A new Mower? - 06/10/13
Y'all were really helpful to a poster here last week regarding his needs for a new mower. I thought I'd start a similar thread. My needs are somewhat different.
I have a 2000 vintage Sears mower, 18.2 hp B&S 42 inch. I bought it used in 2003 at a deep discount. It has been problematic from the start. I mow a couple of acres at the farm, in between the house and the various sheds. I try and do it every weekend, but I may miss a weekend, or I have trouble with the mower, and it starts to get ahead of me.
Then the belt breaks. I can't tell you how many belts I've broken over the years. I have a neighbor who works on mowers. In fact, he put me onto this one. Every time I break a belt, it's $90. I never really minded the expense, because he'd pick up and deliver and I really never had to worry about it. He'd also board my mower over the winter for nothing, and that saved me worrying about having it stolen.
This year, he got to old to work on the mower anymore, so I bought a v-belt and blades from Sears.com and tried to fix it myself.
ARRRRGH!!!! I got it fixed, but the belt broke after less than a 1/2 hour operation.
CHUNG!!!! Kachunck! Sputter. . . Sputter.
The first few years, I beat the thing up pretty badly. The excremental neighbors used to leave stuff in my yard (rocks, tools, bricks, car parts) and I'd find them with the mower. Now that they've been thrown out along with their passel of scrofulous protein-deprived mongrel children, I've been able to keep the mower running much better.
The tires are starting to rot. I can't keep air in one. They've all been plugged and patched numerous times, because the neighbor kids used to play with hawthorn branches
I'm thinking of a new mower.
42" seems about right. I could get that in the shed without modifications. Cub Cadet has one at Home Depot for $1800 with a 22 HP Kohler and a fancy hydrostatic transmission.
Cub Cadet 22HP 42"
Whatcha think?
Before y'all answer, Let me just add that I occasionally do some extra stuff with the mower. For instance, about once a year, I take the mower down the length of our 200 acres and mow a path between the house and the campground. It's about 3/4 of a mile one way. It takes about a half hour to do it. It's an old road, and it has just grass growing-- no worse than my backyard.
There are a couple other paths I do. None of these are particularly demanding in and of themselves-- just grass. However, I did have it opined once by another mower repair guy that I'm "trying to turn the mower into a bush hog. " He then tried to sell me a $10K mower. That isn't a totally inaccurate assessment. However, I have mostly mended my ways and I would be perfectly happy to just keep mowing the places I've been doing for years and refrain from further exploration on the mower.
Also, my yard has some hills to it. This is KY. Finding a 10X10 foot level spot is hard. There's about 6 feet of fall from the back of the house to the edge of where I mow, about 30 yards away. That's gradual. However, there are spots in the yard that require careful planning, or I am spinning my wheels.
Another datum: I'm 300 lbs. My dimensions are those of John Wayne after he went to seed. Think walking landform. Dainty mowers need not apply.
I have a 2000 vintage Sears mower, 18.2 hp B&S 42 inch. I bought it used in 2003 at a deep discount. It has been problematic from the start. I mow a couple of acres at the farm, in between the house and the various sheds. I try and do it every weekend, but I may miss a weekend, or I have trouble with the mower, and it starts to get ahead of me.
Then the belt breaks. I can't tell you how many belts I've broken over the years. I have a neighbor who works on mowers. In fact, he put me onto this one. Every time I break a belt, it's $90. I never really minded the expense, because he'd pick up and deliver and I really never had to worry about it. He'd also board my mower over the winter for nothing, and that saved me worrying about having it stolen.
This year, he got to old to work on the mower anymore, so I bought a v-belt and blades from Sears.com and tried to fix it myself.
ARRRRGH!!!! I got it fixed, but the belt broke after less than a 1/2 hour operation.
CHUNG!!!! Kachunck! Sputter. . . Sputter.
The first few years, I beat the thing up pretty badly. The excremental neighbors used to leave stuff in my yard (rocks, tools, bricks, car parts) and I'd find them with the mower. Now that they've been thrown out along with their passel of scrofulous protein-deprived mongrel children, I've been able to keep the mower running much better.
The tires are starting to rot. I can't keep air in one. They've all been plugged and patched numerous times, because the neighbor kids used to play with hawthorn branches
I'm thinking of a new mower.
42" seems about right. I could get that in the shed without modifications. Cub Cadet has one at Home Depot for $1800 with a 22 HP Kohler and a fancy hydrostatic transmission.
Cub Cadet 22HP 42"
Whatcha think?
Before y'all answer, Let me just add that I occasionally do some extra stuff with the mower. For instance, about once a year, I take the mower down the length of our 200 acres and mow a path between the house and the campground. It's about 3/4 of a mile one way. It takes about a half hour to do it. It's an old road, and it has just grass growing-- no worse than my backyard.
There are a couple other paths I do. None of these are particularly demanding in and of themselves-- just grass. However, I did have it opined once by another mower repair guy that I'm "trying to turn the mower into a bush hog. " He then tried to sell me a $10K mower. That isn't a totally inaccurate assessment. However, I have mostly mended my ways and I would be perfectly happy to just keep mowing the places I've been doing for years and refrain from further exploration on the mower.
Also, my yard has some hills to it. This is KY. Finding a 10X10 foot level spot is hard. There's about 6 feet of fall from the back of the house to the edge of where I mow, about 30 yards away. That's gradual. However, there are spots in the yard that require careful planning, or I am spinning my wheels.
Another datum: I'm 300 lbs. My dimensions are those of John Wayne after he went to seed. Think walking landform. Dainty mowers need not apply.