46 in mower ok for 2.25 acres?

[smithph]

Originally Posted By: dwendt44
48" and 54" mowers have three spindles and three
blades to sharpen as opposed to two for the 42"or 46".

Husqvarna has it's gas tanks up front right behind the engine,
My John Deere has it's tank in the back.

My 2¢


Not all Husqvarna's have fuel tank up front. Most of the Husqvarna mid-grade and up machines have the heavier frames, larger tires and the tank in the rear. My mid-grade YT42LS, as does the YT46LS, also has an auto-locking trans-axel to improve traction on wet grass on slipper slopes.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
48" and 54" mowers have three spindles and three
blades to sharpen as opposed to two for the 42"or 46".


Not necessarily; the 42" deck on my Dixon has three blades...


Yep. The ~38" deck on my 1979 model year Case 220 had 3 blades. That was a very quiet deck as opposed to a present day unit with a 2-blade 46". Those suckers sound like a roaring helicopter.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: smithph
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
48" and 54" mowers have three spindles and three
blades to sharpen as opposed to two for the 42"or 46".

Husqvarna has it's gas tanks up front right behind the engine,
My John Deere has it's tank in the back.

My 2¢


Not all Husqvarna's have fuel tank up front. Most of the Husqvarna mid-grade and up machines have the heavier frames, larger tires and the tank in the rear. My mid-grade YT42LS, as does the YT46LS, also has an auto-locking trans-axel to improve traction on wet grass on slipper slopes.


For lower cost machines, I actually prefer the tank up high under the hood. These are typically gravity feed to the carb bowl as opposed to the units with the fuel tank under the seat. Those require a fuel pump.

Another cheap mower feature I prefer is the ones with the cable actuated "pto" as opposed to the more potential problems with an E-clutch.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: MCompact
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
48" and 54" mowers have three spindles and three
blades to sharpen as opposed to two for the 42"or 46".


Not necessarily; the 42" deck on my Dixon has three blades...


Yep. The ~38" deck on my 1979 model year Case 220 had 3 blades. That was a very quiet deck as opposed to a present day unit with a 2-blade 46". Those suckers sound like a roaring helicopter.

Those long blades bend even hitting a paper cup.

 

[LeakySeals]

I have a 50" Craftsman for an acre. Would like it bigger to reduce time but.. it would not fit in its current home, a 10x16 shed with a standard double door. And the maneuvering in and out of areas would not be as good. So it all depends the terrain. If you need to cut a mostly open field and the tractor will reside in the garage then get as big as you can.

 

[NormanBuntz]

It depends on what you can afford and how much time you want to spend on your lawn. I have a Snapper 46" lawn tractor, and it takes me 50 minutes to cut .75 acres.

 

[boraticus]

Whatever you buy, try to ensure it has either a Honda or Kawasaki engine.

I had a 2002 Husqvarna YT42 15 h.p. Kawasaki and it cut three 1/2 acre lawns all on a 10:1 grade for fourteen years. I moved out of the house but the neighbors are still cutting grass with it. It is an excellent machine if properly maintained. Change oil, grease front wheel bearings and spindles, check tire inflation, clean air filter, blow out grass clippings from engine and under the seat. That's about all I did.

Make sure to blow grass clippings off of the fan that cools the trans-axle. Failure to do so will result in it burning out. Might take a few years but it will happen if you don't.

 

[DR1]

Change your engine oil every 50-100 hrs,and use fully synthetic oil. Im sure the is an oil weight recommendation for the oil but use Mobil 1.
Change that oil filter every oil change too. Your air filter will actually be the most important item to monitor along with your oil.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
...Change oil, grease front wheel bearings and spindles, check tire inflation, clean air filter, blow out grass clippings from engine and under the seat. That's about all I did.

Make sure to blow grass clippings off of the fan that cools the trans-axle. Failure to do so will result in it burning out. Might take a few years but it will happen if you don't.


The above is key.

I use my gas leaf blower to blow off the entire machine after each use. I first give it a reach under with a big wooden stick to scrape the big clumps from under the cutting deck, then I blow the whole machine off. Keep it in clean, dry storage and the machine will last a long time.

Another very important thing to do is keep the cutting deck set so it does not ride the ground when you are mowing. This includes the gauge wheels. The wheels are just intended to keep the deck from scalping/plowing against the ground. Pretty much every residential grade mower is like this.

The number 1 killer of most machines I've seen is from folks mashing the deck all the way to the ground. This tears the deck up, is rough on the transaxle and steering components.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: lawnguy
Change your engine oil every 50-100 hrs,and use fully synthetic oil. Im sure the is an oil weight recommendation for the oil but use Mobil 1.
Change that oil filter every oil change too. Your air filter will actually be the most important item to monitor along with your oil.


I changed the oil and greased once a year, in the spring. Used anything I had laying around, Mostly Rotella 15W40. Machine is 16 years old and the Kawasaki engines is as fresh as new. Still starts easy, runs strong and doesn't burn oil. Never even adjusted the valves. No need for expensive synthetic oil. I'd blow the grass clippings off and out of the machine usually once a week. Do that and the machine will run cooler.

 

[Black_Thunder]

Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
It depends on what you can afford and how much time you want to spend on your lawn. I have a Snapper 46" lawn tractor, and it takes me 50 minutes to cut .75 acres.



what model snapper do you have if i may ask? and what engine?

 

[meep]

I've never owned a tractor style but quite enjoy the small ZTR we have. It's a ariens/gravely. On mine the top speed is deceptive - the cut quality is not as good if I peg the handles. I think it's a 5.5 or 6 mph machine but for the best cut it's probably about 4-4.5 mph. The 14.5 single lung briggs is easy on fuel. The ZTR is not as happy if I ask it to pull something. It does it - but since it's sort of like a skid-steer it will slip around a bit if pulling something while the ground is damp, such as an aerator. That said, I like what we have and it was worth the cost for maneuverability in our yard.

-m

 

[Cujet]

I have an GT235 John Deere with 42 inch deck and 18HP Kawasaki V-Twin. It's good enough for my 2 Florida Acres. Knocks out the job quite quickly and is fun too.

 

[JTK]

On the 42" deck topic, the husqvarna group built 2-blade 42" deck is an excellent deck in terms of cut quality and versatility (mulch, bag, discharge) for the price. OTOH, I don't care for MTDs 42" as much.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: JTK
On the 42" deck topic, the husqvarna group built 2-blade 42" deck is an excellent deck in terms of cut quality and versatility (mulch, bag, discharge) for the price. OTOH, I don't care for MTDs 42" as much.

Agree, I have two and they have worked well for 4.5 acres. The long blades bend easily when you hit something which has been my only problem but that's my doing.