Thread: Recommended ride on lawn mowers

My wife bought a Husqvana..1842 Model, For the past two years she has mowed 14 acres to death. Hasn't missed a beat..but you may not need to spend this much for 1 1/2 acres. Just a post to give you an idea.

IMHO given that your land is flat and small then the type of mower is more about costs than what is the best. The issues you have to address are
Do you want a catcher?
How many trees/garden beds do you have to navigate?
How often will you need to mow?
How often will you actually mow?
Is your land only 1.25 acres or can you increase the area you maintain because what you have done looks great?
These factors shouldl have more influence on your decision than the reputation of the mower. I also believe that the level of maintence you give the equipment is crucial.
Good luck with your decision.

I have a Rover Ranger which you would be able to buy for a bit less than that amount. The thing that I like about it is that in doesn't have gears. Just a forward and reverse pedal that you just pivot with your foot. The beauty of this is if you have trees you don't have to stop and push the clutch in to change gears to go backwards and then again to go forwards.

I have had it for about 20 years and put about three or four batteries and replaced the drive belt and the cutter deck belt twice and replaced the blades about8 times in that period.

I use it about every fortnight in the summer and only a couple of times in the winter. When I lived on the coast for four years I used it every week in the summer and every month in the winter and that would be to cut about 1.5 acres.

I recently bought a Yardman Vee Twin 20HP 42" which I have given a good workout without any problems. I drive mine up and down steep slopes without any effort.

Mine mulches and I cut through grass that is higher than the bonnet. It also mulches through 3/4" sticks OK which I don't see in the longer grass.

I only have given it about 35 hours work but I am pleased with it.

Any will do the job, so it comes down to your prefernces.

I have a 12HP 38in cut rear engine Toro which I inherited from my uncle. He bought it on recomendation for a 3/4 acre lightly sloping block. When I first looked at it I figured it was Mickey Mouse on wheels, but I have worked it for 11 years at his place and mine (1/2 acre) plus taken it on landscaping jobs for hauling mulch and top soil, as well as plants and tools.

Currently hauling trailer loads of clay (abt 0.6cm) while landscaping my place.

Generally a good machine, but has following issues.

Cutter deck is 41 in wide (OA) with flanged base, but rear wheel track is 34 inches. This makes it difficult to mow accross modest slopes or uneven ground as one rear (drive) wheel (highest) will loose traction easily. Wider wheel track would overcome this and produce a more stable work platform. However the little critter is quite happy working up slopes to 45 degrees provided that the operator is willing to stop a climb at the first sign of loosing traction.

Gearshift (5F +R manual) comes out from the side of the frame at about 45degrees to horizontal and extends a fair way out and up. Prone to snagging on trees/fences and bending 7/16 in shift lever, making gear selection difficult till repaired. Most machines tend to have the shift lever running front to back rather than side to side, this would be better.

Toro is a good durable brand, but with a limited retail and service network. There are about 5 dealers in the greater Melb area. The one that supplied the unit is 5 KM away, but the next nearest is 45km away. Parts are easy to get on order, but I learned that it's quicker to have the service manual and parts manual down loaded from Toro's website, and take them with you when ordering to bypass the dealer microfiche database. Engine and transmission are common parts, balance peculiar to Toro.

Parts replaced over 13 years cutter bar $85, plastic exit shute (twice $80 each) plastic mulcher plug (twice $95 ea) transmission belt and deck belt ($100 pair), plus oil and plug change twice a year and filter cartridge every couple of years.

All in, not a bad little machine, capable of slashing 3ft grass to 4in in one pass with high RPM, lowest gear and using about 30 inch cut with the ejector shute lifted to 45 degrees, or trimming tidy 4inch plus daisies etc, to 2.5inch with the mulcher plug in and leaving no obvious cuttings behind. Probably approaching 2000 hrs all up, no sign of rust in frame or deck, and it works hard when in use.

Hope this helps

A year ago we bought a Toro Zero Turn ride on. It has a 42" cutter deck and we can mow our ten acres (horse paddocks with trees) in a couple of hours. Only problem i had was a slashed tyre (my fault) and it lost a clip on the cutter deck while i was taking it through an overgrown paddock. Really easy to drive and for $4500 with trade on our old busted mower we also got a trailer for it with a 400kg load capacity.

Having said all that, it's probably overkill for 1 1/4 acres.

For 1,1/4 acres a ride on is overkill - I'd be looking for a decent self propelled.

At the risk of sounding dumb, make sure you get something with a decent size fuel tank - over at mums we had a Husquvarna 36 or 38 inch cut and the fuel tank was a joke, only held about 5 litres and we had refuel mid way through when we did the whole block.
Cheers

We replaced our "Murray" ride-on about 2 years ago with a Yardman. It looks like the one in the picture attached but has a 17HP B&S single cylinder motor and about 42" cutting deck. It does not have a catcher. We could have gone for a bigger one (wider cut) but you got to remember clearances between trees and fences etc.... and that dictated the smaller deck. As delivered it cut too high (even on the lowest setting) and was very prone to jamming if the grass was at all high and lush. Turned out it did not have the correct blades - in common with quite a few other machines shipped here. Since these were replaced (f.o.c) and after the shop lowered it (easy enough but you need to ensure it is level) it was an Ace! Never misses a beat. Turns almost square corners. Hydrostatic drive.... Also, as shipped they are de-tuned to comply with CA emissions - that is also something the shop can fix.

re the catcher: Seems to me they just block....

Originally Posted by MurrayD99

re the catcher: Seems to me they just block....

I don't rate catchers either. I've always found that if the grass is anything but bone dry it will cause a blockage. I've got a mulch kit on my cutter deck that makes the clippings so fine you'd think i mowed with a catcher. Plus it's better for the lawn.

So is John Deere worth looking at or are they a little over priced?

I think the John Deere are OK, my parents have one but they live on flat country so comparing our Yardman to their John Deere would be difficult as we live in hilly country.

I think the front end on the Yardman is a bit more solid (cast iron) than the John Deere but that is only an issue if you are likely to hit stumps, rocks or put the front wheels down an unseen wombat hole or rabbit hole in the long grass.

I agreee with Murray99 - be careful not to get too wide a cutting deck otherwise mowing around trees such as in the orchard etc could be an issue you can do without.

I'm just about to give my Yardman a workout now - the grass grows quickly up here

I have a John Deere with hydro drive.

Good mower, very good on lawns, but long grass not much good because of the closed cutting deck. It has been fault free so far, have had it for five years now.

The kohler engine is a little ripper.

For long grass I would go for what the old Cox's used to have, an open front deck. I haven't seen a domestic sized ride-on with open deck for some years now. But I don't get around as much as I used to.

I have had a look at the Toro XL380H, It looks like it would suit the job. it has a 38" cutting deck, comes with a free dump cart (probably handy to sit the dog in while mowing.) and RRP is $3495 but I can get $200 off this without haggleing.
does anyone have this model?

I don't know that model, but this is the one i've got. It's actually a 48" cutter deck, not the 42". We use our cart for all sorts of things but mostly for lugging hay between the paddocks each morning. A lot cheaper than using the ute and faster than the wheelbarrow. Make sure they give you a mulch kit for it.