In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
That's sorta my thinking, even though what I need right now is a mower, being able to hook up a snow blower, pull a rake or dethatcher etc makes a little more sense to me than having something that "just" mows and then potentially having to buy something else to take care of some of the other work.
Similar boat here, but my yard is so tiny that I sold my Bolens 14hp hydro in favor of a 22" push mower. Every few years I rent a thatcher rake.
Dad took a different route. Since he and I are antique tractor buffs, he now simply has one tractor for each implement. Five Fords, one New Holland, four John Deeres, two Masseys, a Bolens, a Cub Cadet, and two Farmalls.
He doesn't mess around.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Unfortunately with a push mower I'll probably get the first cut done in June if I start right now 
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I like you dad's approach, but I'd have to build another tractor garage for that and make sure I'll have enough space to put a bed out there too, because I'd probably have to live in it 
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Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:Dad took a different route. Since he and I are antique tractor buffs, he now simply has one tractor for each implement. Five Fords, one New Holland, four John Deeres, two Masseys, a Bolens, a Cub Cadet, and two Farmalls.
I wish I had that much room and time. That's fantastic.
He doesn't mess around.
On the contrary, with sixteen old tractors, I suspect he ends up doing a lot of messing around. Though you'd have to be right on top of your grounds maintenance just to exercise that many regularly!
As he is getting older, he does less farm-ish things. You might be surprised at how reliable they are though. Many of them were designed to run on gas or kerosene and most have cast iron carbs. All of them start up instantly. Last thing I remember repairing was a chewed wire on the magneto of the JD G, and before that we had a leaky hydraulic line on the 1700.
The JD H hasn't been used as a tractor for many years but it gets run for fun. It was the hay wagon hauler and we had a belt for it that ran the cider mill. The G usually has the plow on it but he hasn't planted corn for a long time. One of the 8Ns has a brush hog. The other 8N has an auger on it. The 601 has a sickle bar and drags the wood wagon. The 901 he just sold so he could buy the New Holland. The Ford 1700 has a bucket and a backhoe. The Massey 135 has a 3-point snow blade. The x485 has the belly mower and snow blower. The Bolens is just one that neither he nor I could resist. It's a 1976 that we found at an auction sale with 130 hours on it. Got it for $300. I used it at my previous house. The Farmalls (an M and a Super C) stay over at the Bedford Farm, which reminds me of the OTHER JD we have, a 750 which also stays in Bedford. The other Massey 135 stays at the WV farm. The Cub has been basically taken over by my sister's family since their old Wheel Horse died.
I absolutely hate to think about the day he passes away, but the auction sale will be epic.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:I do love a good zero-turn, but they only mow. If you just need to mow and do nothing else, ZTs are wonderful. But they don't do anything else.
Not true! Bring on the snow
I know Curtis mentioned JD 430s as tractors to have, do we have any opinions on JD 445s? Seems to be the same chassis, but with a gas engine.
Or 425s for that matter.
Like one of these?
Picked up one used for a good price. Fuel injected, water cooled twin. Power steering. Shaft drive mower. Mower deck was man killer heavy.
Built like a tank, worth repairing when it breaks. I think ours had over a thousand hours on it before I sold it on after picking up the 2305.
In reply to Karacticus :
Exactly like one of those, actually. They're all suffering from pandemic pricing a bit, plus the ones I've seen all seem to have more like 1500h on them, but they also seem to be one of the few tractors that have the size mower decks I'm looking for without getting into Steiner/Ventrac pricing.
Found mine plenty powerful for mowing with the 60" deck that was on it. It would chug right on through a pasture that only got mowed once or twice a season.
Did not seem quite as thirsty as the X738 I've got now, or maybe it just had a bigger gas tank
Did I mention that deck was really, really heavy? 
Take a close look at the lights on the back of the fenders-- they are probably broken. Located perfectly for backing into things. New units are available, but $.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
The 430 looks to be the same chassis as the 318, the 425/445 are a newer chassis. They're all great machines and built like tanks. Like I said above, I'd give the nod to the 425/445 for the foot pedal hydro and liquid cooled Kawi.
Test mowed with a 445 with 60" deck this afternoon. Supposed to pick it up tomorrow, and of course now my Credit Union's debit card is playing up and I can't get the couple of hundred bucks out of the ATM that I need because the tractor was a couple of hundos more expensive than budgeted.
Picked up the 445 today and already mowed the first acre with it. Cuts well and the 60" deck made short work of the fairly tall grass.
Ran into a couple of minor issues - temp gauge isn't working which I understand is a common issue, and occasionally the PTO disengages when going down a steep incline. Other than that I'm pretty happy with it.
Pretty picture:
Profound.
I agree that small canoes don't make very good mowers unless the children are involved. Bigger canoes are large.
Edit: Ahhh, now we see the edit with the canoe link.
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