Buying a riding mower (gas, sales)

[PortStLucieWater]

Originally Posted by SeetheUSA

I just gotta say, I think it's hilariously stupid to buy a lawn tractor for the 1/4 acre lawns in FL. Nobody needs one for that small of a yard. I just laugh watching these people pay over $1k to drive 10ft, reverse, go 10ft, etc. Either buy a self propelled or have it mowed for you.

To each their own. My property is a corner lot sitting on "technically" 1/3rd of an acre. However, when you count the land that is not "technically" mine that I need to mow (the side and front swales) it is probably closer to 1/2 acre. I was spending 4 hours a week to mow the front and back yards. With my new ride on it takes me 45 minutes. (About 20 mins for the front and about 20 minutes for the back). Also my lawn has quite a bit of "hills" and other uneven terrain and I was leaning towards a mower with 4 scalping wheels. The cheaper ones did not have that option.

I'd say gaining 3 hours a week back of my life plus not killing myself in the sun and heat is well worth the price paid.

[alsidw]

No offense taken. I am just trying to spend my money wisely. BTW, I looked at my collection of Consumer Reports magazines just now and the May 2013 issue has ratings on mowers and tractors. Looks like for me it is a toss up between a Craftsman model 28856 and a Husqvarna YTH21K46, both recommended by CR. Now to find a sale!!!
Even still I still have to trim around six palms, walkways, driveway and 250 feet of swale. The city trims it but looks like they do it only every 6-8 weeks. I am a neat freak and that just is not enough to suit me.

[MartinEden99]

Originally Posted by SeetheUSA

I just gotta say, I think it's hilariously stupid to buy a lawn tractor for the 1/4 acre lawns in FL. Nobody needs one for that small of a yard. I just laugh watching these people pay over $1k to drive 10ft, reverse, go 10ft, etc. Either buy a self propelled or have it mowed for you.

I know what you mean & get the sentiment. I understand it more in Florida though as you have to mow your lawn every week for like 9 or 10 months (if not more some years). After a while some people just want it done in 15 minutes & go about their day.

I lived in upstate New York for a few years. I had some neighbor there (just about a 1/4 acre typical suburban lot) that had a rider. I used to laugh as grass really only grows rapidly for about 3 months out of the year. So going 2 or even 3 weeks without mowing isnt completely sloppy looking. This guy would cut his grass like every week & sometimes twice.

[PortStLucieWater]

Originally Posted by alsidw

No offense taken. I am just trying to spend my money wisely. BTW, I looked at my collection of Consumer Reports magazines just now and the May 2013 issue has ratings on mowers and tractors. Looks like for me it is a toss up between a Craftsman model 28856 and a Husqvarna YTH21K46, both recommended by CR. Now to find a sale!!!
Even still I still have to trim around six palms, walkways, driveway and 250 feet of swale. The city trims it but looks like they do it only every 6-8 weeks. I am a neat freak and that just is not enough to suit me.

Hey Sid, just so you know the 28856 is the YT4000. (The one pslhomie and myself have)[I have the 46" model]
The 28856 is also made by Husqvarna.

I was looking at that Husqvarna model too but it didn't appear to have the "easy oil change" tube that the Craftsman had. Be sure to ask about that. I also didn't choose it because it only had 2 scalping wheels and I wanted 4. (That's more of a personal preference thing)

The good thing is Lowes & Sears are right next to each other in Vero Beach so you can literally go back and forth between the 2 asking questions and sitting on the mowers. That is exactly what I did.

[wireyourworld]

During rainy season, now, we have to mow every 3 days. And it generally has to happen in the morning as it most likely will rain after lunch.

We use the self propelled now, but mainly because we have too many plants and trees for a rider. i wanted the honda because its front wheel drive helps pull through sandy patches and its a fast walk. We have our yard fenced in thirds for dog separation. We pretty much never mow the entire 1.25 acres in one day. We do a third one day a third and along the canal the next day and so forth. It now takes about 45 minutes to do one third.

There will probably be sales around memorial day. Doubt there will be one for mothers day, they think women dont mow I guess.

I think both Lowes and home depot do 6 month no interest financing.

[pslhomie]

Well Sid what ever tractor you go with (I like my craftsman have two neighbors with mowers over 10 years old and going strong) it will pay for it's self in a little over a year by the savings you get from doing your lawn yourself. It takes me about 40 minutes from start to finish and most of that is weed eating. My lawn is in great shape. I only mow every two weeks and once a month in the winter.

[alsidw]

Whew, just cut the lawn with my28 inch Snapper Riding mower. Almost flipped over cutting the swale. I tried the wheels on one side on the rubber swale and the other side on the lawn, it was really scary, I will not do that again. It took an hour and a half and no weed eating. Still have to get out the Honda self propelled for the back yards and under the bouganvilla vines on the side- boy! do they have some thorns and they will give your rider a flat in no time if you are not careful to rake up all the trimmings. I bought a battery powered leaf blower and that makes things easier and the battery fits the weed eater too. I am bushed. It has been 2 weeks since the knee scope and still stiff and hurty.
Honestly I hate to buy new but I probably will. I am on Social security and cheap but I agree in the long run new is best. My neighbor came over with his aged 42 inch Murray, and now I realize how easy it can be. I learned all height settings are relative. On his Murray I set it to the max setting of 6 and it still scalped my lawn in a new places near the swale, on my Snapper it has 5 settings and I use the #4 setting to get a thick St. Augustine lawn. I originally used #5 but the lawn was impossible to walk thru. For some reason they located my mailbox in front of my house even though my house is on the corner and is a side entrance design. I am requesting the post office to allow me to relocate my mailbox to the driveway entrance on the side of the house like everyone else; now it is in front of my house as I said and I have to walk across and down a 50 foot steep lawn and cross the swale and cross another 2 feet of grass just to get to the mailbox, then the trek back. I am afraid one day my wife may fall walking thru the thick carpet of grass and then I will wish I had moved the mailbox. The mail carrier was cool with it and she suggested a short note requesting the move for her supervisor but she could not officially tell me it was ok to move it. Well, Sears here we come. I will wait until the Memorial Day ads come out before I pull the trigger.
Sid

[HarryWho?]

Sid how steep is the hill beyond your swale? It can be dangerous on a rider. They don't recommend them over 15 degrees and they get hairy over 20. Of course this is from a landscaper, I don't own a rider.

[pslhomie]

Yeah that might be more than a safety issue. It could also cause issues with the oil going into the carb. You might have to weed eate the swale. Another thing you can do is build a wall and fill it in to make it level or plant shrubs on the hill to make it less to mow. One is expensive and the other is ugly. The one thing I like is that the houses are elevated to prevent flooding but at the same time some of them have really steep hills. You might get someone to grade it back to a lesser angle but again that is expensive. Good luck.

This one is on sale for $1200.00 which is a very good price Craftsman 42'' 19.5hp* Automatic Lawn Tractor

[alsidw]

Harry, believe me! I will not do that again. I saw someone doing it and thought Yeah, well my answer is NO !, live and learn. Thank you for the input. For the steep stuff I will use the walk behind mower.
Sdi