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Indian?

I have one too. The best one I've owned so far. Of course all my other ones were used junk.

The world's changing man. Used to be mowing threads with talk of what kind of cold beer in the holder and whatz yer mower gun now we've got air con cabins and desert coffee? Damn!

Dot or Feather? Just trying to get my bearings

dot or feather?

You kept it going all the way, nicely played. Way to work in most of the important topics too.

I had a Simplicity and it was a great mower. My yard has some incline to mow so I got a shaft drive Cub. The Simplicity does a far better cut than most IMHO.

I'm at the point where I don't really care about brand

engine ,deck,transmission

the label on the front becomes irrelevant

I mow 6ish acres of uneven yard and strip around the strip pit with a skag zero turn equipped with a 29 horse feul injected kohler and 60" deck. Mows faster than you can stay in the seat and does an excellent job. My only complaint is that it gets stuck easily and it keeps me to busy to drink beer on the fly.

That’s because it’s pretty true. The majority are MTDs. Even JD (until you get into the 300 line and above).

Lawn tractor, zero turn, or hovercraft mower - find a dealer that provides service to what they sell.

Wheel Horse
That’s a man’s mower

Comes with blue, old man overhauls


lol

Damn, now you got Bristoe scouring the Facebook marketplace for one....

Haha

I haven't kept up with the new stuff for the last 10 years or so. Used to be Cub Cadet had three different lines, The cheap ones were typical box store junk. The 2000 and 3000 series were much better. Heavier gauge decks with swiveling deck wheels, shaft drive, better engines {Kohler and kawasaki }. I used to mow 16 acres a week. Had a 2186 Cub, an X530 JD and a Wheel Horse 312. Each got about 500 hrs a year on them. The JD was the turd of the bunch. Required a lot more maintenace and repairs than the other two, despite being the most expensive of the three by far. The shaft drive Cub was pretty good in comparison. The star was the Wheel Horse 312. That thing had 1500 hours on it when we got it and 4500 when we traded it in. In all those hours of use the only thing it needed was new belts once in awhile, a new cable, oil/filter changes and grease all the fittings once in awhile. The $8000.00 JD was a cheap POS in comparison. The damned thing had way too much plastic for the price. Even had a plastic tensioner pulley for the the drive belt which routinely broke every 80-100 hrs. and JD charged 20.00 for a new one. If you didn't replace it before it broke, it would take the 80.00 drive belt with it every time and sometimes the 60.00 deck belt too.

Every where I’ve mowed grass is on a hill side or mountain side hydrostatic drive is useless in such situations and front mount motor rear wheel drive is about the same the baddest of them all is a snapper rear engine they are tanks but no longer made disconnect the seat safety switch and you can mow any thing shifting your weight

In the last 6 or so years things have changed big, All of MTD's stuff is about maximizing profit quality be damned. But their not alone most of the manufacturers are of the same mind, build it to get it through warranty and the rest is on the purchaser. A long time ago MTD built some pretty decent stuff but anymore it's just junk.

MTD even has done things like make their pulleys different enough to make it so a standard v-belt would not work well so the owner had to purchase MTD branded belts if he wanted them to last very long. As to the Cub Cadets you're right they made a few different series but the major parts were interchangeable. For instance the decks would be of a heavier gauge and some decks would have different wheels but the bearings in the spindles and pulleys would be the same but carry different part numbers, I always thought this and the belt thing a little shady.

Wheelhorse used to build a great tractor but it appears they only make Zero Turns now ( I just looked up their product line) I don't know what Toro was thinking, maybe the market demanded that move.

I'm surprised at the trouble you had with the JD x series, usually their rock solid, was it one of the first or second years of manufacture? A lot of manufactures, John Deere included don't do a whole lot of testing anymore they just build to known standards and let the consumer test it for them. The first couple of years are the worst for most L&G tractors.

Husqvarna used to be the top consumer grade tractor but even they have slipped into the abyss of tractor cheapness.

I'm absolutely disgusted with most stuff manufactured nowadays, that's why I run the old stuff, the new stuff just is not worth the money they want for it. I can take an old tractor and replace the engine, fix a few things neglected by the previous owner and have a much better tractor for less money.

I also do things like replace the drive pulley on the deck to speed up the blades so I can cut with a faster ground speed. I just replaced the pulley on a 300 series 50" deck. it originally came with a 7" pulley so I changed it to a 5" pulley, Lol, damn thing sounds like it's going to take off when the blades spin up but it can cut fast and it gives a really nice cut. I'll probably have to replace spindle bearings a little more often but I can handle that pretty easy.

Ole Yeller..........

actually have been using 4 summers now......

Does what it supposed to.....

Use a Landpride 60" zero turn, it's a tank

If buying a small tractor, I'd be looking for a used 1980's-1995 garden tractor. They are built to last, are serviceable, and have decent engines with heavy gauge components. Simplicity/Allis Chalmers/Deutz/Allis Argo/Case/International/Ford etc etc all great machines that you can still find parts for and rebuild the engines if need be.

The lawn tractors today are what I call throw aways, cheaply built non serviceable junk. Most of the them have cheap carbs, OHVs, and require regular valve lash adjustments to stay running or you'll have problems with starting and running. The frames, decks, spindles, and pulleys just don't hold up and many of the transmissions are sealed and non serviceable.

If going zero turn, look for a lightly used commercial mower. If buying homeowner make sure you purchase heavy duty model as far as welded construction and look for a model with proven track record and warranty.

Whichever you buy, make sure to follow regular service intervals, keep blades sharp, deck clean/leveled. A deeper deck also provides a better cut.

SD

any new diesel engine especially on a JD have expensive complicated computers that mess up the engine for emissions which makes them junk. another gift from the EPA. JD also tells you that you dont even own the engine the computers are theirs not yours