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Cascadian

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My wife wants to get a new riding mower. We moved here from the Mojave desert 5 years ago. So you can guess how much I know about mowers. We have a poulan 42 inch with a Briggs and Stratton 18 hp twin engine. We got it for $250 about 4 years ago and I put a little more into it. It worked pretty ok. Not the original engine and I think a tweaker did some custom wiring. I would say we got our money's worth out of it.

Momma is over the quirks. We have been looking in the $2700 with bagger price range. Looked at cub cadet, Husqvarna and craftsman. I am leaning towards a craftsman 50" I think. I has a koeller engine, tight turning radius and is about 130 lbs heavier. I thought more steel was a good thing. Until a coworker mentioned it is more work on the engine. We mow about 2 acres. My wife is adamant no zero turn.

Questions I have are about efi, weight, brands, warranties, longevity, ease of maintenance. Inputs are appreciated. Thanks
 
I went from a conventional riding mower to a zero turn and I will never go back. It cut my mowing time from 45 minutes to less than 20.
Most mowers are about the same as far as longevity. If you take care of it and do the maintenance as required they will last a long time.
When my wife was doing the mowing and I came home 3 times and found the mower sitting in the yard dead. She would never check the oil and destroyed 3 engines. I do all the mowing now that I am retired and have the time.
Here is a site that might give you some information.
89 Riding Mower Brands, 38 Mower Manufactures, Who Makes What - TodaysMower.com
 
That Craftsman is mfg by Husqvarna.
I would run as far away from either one as fast a I could.
The worse balance ,due to narrow wheel stance . Everytime you lean left or right the opposite wheel looses traction.
You will spend more time trying to keep one wheel from spinning all the time than cutting grass.
I bought a new one ,50", a few years ago , $2700 , used it one year , hated it, and at the end of the season it was smoking badly.
Sold it for $300.. , just wanted it off my property.
Same thing happened to my SIL after I warned him.

I bought a real John Deere , love it. Wide stance , goes great , Kawasaki motor.

Jim
 
Decades ago, the Fam rocked an Ingersoll 4018 (iirc) TractorData.com Ingersoll 4018 tractor information ..and, to my recollection, we ran the heck out of that sucker (winter, too, with snowblower / plow attachments..) and I never recall any 'service calls' (Grandfather & I did any 'PM's it needed, but never recall needing to 'bring it in' / call for any outside-help, etc..)

...Certainly looks like they're long out of production, etc, but.. Fwiw, might be a good shape used one out there.. Maybe-ish ;) It was a Workhorse tho, and took care of business very well.. :cool:

.02
jd
 
Well, I guess I am the odd man out, but I've been using a Husqvarna YTH22V46 for going on 6 years now mowing about 2 acres of very hilly terrain. I went with the Husqvarna YTH22V46 specifically because of it being rated as the best on hilly terrain in a price range similar to what you quoted.

-Do I think its the "bees knees?" No, its a fricken tool.
-Have I had any maintenance issues with fairly heavy use in 6 years? No, zero issues.
-Is it stable on steep terrain? Yes
-Do I recommend it? Yes
 
I have a cub cadet but not zero turn. Haven't had any problems with it other than I can't stand the new safety feature of your rear has to be in the seat or the engine is killed. I'm not huge and if I bounce a little on a bump, it stalls the engine (just momentarily but annoying and I'd say not good on the engine.) One of the other things we considered when looking was who could work on it if it needed it. We have a small local CC dealer who we purchased it from and would take it to. We did look at other brands but I liked this one.
BP, I also went with stihl with our last 2 chainsaws.
 
..I can't stand the new safety feature of your rear has to be in the seat or the engine is killed. I'm not huge and if I bounce a little on a bump, it stalls the engine..

Yeah, tell me about it.. Hate all the 'involuntary' Safety stuff, these days. ie: Almost got rear-ended, recently, in a rental, where it 'senses' how close you are coming to the rear of another vehicle - and Brakes, 'for' you - and Hard.. Yeah, no thanks.

