following on the general chat theme - whats a good cheap ride on mower

[h0ughy]

looking at getting a cheap ride on mower - any tips and thoughts?

[pmrid]

G'day David.
You want both GOOD and CHEAP. Hmmm! That's a toughie. A goat with a saddle might fit both but not much else.

Avoid the fancy names that look flash but are made of plastic. Greenfield is a good solid brand that makes good solid (not flashy) machines. Cox is another. But cheap?? Only second-hand and then you're in the land of false economies.
Peter

[jenchris]

Craftsman , American 15hp brigggs and stratton
Had mine over 10 years.
Still runs perfectly. Simple cheap maintenance.

[codemonkey]

Not sure about cheap but a Hustler zero turn radius will probably serve you well. You won't regret getting a ZTR... well, assuming your block isn't steep, as they're not good on slopes.

[GrahamL]

Hi Dave

I was servicing/ repairing our comercial zero turns (toro ,,hustler ) for quite a few years.

and they are a great bit of gear , the hustler though was pretty awkward to deal with service wise and I never got to really like it in regard,it eventually got traded for a toro.

The toro zeros are a well made bit of gear and most service tasks and pricing for the basics arn't to crazy ,I personally would only buy one new though if your thinking one of these, the rebuild or replacement of the wheel drives and pumps of these, and they do wear out, is quite high ,bumping into a rebuild on any of these componants on a second hand unit could easily run past what you paid for it and some.

The older yard type ride ons are fairly robust and easily /cheaply
fixed , I have friend who has an old victa ,whenever a lever or part breaks off he sinply welds another on and away he goes for a decade or more :)

[torana68]

I have a Toro 419, kawasaki V Twin I wouldnt buy an older anything with a briggs engine, there seems to be a few about with broken conrods. I think they had a QC problem for a while and got dropped by a few makers. The only ***** is blades that come loose. Parts supply is pretty good.
My neighbour has a Husqvarna, same Kawasaki engine, has lighter steering and is easier to get on/off, seems pretty nice. The blades are on a spline and cannot come loose.

[mithrandir]

Not a ride-on but my mower has a B&S motor - marked "Not for sale in California" because of their pollution laws.

[acropolite]

I've owned Husqvarna and Toro.

My Toro was a lemon, the manufacturers knew it was a lemon as did the dealers, I found out long after the warranty had expired that the Toro I had was prone to transmission problems due to poorly machined castings, the only remedy was to replace the transmission, something they obviously didn't want to do. I used the Toro for 4 years before giving up in frustration and buying a Husqvarna.

The Husqvarna, on the other hand, has been fantastic, the Kawasaki V twin engine is reliable, nothing has broken in over 10 years.

The Husqvarna also cuts faster and smoother than the Toro ever did, in grass where the Toro bogged down the Husky cruised through at a faster pace with less fuss.

Rather than buy cheap, spend a little extra on a Husky. FWIW in my area we all have 2-3000 square metre blocks, almost all have Huskys.

[h0ughy]

thanks guys for the feedback

[hotspur]

We have a cox,have not had any major issues with it,we bought it new.

If you are on a budget-try looking for an older style cox-there a white colour from memory,but the seem to be very tough and keep on going.

Ours is a newer green one cost $3000 new 13HP. Always best to buy new if you can.Greenfields is another mower I have heard good reports on.

Shop around-go to a few larger dedicated mower and small engine retail stores,take the time to sit in the machine,and check it all out,do not be in a hurry to buy one (you wont need one in a hurry if its as dry down there as it is here). many of the larger mower stores will do deals,to get a sale-we took a really crapy ride-on in and they traded it on the new one-did not expect to get as much we did off-it was so bad-my wife thought they would say no,but I got $200 off. Also ask for extras-full can,extra service etc.

Once you have your ride on-check Ebay for blades-they can usually be purchased there cheaper than mower shop.

Look forward to see image of your mower when you get it!

[Baddad]

I have a Greenfields 22 HP ride on. 11 Yrs old. maintaining 2acres regularly and a few times each year a second grassy block. Briggs & Straton motor.

Its served me well. Gets along at 14klm/hr.

A failing of the twin cutter disc type is that when the blades wear, it leaves a trail of uncut grass through the middle. Single disc is better.

Friend has a Toro. 7yr old. $800 repair bill. Replace carby. Old fuel gummed it up. Has othe issues as well.
:)
Cheers

[RB]

Why not change the lawn to Astroturf?
Serves a dual purpouse, no mowing needed and it compliments the dome.

:P

[LewisM]

:poke:You could lose some kilo's PUSHING a mower... better still, push a broken down Chinese made ride on around. That's get ya fit (I damned well need to do the same myself!)

:)

Or, do like a neighbour did - concrete the whole yard. :doh:

[h0ughy]

sometimes Lewis i think you need to think before posting :rolleyes:- the reason i am looking is because of the back injury i have. I currently have a self propelled mower but that is putting strain on my back and i was just looking at an alternative

[h0ughy]

would the goat really work ;)

[PeterM]

Masters sell the Troybilt brand very cheap. Not sure on quality. I used to sell John Deere they are good machines. Be careful to buy the right machine if you have any slope on your block.

