Any advice on picking a riding mower?

how much land are you mowing there, kiddo?

Yes, I have advice for you ... never run over Great Dane dog poop! It's way overrated!

kimmi said:

Five ac. Hubby wants to put a couple of cows on it ---but I say NO! He'll just want to eat them later and I'll already have them named.

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well, the only thing i'll say is that you must skip the mowers you see at home depot, lowes, where ever,..

go to a landscape place and get a commercial mower.
it'll cost you but in the end it'll be worth it.

Get the cows. They're natural lawnmowers. And they don't taste like chicken.

Richard

I'm with Seaclusion - get the cows!

But onto matters ride-on. We just bought a John Deere. We liked the nice wide cutting arc and the tight turning circle.

An important thing to consider also is the maintenance schedule on your mower. Some of the cheaper ones need a lot more maintenance, and that can be very expensive, especially if you have to cart the mower over to their place to have it done. One of the reasons we bought the JD is that, after the first service, you can buy a kit and do the maintenance at home.

And another thing - when looking at what mower you want, buy more horsepower than you think you will need.

We have a John Deere that we love. Okay, I've never even been on the thing, but that was part of the deal; he could spend a few grand on the mower of his dreams, and I was forever out of mowing duties.

On thing to consider, if you've got hills--get one that moves the oil around by pressure, not gravity, or you'll burn the motor up.

And only cut around the house. The back four acres are 'fields', lol.

Go to sears and get a Craftsman.

We just got a John Deere also.

I was pushing for a cheapie from Tractor Supply. They cost about 1/2 what the John Deere was, but hubby says that the John Deere is cheaper in the long run.

Get the cows.

From my experience, I've heard that John Deere riding mowers are nothing special (they just have the name) and are about twice as much as anything else. John Deere makes a better tractor than a lawnmower methinks.

If you pull up the hood, you're going to find essentially the same engine (Briggs-Straton) in all of them. So paying the "price" for a John Deere in this case is really just paying for a name.

kimmi said:

Lol! No to cows--he'll want to serve on the dinner table. They'll be pets by then. Trying to head off a arguement in long run.

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Plus, goats are way better than cows anyway.

kimmi said:

Five ac.

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Hmmm... well, the mowing'll go quicker if you find a mower with a turbo-charger.

If you don't want cows, you could always think about sheeps or goats instead.

cray said:

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That's a people mower. dork.


But for me, I need one that rumbles a lot. And the seat needs to be more like a saddle.

Can not speak for you Kimmi, but if I had to buy one.... it better come with a tall, handsome guy to drive it. (Wink) I mean, geez, what better way to spend the ah...day?

(Just my 2 cents....)

Just get the one with the most horses and the widest deck and you'll be fine, Farmer Kimmi.

Get one with really bright headlights, so you can chase smoochers off your back forty at dusk. Hey, fun's where you find it...