..Maybe not so bad if you're a 95 y.o. and have 'slower reflexes' - Not so good when you need to change-lanes - where you need to Speed-up, as you do - and there's some guy thinking this is his personal Autobahn coming up yer * doing 95, etc.. Not a good 'feature', imo..

..Anyhoo, I 'getcha' :) Too bad we don't live a bit closer, I'd say 'make up some Lemonade, and the Wife and I will swing by this weekend, and I'll find that 'pressure-pad switch' / interlock for ya, and defeat it nice and correctly, so'z you can 'mow like an Adult' in peace.. :cool: But, s'pose we'll just have to see about that down the road..

..But, if ya know anyone 'local' that's electrically / electronically 'handy', that should (likely) be defeatable.. At least it's not like these "Smart Cars" (like above) where they just Assume yer an idiot who can't make sound decisions / Force-feed them on ya.. :rolleyes:

PS: +1 for Stihls 👍

jd
 
I have a cub cadet but not zero turn. Haven't had any problems with it other than I can't stand the new safety feature of your rear has to be in the seat or the engine is killed. I'm not huge and if I bounce a little on a bump, it stalls the engine (just momentarily but annoying and I'd say not good on the engine.) One of the other things we considered when looking was who could work on it if it needed it. We have a small local CC dealer who we purchased it from and would take it to. We did look at other brands but I liked this one.
BP, I also went with stihl with our last 2 chainsaws.
Maybe try firmly attaching a ~20lb weight to the seat, LL.
 
Yeah, tell me about it.. Hate all the 'involuntary' Safety stuff, these days. ie: Almost got rear-ended, recently, in a rental, where it 'senses' how close you are coming to the rear of another vehicle - and Brakes, 'for' you - and Hard.. Yeah, no thanks.

..Maybe not so bad if you're a 95 y.o. and have 'slower reflexes' - Not so good when you need to change-lanes - where you need to Speed-up, as you do - and there's some guy thinking this is his personal Autobahn coming up yer * doing 95, etc.. Not a good 'feature', imo..

..Anyhoo, I 'getcha' :) Too bad we don't live a bit closer, I'd say 'make up some Lemonade, and the Wife and I will swing by this weekend, and I'll find that 'pressure-pad switch' / interlock for ya, and defeat it nice and correctly, so'z you can 'mow like an Adult' in peace.. :cool: But, s'pose we'll just have to see about that down the road..

..But, if ya know anyone 'local' that's electrically / electronically 'handy', that should (likely) be defeatable.. At least it's not like these "Smart Cars" (like above) where they just Assume yer an idiot who can't make sound decisions / Force-feed them on ya.. :rolleyes:

PS: +1 for Stihls 👍

jd
I disconnected the seat sensor thing - even more ridiculous safety - the mower blades won't turn on if it is disconnected :mad: I now have a small lawn so don't care so much. Whenever we find a place, I'm going for no lawn. I like landscaped but lawns are a liability not an asset.
Also - your "safe car" - Oh wow! That would be scary.
 
I have a Bolens from about 2003. Even at that time it is essentially an MTD who also make a vast amount of the new machines. Its a 20 HP machine that mows nearly 3 acres regularly during the summer. Other that typical maintenance it has been trouble free. It is getting to the end of life as it is simply wearing out.
I have made a multitude of mods rendering the "safety" devices more "safe". ;)
At this point I am not sure what I will get next. I will not go "green" nor "yellow" (ie, John Deere or Cub Cadet) as they are too proprietary for their replacement parts and service items. I will not go zero-turn. Not because they don't do a decent job of mowing and reducing the time to do so but because they are a "one-trick-pony". They are designed to do one thing and that is mow. I need tools that can do a multitude of tasks so a zero-turn isn't for me.
 
The Kohler engine is strong. Stay away from Briggs unless it is a Commercial. The Briggs Intek can't be trusted to last more than about 400 hours.

If you're not going to use it real hard the Husqvarna should be ok. They are probably the most popular mower in my area. Don't get the cheaper ones though, they're not too good. If you spent near 2k or more it should be ok. Check if it has a welded deck, welded will last longer than stamped.

Also.check to be sure you've got somebody near you who can service it.
 