[louie_the_fly]

I have one for sale. Rover Rancher. Good unit. Has a Briggs & Stratton engine. But you're too far away.

I saw some advertised in an online farm equipment magazine, but I don't remember where. Sorry.

[LewisM]

Well, I didn't read your autobiography, so I sincerely apologise.

No harm intended.

I guess this means no more taking the EQ8 to Astrofest from now on (again, NO harm intended)

[Ric]

:lol: Hey David, goats work really well but be preprepared for their scorched earth policy on anything under 2 metres.

You'll be left with nothing but dirt and rocks, then they will start on the rocks.:D

[casstony]

Automatic is much more convenient than manual gears.

For $2200 I bought a 42" Yard Pro which is decent though the motor bent a push rod which was fixed under warranty. It has the low end Kohler Courage motor - might be worth looking for the higher end Kohler motor or the Kawasaki motor.

[GrahamL]

And when they deal with under two meters Ric ,, then they go up :D

cheapest lawn mower you can ever buy ,,kids love em ,, and they are endearing animals,,if your a bit flexible in what you want in a yard :)

[cometcatcher]

My ride-on is harder on my back than a self propelled mower.

[Ric]

:rofl: That's awesome Graham.

[h0ughy]

so you get jarring through the seat?:question:

[cometcatcher]

Feels like it. It's not just my mower either. My sister and bro-in-law have a big space to mow and their (larger) ride on gives them a sore back also. But we have bumpy areas to mow where the animals sometimes dig holes. You should be okay if you have level ground with no holes.

My couple of acres is easy enough to get through with the walk behind and to date it hasn't flared up my back. I just bought one of those cheap ebay ones for $300. It's not all that powerful but it's okay as long as I don't mow guinea grass with it. It's a bludge compared to a push mower.

[taminga16]

h0ughy,
When you purchase a mower, take a trip to the local motor wrecker and purchase a lap type seat belt, it will ease the bumping about considerably.
Greg.
P.S. When you fit it use plates for added strength.
Edit. Look at the seat spring set up and if you feel that it is too light use a tennis ball or two to stiffen things up a bit, these can be 'tuned' by drilling holes into them. Just a few tricks from on and off all sorts of equipment for 30 years.

[h0ughy]

well this is a complete turnaround. I tested a ride on and surprise surprise it was not good for my back, no support in the seating and was very bumpy. Then a funny thing happened to my self propelled mower - the motor seized, well in actual fact the crank case split and the piston rod shattered. that mower was under warranty, so took it to get fixed. well that process may take a while so had to get another mower in the meantime, aldi has one that was self propelled that mulched for a bargain price - got it and works a treat but having to mow the old house still i needed to be able to move the mower - again aldi to the rescue - ramps. LIGHTBULB - i can use the ramps for astro gear loading in the car - ie the eq8 and cases.

still arguing about the warranty with toro

[RB]

I'll have to check out the local Aldi store, those ramps are a good idea !
So you're happy with the mower then, might have a look at one myself.

Thanks for the heads-up Davo.

:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

there might no be too many left RB- i had to go to three Aldi stores before i found some stock at Hamilton store, after i left they had 9 left. for the record i saw a heap of generators and a few solar panels with heaps of batteries, had to bypass those - the urge was strong to get one or two:lol:

as for the mower - i got the aldi one last weekend - had to as i had to mow both properties. I am currently in dispute through dept of fair trading and Newcastle chainsaws and mowers and Toro about this one. knew it would take a while that's why i bought the aldi mower. does a great job for the price. for $389 it mulches, catches and chutes ;) where my heap of toro did do that - for over a grand. the ramps i got are very light, and they certainly do the job:thumbsup:. i wished i had them years ago:rolleyes:. the way things are going you would think i live and breathe everything from aldi - geez i am even typing this on a medion laptop from aldi:rofl:

also for the record i did try a few ride-ons, a yard bug,a mtd go cart style , a bigger masport version, then a toro zero turn - far too big but a lot of fun. in the end the ride was rough and they didn't suit my back, the sudden jerking killed it for me.

[taminga16]

Some of the mowers that you mention are very small with cramped seating positions. I have an LT series Husqvarna, it has a full size seating position, but I have done the tennis ball mod to the seat.
The ramps look the goods David.
Greg.

[acropolite]

@RB, those ramps also come up on special at Supercheap auto. @dave, good luck with Toro, I had no luck with my mower, I'll never buy another Toro product again.

[sheeny]

FWIW I got my ramps from Supercheap. Get the ones with the curved top section so the mower clears the transition;).

I have a Jonserred with 38" cut. They're are out of the same factory as the Husky's... common parts etc. I'm not sure which way round the ownership runs, but that doesn't matter. Its been an excellent mower.

Al.

[RB]

Thanks David and Phil, I'll check out those ramps.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[LewisM]

Husqvarna owns Jonserred (as well as a BUNCH of other brands, including McCullogh etc). Excellent product, though their tillers can be problematic.

[GrahamL]

What did the ramps cost Dave ? , We bought some that look identical to those and from memory they cost quite a bit.

[h0ughy]

they now come with Honda engines - no more briggs and stratton motors - makes me wonder why:question:

[h0ughy]

got them for 49.95 each reduced from 69.95