Best entry level riding mower

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted by thastinger
I had an MTD yard machine that lasted 14 years, I only sold it to buy a wright stander.

I think the majority of the budget riders are made in the same factory and you'll most likely rot out the deck before the mower quits on you.
I consider any mower with a stamped deck to be a budget mower, as the deck is the first place you'll have issues.

I'm from the school that says we must stay within budget, should the mower not be pressed into overtime, hilly, multi acres weekly work.
If all we can afford is a Yard Machine - the warranty is satisfactory and we prefer new to used, then lets get the Yard Machine.

 

[skyactiv]

I live on 5 acres and have 3 to mow. I have a Ferris stand on rider. Nothing wrong with the Ferris, but if I had to choose again, I'd go with Wright.

 

[Eddie]

MTD make fairly good BANG-FOR-THE BUCK mowers . I had one for with a B&S 17 HP B&S engine that never gave any problems in the 10 years I owned it. Sold locally who still runs it 5 years later. Remember; people can wreck any mower if they abuse it and don't maintain it. Ed

 

[UncleDave]

Whats the story on the fabricated deck being an issue?

Isn't the gauge just as important as the manufacturing process?

UD

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by thastinger
I had an MTD yard machine that lasted 14 years, I only sold it to buy a wright stander.

I think the majority of the budget riders are made in the same factory and you'll most likely rot out the deck before the mower quits on you.
I consider any mower with a stamped deck to be a budget mower, as the deck is the first place you'll have issues.

I'm from the school that says we must stay within budget, should the mower not be pressed into overtime, hilly, multi acres weekly work.
If all we can afford is a Yard Machine - the warranty is satisfactory and we prefer new to used, then lets get the Yard Machine.


Unfortunately budgets a factor in this particular purchase.
There is a lot to buy right now moving to this land, and to get it all in some semblance of reasonableness I have to stick to a budget.

Trying to keep it to 2K.

UD

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by IndyIan
If your back is in good shape I don't see a problem with the cheaper smaller mowers. Cutting grass doesn't require that much technology. The biggest problem I've had with my very used $300 craftsman HST is tubing the very old tires and I should change the trans fluid one of these years. I also need to buy a solenoid but starting it with a screw driver is kind of fun too.
How many hours a year are you going to be on it? 1.5 hours a week? For your yard I think I'd get the a smaller HST mower, keep the top of the trans free of grass and you'll get lots of years out of it.


I travel often, and sometimes its Mrs Uncle Dave that does the lawn work.
She's pushed mowed more than her share of stuff, and now that were a bit older were saving the manual stuff for more rewarding activities like gardening or animal care. Guessing the rider would get about 1.5 a week, for about 40 weeks a year so not much, but its 2.5-3 to do with a walk behind 22" with not great fwd.
A wide deck self propelled s being looked at. Something with a 30-33" deck thats got large rear wheels might work out, but id really like a rider as I can use it to drag a cart and tools around as well.

UD

 

[thastinger]

Originally Posted by skyactiv
I live on 5 acres and have 3 to mow. I have a Ferris stand on rider. Nothing wrong with the Ferris, but if I had to choose again, I'd go with Wright.


Thats funny. I have a Ferris 61" for the 8 acres I cut at the vacation place but I have a Wright stander 36 for the half acre city house lot...has a lot of fences, flower beds etc.
The Ferris has a MUCH better cut, not saying the wright isn't a decent cut, maybe its because its only a 36 is why the cut isn't great.

 

[Alfred_B]

The only issue I have had with budget lawn tractors have been the BandS engines losing compression after a few years. At that point it's not worth much so a new one makes more sense. The transmission and everything else work just fine after years of hard work.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
The only issue I have had with budget lawn tractors have been the BandS engines losing compression after a few years. At that point it's not worth much so a new one makes more sense. The transmission and everything else work just fine after years of hard work.

That often happens with neglected equipment.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted by thastinger
Originally Posted by skyactiv
I live on 5 acres and have 3 to mow. I have a Ferris stand on rider. Nothing wrong with the Ferris, but if I had to choose again, I'd go with Wright.


Thats funny. I have a Ferris 61" for the 8 acres I cut at the vacation place but I have a Wright stander 36 for the half acre city house lot...has a lot of fences, flower beds etc.
The Ferris has a MUCH better cut, not saying the wright isn't a decent cut, maybe its because its only a 36 is why the cut isn't great.

Iv'e never used a Wright, but the pad on them looks better when the mower is at an angle. The Ferris has side bolsters which kinda sucks when wanting to stand straight up when the mower is at an angle.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
The only issue I have had with budget lawn tractors have been the BandS engines losing compression after a few years. At that point it's not worth much so a new one makes more sense. The transmission and everything else work just fine after years of hard work.

That often happens with neglected equipment.

I don't neglect my equipment

 

[nascarnation]

I've had oil leaks from the engine and hydrostatic trans.
Multitude of electrical problems....they put all the circuits on a sh*tty circuit board that fails every two years AND it's only sold with the ignition key assembly soldered to it for a ridiculous price. Not only isn't the board in any kind of housing, but it appears they don't even use conformal coating after the soldering process is complete.

One of the draft arms for the deck cracked in half...must be the lowest grade steel available worldwide...easy to fix cause I welded it back together with a reinforcement plate.

The belt tensioner assembly on the 48in deck is a part designed to fail about every 150 hours and costs 85 bucks. If you catch it before it breaks, you can add some weld to beef it up. I may never have to buy another one of those. Their belt prices are pretty outrageous but you can match them up at NAPA.

I've run an old IH Cub and a 90s WheelHorse under similar conditions and never seen problems like these.
Since I'm able to fix all this myself, it's more of an annoyance but I feel for anyone who has to haul it off to the dealer and pay the big bucks for labor.

 

[gman2304]

UD, you might consider a 30" Snapper rider. Think Forrest Gump. Talking entry level here. The single blade makes for a nice cut, stores vertically in the garage, can handle a small lawn cart, battery and pull start, and several models well under your $2,000 dollar budget. IIRC Snapper also makes a 30" self propelled walk behind as well. " That's all I have to say about that" !

 

[Silverado12]

I bought a used (2018 model) Troy Bilt Pony from an older guy who was downsizing his house last year. I have used it for over a year now and the previous owner used it for a year and no inherent issues with MTD/Troy Bilt. I did have an issue with the carb that I'm almost positive was caused by bad gas from the previous owner, but I got a carb kit and rebuilt the carb with no issues since. It was flooding the engine with fuel so the float valve was stuck. The Pony is the basic model with a 42" deck and I have the bagger attachment for it which works well. Cub Cadet is also a MTD product although it seems to be higher end.