Good Ride On Lawn Mower

[paulk68]

looking to get one and wondering what you guys have and what you like about them?
thanks

[dhutton]

How much land are you planning to mow? Are you thinking lawn tractor or garden tractor? Lawn tractors are light duty, garden tractors are heavier duty, usually with a PTO to support attachments.

[paulk68]

Sorry should have been more clear. i have about an 1 acre. just looking for mowing purpose. would also entertain good walk behind mowers

[smooth68]

I have both a walk behind and a zero turn radius mower....Walk behind is probably sufficient for an acre, very dependable (TORO) and not as expensive as most tractors and Z mowers, then the z mowers are awesome!!! forward and reverse just by the movement of the stick steering, mine mows nicely at a speed of about 6-8 mph, you can mow very close to trees, shrubs, house and cut waaay back on the amount of trimming!!! (My Z mower is also TORO)......I would not recomend a craftsman or "steering wheel drive" type mower at all!!! They are not dependable and too slow, and parts are expensive!.....I know this from experience, I owned a landscaping business for 7 years and sold it after building it up!

[bwhinnen]

I have 1/2 an acre and use a John Deere walk behind (self propelled mower) the JX-75. Has five speeds, clutched blades with safety release, large enough cutting deck and big enough catcher. I can mow the entire 1/2 acre (which is has a rather large slope at the front and a medium one at the back) in about 2 hours using the catcher.

My wife's step-father owns a lawn mowing business and has one of these as the walk behind and also a larger JD ride on as the backup. His main zero turn ride on is a Walker and he swears by it (not at it).

[silver69camaro]

I've had some cheaper riders, and then bought a 48" Deere a couple years back. By far the best mower I've owned.

My yard doesn't have features that really require a zero-turn mower. Honestly, newer mowers now have such a tight turning radius that I'd really have to justify the extra cost of owning one.

[gearheads78]

I can tell you what not to get. I bought a Murry 42" from Home Depot when I moved in to my house 7 years ago. It is a complete piece of crap:machine:I have a 1/2 acre and if things get even a little tall it will start to bog or slip the belt. My Honda push mower does better.

[Paul_J]

I have a Cub Cadet. I mow about an acre with it and use the big ford tractor to do the rest. I really like having the Hydrostatic drive!

[dhutton]

My advice would be to avoid anything made by MTD. Unfortunately they have bought up just about every name out there: Murray, Snapper, Bolens, Husquavarna (I think), Cub Cadet to name a few. Look closely, they usually just differ by cosmetics.

I think Toro still makes their own mowers but the commercial ones are about the only ones well made. They bought out Wheel Horse several years ago. Honda mowers are usually quite good. John Deere is good as above. Kubota makes some small diesel lawn tractors.

Watch out for the big box stores, they usually sell cheap cost reduced versions made just for them.

[Andrew McBride]

Being around the turf industry, I recommend honda for a push mower. John Deere is ok for residential grade mowers but you are getting a briggs motor which is the same motor in a lot of MTD's and other various brands at Lowes. ect. If you look at home depot and Lowes most of the mowers are built a lot of like, and are owned by the same company.

John Deere commercial grade are very nice, but regular stuff is nothing special. I know a few people with riding Troy builts with Kohlers and I think they are a good price and work well for a home lawn.

If you want a zero radius, get a Ferris. Excellent mowers. Or Toro.
Honda is a great push mower.

[TERMN8OR]

I have about an acre and use a zero turn bobcat. I picked it up off a landscaper that was looking to buy a new machine. I Love it. Scag and toro are also great machines.

[bwhinnen]

Being around the turf industry, I recommend honda for a push mower. John Deere is ok for residential grade mowers but you are getting a briggs motor which is the same motor in a lot of MTD's and other various brands at Lowes. ect. If you look at home depot and Lowes most of the mowers are built a lot of like, and are owned by the same company.

John Deere commercial grade are very nice, but regular stuff is nothing special. I know a few people with riding Troy builts with Kohlers and I think they are a good price and work well for a home lawn.

If you want a zero radius, get a Ferris. Excellent mowers. Or Toro.
Honda is a great push mower.

Depends on which model JD you get. The walk behind I have has the Kawasaki motor in it not the Briggs, we bypassed the Briggs motor models straight away.

Have to agree on the Honda mowers as well, the JD replaced a 10 year old Honda SP in which the SP mechanism had died.