What you guys think about the mower brands? Troy Built, Cub Cadet, Juan Deere? I have 2.5 acres of grass/weeds in Northern AZ and sick of pushing it. Was thinking about going 46” but have some uneven terrain in the front, would a smaller cutting deck be better?
I have a Cub Cadet 46" I bought last year and like it pretty well. I was the first one I've had with a hydrostatic (sp?) transmission and it's great and cuts mowing time down by at least 25%. If I had 2.5 acres, I'd get the biggest deck I could afford. A 46" will do it, but bigger would do it better.
I know a lot of people that look at 60 HP cab ag tractors to mow just a few acres. Biggest problem is they try to mow too fast and get a sh*tty cut and strain their equipment or they run over stuff and tear things up
What you guys think about the mower brands? Troy Built, Cub Cadet, Juan Deere? I have 2.5 acres of grass/weeds in Northern AZ and sick of pushing it. Was thinking about going 46” but have some uneven terrain in the front, would a smaller cutting deck be better?
They are all about the same......most are made by MTD with the exception of Deere, Ariens, and Husqvarna. The ones you find at Lowes and Home Depot are probably gonna have 11 gauge decks which will wear out way before the rest of the mower unless you have a pristine lawn with no bare spots where the deck gets sandblasted on a regular basis. You can beat the system if you are or know a welder who can patch the deck up for you when the time comes.....probably in about 10 years.
I think department store mowers are a decent value....you'll get 10 years out of one, more if you get the deck patched. I have a Troy Bilt that I got second hand that is about 14 years old......previous owner put it through hell. Engine is fine, transmission is getting gimpy, deck has been patched. That is not an endorsement of them.....its an MTD machine.
You'll pay more for a Deere and get absolutely nothing for it but a green paint job on the low end models.
I don't see paying up for a "commercial tractor" if all you want is to cut grass. For the coin they cost, get a zero turn.
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
Cub cadet here bud, 2 1/2 acres riverfront, thick grass up here, April til end of June I mow twice a week, I run a 25 hp with a 50” deck, triple blade
Ping pong balls for the win. Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
Ariens and JD are your best choices for longevity.
They aren't all the same just because they're built by MTD. MTD builds them to a spec., different specs for different companies and different lines within a company.
Finally a thread I know more than a little about! Skip the big box schit all you are buying there are schit models...yes there are differences in dealer machines and big box machines. Lowes,Home Depot order huge amounts and American Tractor builds 99%of them under license of brand names. It may say Kohler or Kawasaki on the engine but they are built to the specs American Tractor tells them to build it to. The steel for the deck needs to be 10ga at a min. Spindle need to be cast iron not steel, pulleys need to be greaseable with zerts, etc. And do not even mention proper setups or repairs. Find a dealer for Ariens,Scag,JD and compare those to the box store models,i.e. JD L 130 or 150 are junk look at 200 and 300 series tractors. You'll always find people that say, " I can buy 3 of these for the price of 1 of them...etc. Yeah but how much do you want to be aggravated? DON'T get the idea bigger HP means better for grass even heavy wet grass a good quality 10 hp is plenty
![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/sfqSdx1J/9-BEBB1-F8-9886-4-C82-AE8-F-DB0-A64-ABC1-DE.jpg)
[/url]
