New lawn tractor advice

[jwalters]

Recently our John Deere 314 has been giving us some problems and then the other day it made a ping and lost compression in the engine. I am a mechanic and intend on rebuilding the engine but the tractor is old and I have a lot of work for it to do so I think it would be best to move on to something new. My blood is Green when it comes to subjects like this but I want a Lawn Tractor not a zero turn mower that turns on a dime and doesnt take all my dimes and the only one I am finding so far is a Cub Cadet ZTT 50 it has a zero turn radius and is a lawn tractor also.So I was wondering if anyone has any advice/ reviews about some lawn mowers I should be looking at.

 

[chickendude]

The only advice I can give is stay away from home Depot tractors. Especially the John Deere. HD has JD put much lesser quality transmissions in them. Trust me from experience. I own the JD L130 and after 4 years of easy duty the tranny failed. JD didn't want to hear anything about it. The tranny is not serviceable and for me to replace it with me doing the work would cost $620. And that is putting the same model tranny back in. I did however find an upgrade kit that puts a much larger tranny in my tractor for $1200. So now my L130 is the same as the G110 model. Good luck and don't purchase anything from the big box stores. Stay with your local JD or Cub dealer for their top of the line products.

 

[mamagardener]

We have a Craftsman with a Briggs and Stratton engine, and I love it. It does a good job, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg like John Deere.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
2x

We love ours when we lived out on the farm and it was a real workhorse. Best deal my dad ever bought for $1200!

We did like the Toro too but I do not think they make them anymore. It ran all sorts of jobs around the farm, pulling hay wagon and mowing pastures for 10 years non stop.

Kubota was another good brand that my riding stables used for all duty purpose around the farm. wonderful little tractor however it was diseal and I didnt care to start it up in the winter.

 

[Miltonchix]

I bought a Craftsman 6 years ago. It was a money pit. I had to fix something before I could use it. (42" w/18HP Briggs)

Last Oct I bought a Husqvarna. 54in. 25 HP Kholer engine, and what difference.. First of all this thing uses a fraction of the gas as the Craftsman (almost double the engine with the Husky) and with the extra 12 in cutting width I can mow in 3 hours vice 5 with the Craftsman. It has a NEAR zero turn, which is good enough. By all means spend a little more for the Hydrostatic Transmission.
There are alll kinds of accesories available too from plows to tillers and even a front end loader.
There are only 2 things I don't like about the Husky. 1. cup holders not deep enough 2. It has a position on the ignition switch that when you put it in reverse it dies unless you remember to turn it back one click to disable the backup safety. NO BIG DEAL.

 

[theoldchick]

Our Cub Cadet has been an awesome machine. Rides a bit rough but then I'm mowing a rough yard. At times I use it to bush hog the small pasture when all the tractors used to pull real bush hogs are out working cutting hay. It's a good mower easy for us old chicks to use.

 

[AhBee01]

My DH just bought a cub last year, and when finished mowing our lawn looks like a golf course! We get a lot of compliments on it! I do not know the model, but he bought it from a dealer, not a chain store, fast friendly service! Any problem we may have can be handled by them instead of going through all the red tape of a chain store! He only bought it to mow lawns with not to use as an use all
farm tractor, so I don't know what else it could handle. We had a craftsman and it was a money pit for us, and a few other people we know! We had to get a smaller deck than we wanted only because of where we need to store it, the deck had to fit through! All and all he just loves it and seemed to cut his mowing time in half!

 

[Spookwriter]

Bought two Craftsman riding mowers in recent years.

The one with the Briggs and Stratton was total junk from the get go.
Shoved it over the hill in the first season and left it. Piece of junk.

The second was my late father in laws. Koler engine. Gave reasonable service
for a small yard, light duty use. A constant fuel problem...some electric sensor,
replaced twice. Just quit again, same problem.

It has now joined the first Craftsman, both over the hill waiting to be hauled off
for scrap.

I have to say I like my little Kabota farm tractor. Does everything I need.

 

[Bama chick]

I just bought a Kobota zero turn. I got the Commercial series because I want it to outlast me. I love it. We wanted a diesel engine so that was the deciding factor between Kobota and JD. Also, we have a Kobota tractor that is wonderful. My husband pets it and talks to it when he walks by! I've had a JD lawn tractor for 26 years and have never had a serious problem with it. Some friends have a Cub and another one has a Gravely (spelled wrong). I'm never heard complaints from either one.

 

[seismic wonder2]

My dad has an International Harvester mini tractor (circa 1920 something). That thing will climb trees.