you're going to get up to 5 MPH out of them. So you're going to mow 2-2.5 acres per hour with no obstacles or obstructions. So take Doc's suggestions as to comfort, it will take about 3 hours to mow.
 
j1crimmins said:
I will be doing all six acres.

Thanks for the information so far. Much appreciated
Click to expand...

Welcome and maybe this might help you a bit, I too mow 6 acres one around the house with trees and etc. takes about 1&1/2 hours every 3 days on a 54" Kubota Diesel Lawn tractor now has 700 Hrs on it without a hitch.

Now on to the 5 acre field which I mow with a Kubota B7510 tractor diesel and a 48" bush hog, takes 5 hours at a pretty good clip and I mow it every 3 weeks usually it is about 12 to 15 inches high.

My point is 6 acres is a lot of work for a light duty home owners machine that was not designed for much more than upkeep on a residential lot, I recommend you look at something a little bit more on the commercial side like Kubota, Grasshopper, Dixie Chopper and a few others, even used if taken care of will give you many more seasons of use and will be cheaper in the long run!
 
Hi J1, I agree with Archdean. I bought a Craftsman ($1200) new several years ago to mow my folks yard in se Ark. It was a belt breaker from day one . If you raised the deck up a little too high while mowing it would break the belt every time. and it would choke down if you mowed more than a couple of inches of dry grass.. I sold it within 2 months and bought a used JD332 diesel and fixed it up. It mows great. Here in Miss, I use a kubota zero turn. If you must go the residential way, google the model you are looking at for it's reviews. Also feel of the deck and see how sturdy it is . Sticks and obstacles in such a big yard can cause a lot of grief if they get hung and bend the pulley area. Good Luck. Bordercollie
 
Hi, J1, and let me add my welcome to NTT. Please enjoy the forums, and post often.

I bought my daughter a 1994 JD LX176 38 inch 14 hp used mower three years ago. The only things I've had to fix in that time were a main drive belt, drive belt guard (very reasonable price), and a mower deck belt. Because I had surgery this spring, couldn't do the annual maintenance on it this year, and had it taken into the dealer for service. The service manager commented to me when he picked it up is that the new LA series do not even begin to compare to my older LX. We only have 1/2 acre, so my machine doesn't get nearly as much as yours will. I believe you will be well served to look at the JD X300 series for a mower that will give you good service in the long run rather than the 100 series.

Good luck, and have fun shopping.

Fred
 
It's so easy for us to spend someone else's money ... but allow me to interject another thought on this.
I mow 4 acres. I started out with a smaller mower, 17hp Bolens 48" deck. It took a long long time to get the mowing chores done. It was a used mower and needed worked on much of the time, so mowing was frustrating. I traded the bolens on another used mower. A 17hp Simplicity with a 54" deck. A little better but I was soon fiinding out even when the tractor has lots of umph left in it the mower decks wore out first and could nickle and dime you to death, or simply be frustrating to keep going. Please note much of my yard is an old tomato field. Rather rough in some parts.
Next I added a used 17hp Mitsubushi to the fleet 60" deck. We mowed with two mowers and cut down mowing time considerably. Mower deck problems with the Mitsubushi were even more frustrating. It had a huge belt that drove the mower deck and again the deck was pretty much wore out. Sold the Mitsubushi and bought a new Kubota Grand L 3010 (30hp) with a 72" RFM (rear finish mower). New tractor and new mower. Ahh life was good. The Kubota would mow the majority of the acreage and my wife would mow around the house with the 17hp Simplicity which still ran okay. The Simplicity had been burning oil since I had gotten it and a couple season later it blew out the side of one of the cylinders. :eek: DOA. I finished up the season with just the Kubota and shopped for a replacement mower. I wanted a ZTR but didn't know if I could swing it.
I ended up using the ole budget stretcher and splurged on a new commercial ZTR, Scag, with a 62 inch deck. Sweet. It is a mowing machine. I can now mow all 4 acres in less time using just the Scag than it took with both the Kubota and the Simplicity working together. Simply amazing. Kinda fun to mow with too.
Long way of saying if you can swing it, I would strongly consider going with a commercial ZTR for your 6 acres. Your mowing time will be cut considerably and the mowing chore will not take near the toll on you it would with a conventional mower.
 
Welcome to the forum John!

I'll pile on with Doc and suggest you get a ZTR if you can.
 
Yea, and with the zero turn you can get good enough to almost eliminate weed eating around lots of trees. You can get soo close. Just don't let anyone know how quick you get thru mowing. I imagine we have about 4+ acres with the house and I can mow it 4 times as fast with the ZD28 (kubota) as the old jd 185 it replaced. And it just sips diesel. And the seat is so comfortable and has arm rests! Our local dealer rents ZTR mowers- maybe yours would let you try one out at your place. Good luck, Bordercollie
 
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