Uncle!!

last evening after the latest round of breakdowns of the lawn mower(may it rest in pieces), I cried Uncle! and declared it a lost cause. kind of like the wonderful one hoss mower, everything started falling to bits at the same time(nice bit of design work for the company). trying to find a simple push mower round here is a challenge more so if you're trying to keep the costs down under $400. bought a used one hopefully it will last a few years .
Rex

Rex
Go to Farm/Fleet simple push mower under $200

When I bought my first house back in 2003 I got a 1986 Simplicity ride-on for $50 from a friend. I've kept it running fairly well to this day. Although regularly working on it is kind of annoying, I'm pretty sure it's still better than buying some plastic Chinese throwaway model they build nowadays.

If I had to replace it I would look for another old cheap workhorse that's easy to work on.

After 46 years I got tired of the "Sorry, I Can't.... I Gotta Mow" routine.

The money, the time, the pollution and there's always that worrying about the weather when you are at work because when you get home you have to... you guessed it... Mow.

We moved... I haven't mowed grass for 3 years.

I highly recommend this. It's a good life.

I just purchased new belts, blades and mandrels for my riding mower.
Bought it out of the classifieds 6 years ago for $350, was able to get a new old stock deck shell for $165 2 years ago. In my opinion, used is the way to go, as long as you get a good one from the start. Mine is an old Craftsman I was able to get the manual online so I have part numbers.

I might have just got lucky this time, but I realized very quickly that 3 acres in Texas are not to be mowed with a push mower (yes I tried it....once)

The worst waste of time in my life is mowing the @#$%^& lawn... I hate every second of it. My dream is to tear out all the grass and redo it in gravel or limestone... Then I can pick up the dog doo without it sticking in the grass. And just a little Roundup every now and then to control the weeds.

jd2cylman said:

The worst waste of time in my life is mowing the @#$%^& lawn... I hate every second of it. My dream is to tear out all the grass and redo it in gravel or limestone... Then I can pick up the dog doo without it sticking in the grass. And just a little Roundup every now and then to control the weeds.

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We did this to a good chunk of our front yard a few years ago and for the most part we live it and it looks good if done right. I will tell you that its far from maintenance free. Keeping it free of weeds is tough, although I think we finally got that taken care of. The worst part is leaves. We have several large trees in our yard and every fall it they cover the rocks. They are harder to blow/rake out of the rocks than they were to remove from the grass.

Couple horses do a great job keeping their portion of the yard trimmed....

T-Rex said:

Couple horses do a great job keeping their portion of the yard trimmed....

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We used to have a farm full of sheep, but my brother sold out. I'm sure the neighbors in town wouldn't like a lawn full of auto pilot, self fueling, self fertilizing lawn mowers.
The first time three or four start bleating at full lung capacity around 3 am would make me lots of friends... :wink:

We have about an acre and a half that we keep in lawn (we also have six acres of Noble-fir Christmas Trees) and mowing it is a. It of a chore.

We had an old Snapper riding mower that was very reliable and easy to work on, but at 26" cutting width it was a long job.

We replaced it with a hand-me-down Poulan that I got from my parents. It worked great until it busted a connecting rod.

I then bought a cheap (~$1200) Arien mower (46" rider) from Home Depot. Within a year the transmission failed. It was replaced under warranty, but a year and a half later (after the warranty expired) the reverse gear quit working. I have been using it for a year with no reverse and plan to trash it once the transmission finally goes altogether.

Our next mower will probably be a commercial grade unit - I would rather pay more for something that lasts this time.

72" rotary cutter, still never enough.

RocketFeller said:

We have about an acre and a half that we keep in lawn (we also have six acres of Noble-fir Christmas Trees) and mowing it is a. It of a chore.

We had an old Snapper riding mower that was very reliable and easy to work on, but at 26" cutting width it was a long job.

We replaced it with a hand-me-down Poulan that I got from my parents. It worked great until it busted a connecting rod.

I then bought a cheap (~$1200) Arien mower (46" rider) from Home Depot. Within a year the transmission failed. It was replaced under warranty, but a year and a half later (after the warranty expired) the reverse gear quit working. I have been using it for a year with no reverse and plan to trash it once the transmission finally goes altogether.

Our next mower will probably be a commercial grade unit - I would rather pay more for something that lasts this time.

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I'll offer you two brands to look at. Yes, they're both expensive. Yes, they'll both last longer than you'll be able to operate the mower if serviced regularly and properly.
Look at Scag and Grasshopper. The Scag mowers are a zero turn design where you sit over the mower deck in between the front and rear wheels (midmount). The Grasshopper mowers are a three wheeled design, where you sit over the center of the power unit ahead of the engine, and the deck sits out in front of your feet (front mount). I see Grasshopper also now offers midmount mowers too. Both are good designs with lots of good engine choices. The Grasshopper front mount design rides a bit smoother if you don't roll your lawn (like me...) in my opinion. I have a Grasshopper 700 series with a 52" deck for my piddly lawn in town... It used to mow a lot at the farm too, but my brother gave it to me since I don't have a tow hitch on the new ride... So I just keep it at my house now.

dhbarr said:

72" rotary cutter, still never enough.

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Well, if you wanna go that route, my brother has a 180" three spindle rotary cutter that he pulls with a 200 hp tractor. Next time LDRS is at Bong, I'm bringing that setup up there and making the place look better :wink:

I take a different approach. A team of guys shows up once every week or so, spends 20 minutes doing the grass, then leaves. I spend the time on my family & hobbies. Worthwhile investment in my opinion.

Two years ago, my dad kinda surprised me - because he's not exactly the electronic gadget loving guy - by buying a robot mower (Husqvarna Automower 420, IIRC). With regards to lawns, that's the best thing since sliced bread, as far as I'm concerned. No mowing work, no grass cuttings to dispose, no disturbing noises and I don't remember the grass ever looking that good. Some inaccessible details on the edges require a bit of manual trimming, but the bulk of the yard stays automagically tidy. That's one to those niches, were automation already works better than I would have expected it.

Reinhard