I stopped by our local equipment dealer. They sell Cub Cadet and Husky. I found what I think is the same model I saw at Home Depot. After asking about different brands and features. I said what's the difference between buy here or a big box stores. He said we are an authorized service center for what we sell. We won't tell you to call someone else Home Depot, Cub Cadet etc. I said ok I bet the people that didn't buy here go to the back of the line. He just smiled and said we do take care of " our" customers. So I will likely buy from a local shop. I may go look at the green or orange ones. This is the yellow one in our price range.
https://www.cubcadet.com/en_US/prior-year-models/xt1-lt50/13BQA1CZ010.html
 
Their chainsaws aren't near what they used to be. I have an old one, wanted a smaller one, went with Sthil this time
Neither Husky or Stihl chainsaws are the same quality as they used to be. In the old days, Huskies and Stihls were made in Sweden and Germany, respectively. Nowadays, both saws, with the exception of the high end "Pro" saws, are made in the USA for the big box retailers. These USA-made saws are not the quality of the old Swedish and German made saws.
 
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Bought a Cub Cadet in 2007. It has a 22HP Kohler Command V-twin engine. Other than replacing a deck belt once, the drive belt once, a blade spindle housing twice, and many spindle bearings, it does great. I probably would not have had to done several of these repairs if my wife wasn't as tough on the mower. We have a couple of acres to mow that is heavily treed. In addition, we have about a mile of forest trails that she mows once a year. She'll mow over stumps, oak limbs, and gopher mounds; this will kill spindles and spindle bearings. I doubt if any brand will stand up to this abuse. The nice thing is, the Cub Cadet is easy to repair, parts are cheap and readily available, and there are tons of Youtube repair videos.

I would buy a Cub Cadet again.
 
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I had an old Snapper riding mower for a lot of years. Real basic machine and easy to use. I liked that you sat up front and could see really well without the nose of a "tractor" in front of you blocking your view of what you're about to run over. That's like 30 years ago, and it was heavily used when I got it. Previous to that, my dad had one that I used when I lived at home with them... 1970's ish model, probably, that he bought either new or fairly new. Memories...

For the past 12 years or so, I have been using a John Deere zero turn. If I had to buy another one today, I would have a look at what John Deere has for sale though it's been so long since I looked, I wouldn't even know what to expect is for sale out there.

I don't know how you feel about a walk behind mower but we finally bit the bullet and bought a new one of those. The old one was worn out years ago and I've been forcing it to keep going. Wow, what a difference. It's a rear-wheel self-propelled model, can't remember which one, from the local Lowes. Definitely not a cheap one. But that thing is about as close to effortless mowing as I've done in quite a long time. My wife really likes it. And unless the terrain was super steep and hard to even walk on, I doubt either of us would find it all that stressful to mow 2 acres with that. Maybe not an option for some, or even desirable, but a nice push mower can make mowing pretty easy, at least compared to a crappy one.

Good luck!
 
As a funny aside, I have a son-in-law who has about 1500 square feet of lawn to mow. He has two crappy riding lawn mowers and I think one push mower for the kids to use. And we have a son in the Scottsdale, AZ area that has about 500 square feet that he had fake grass "installed" on. Basically, AstroTurf. Before that, he just used a weedeater on the whole thing.

Different strokes for different folks. :)
 
I had an old Snapper riding mower for a lot of years. Real basic machine and easy to use. I liked that you sat up front and could see really well without the nose of a "tractor" in front of you blocking your view of what you're about to run over. That's like 30 years ago, and it was heavily used when I got it. Previous to that, my dad had one that I used when I lived at home with them... 1970's ish model, probably, that he bought either new or fairly new. Memories...

For the past 12 years or so, I have been using a John Deere zero turn. If I had to buy another one today, I would have a look at what John Deere has for sale though it's been so long since I looked, I wouldn't even know what to expect is for sale out there.

I don't know how you feel about a walk behind mower but we finally bit the bullet and bought a new one of those. The old one was worn out years ago and I've been forcing it to keep going. Wow, what a difference. It's a rear-wheel self-propelled model, can't remember which one, from the local Lowes. Definitely not a cheap one. But that thing is about as close to effortless mowing as I've done in quite a long time. My wife really likes it. And unless the terrain was super steep and hard to even walk on, I doubt either of us would find it all that stressful to mow 2 acres with that. Maybe not an option for some, or even desirable, but a nice push mower can make mowing pretty easy, at least compared to a crappy one.

