Used Riding Lawnmower - Which Brand and Model

[meep]

Half acre doesn’t need a large rider. I have a 34” ZTR and if anything it’s done too soon. Ariens zoom 34 has been a good mower. There are certainly times where I’d like the sturdier quality of a LT but for cutting grass and dragging things around it has done everything I need and can ramp up into the bed of the truck if needed. Smaller rider stores easier in the garage too.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I have two homes and 4 riding tractors. All have B&S motors that have served me very well. Two are built by Husqvarna and one is a Troy Bilt Horse model with 46" deck and one is an old Murray that came from my sisters home when she could no longer mow her own yard. The old Murray is a 38" with 12.5hp Briggs and still mows great. Had to replace one spindle on it but on the Husquvarnas no spindles. The Husqs have 42" decks that are very sturdy and one is a hydro-stat that has given us no trouble and is near 30 years old. If you have hilly ground like we have at one home we use the manual trans Husq. It has 19.5 single cylinder B&S and the hydro model has a 20hp single B&S. Neither one has had any issues. I service them annually and keep up with belts and blades myself. Blade speed is highest on the Troy-Bilt and the Murray so they make a slightly better looking job, but I am not picky since I have to do it again next week.

 

[Not Sure]

I’d say forget about a residential grade rider and go with a commercial grade walk behind unit. You can usually pick up an old belt drive 50 something inch walk behind for under a grand and they are built like tanks compared with residential grade machines. Throw a sulky on a walk behind mower and you have a poor man’s stander.

However if you have a wet yard like mine avoid a belt drive mower and try to find a hydrostatic unit like my old Ferris walk behind. I bought it off a landscaper for dirt cheap because it was a pain to change the cutting hight on requiring shims and spacers on both the blades and wheels to be added or removed to adjust it. Not a problem for a homeowner who is going to set it once and probably never have to change it again, but a royal pain for a landscaper who may have to change the cutting hight at every job to meet each customers requirement. Sure it has a ton of hours on it and needed some work. However it has been far far far more reliable, and bulletproof then any residential grade rider or zero turn I have ever had.