Good luck!
I second that. When I lived on an acreage with a 3 acre yard full of trees, and an actual farm tractor with a belly mower, it was a pain mowing around all the trees. I could go out and mow a couple swaths around the trees and all the buildings with the push mower. Didn't save any time, but it saved me some stress and hassle...
 
If you've got a small yard, those old rear engine, 30 inch deck Snappers are legit. We mowed over 4 acres with those when I was a kid. They don't hold up to that much mowing very well, you'll spend some time and money on repairs, but they're fairly easy and cheap to fix. And they make the lawn look nice. Hint: you can easily upgrade the motor to 12 HP or more, and that will let you know over stuff that you really shouldn't mow over. Like ironweed patches and mulberry saplings. I've...ahem...seen it done...
 
I've...ahem...seen it done...

LOL!! People would probably cringe at some of the things I did with my old Snapper. I had a job that I did with it, close to where I lived, where someone wanted to keep a certain area clean. It was a small "overpass" where a creek went under the road and it wasn't a place road crews and those types wanted to mess with. But the owner of the property right there, actually a nice restaurant like 200 feet from it, wanted it to look nice. It was too big for me to do it all with a weedeater, I could if I had to. But that little snapper could get into some of those small places and make pretty quick work of knocking down a big part of what needed done, then finish it with the weedeater. I did that for several years. Kinda looked like nice lawn when I quit... moved away from the area.

And one nice thing about that snapper, it didn't really weigh all that much. If I got it stuck, I could physically pick it up out of whatever ditch it was in and put those rear tires back on solid ground again. Can't budge my current zero turn as it weighs at least 3 of me, maybe more. Perhaps somethin' to be said for that. :)
 
I don't know if it's a defect of whether it's intended. When I'm workin' on my John Deere zero turn, if I have the seat in the raised position, like to get to the battery or somethin' under there, it will start and run. If the seat is down like it would be for me to sit in it, then, no, my butt has to be planted or it won't even try to start and if it is running, it'll shut off. Whether a "feature" or a "defect", it's something I used just yesterday. (Not sure if it's even relevant, but thought I'd just throw that out there.)
 
Bad interlocks, 15 years ago dad bought a craftsman 22hp OV, 48in deck, non-zero turn. It has 4 interlocks just to start it, the seat, brake, trans in neutral and blade not engaged. The one redeeming feature was a little lever that by passed the seat and brake after you had it running. You could leave it running with the trans in neutral and blade not engaged, just couldn't start it that way. And the ignition key, in the default running position... it'd kill the engine if you shifted to reverse. You had to move it to another position to use reverse while cutting. And God forbid an electrical connection somewhere gets corroded over winter or loosens. I once spent a day and a half trying to start it. I've wanted to take a shotgun to that mower many times. It was like an idiot was in charge of making it idiot proof so other idiots could operate it.
 
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I can kinda understand some of the interlocks but some are just a royal pain. For instance, when the blades shut off because you backed up a little getting around something, even if it were only a tiny bit to get a closer bite around a tree. (I'm thinking that was a Cub Cadet, can't remember exactly which one.) It appears that those that design them aren't the people who actually have to run one of them for any length of time. Most of them aren't too bad to figure out if you at least know where to look for them. I imagine that varies quite a bit from machine to machine. Even my 40 year old Snapper had a couple of them, one on the blade engagement mechanism and one on the forward/reverse lever.
 
Kabota makes a line of mower & small home tractors, but I have not used them.
 
We got this one. I really liked that the tires were 2" larger than most. We went with a bigger mower than we needed so it can do the job without even breathing hard. That seems to help with longevity. Also you only really regret it once. When you pay for it. Oh and I am putting an autobot sticker on it and naming it Bumblebee.
https://www.cubcadet.com/en_US/lawn-and-garden-tractors/xt2-slx54/13AFA2TMA10.html
 

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