New Lawn Mower time

If you read my lawn mower trouble thread a few weeks ago you'll understand why I'm going down this path. I mow 2 and a little bit more acres each week, around my house,  down a lane, ditch's leading away in front of the fields. My current mower will continue as a back up detail mower and snow blower carrier. Looking for something that will last 15-20 years without major work like my current one has and costs $6k max. Let me know your thoughts and recommendations; I've YouTube'd and googled this to no end but I feel Like they all have agendas of some sort so wanted some other ideas to run against those. Thanks!

I have no experience with them, but my neighbor has an x-mark & is very pleased with it. He uses it on his own lawn & mows several others as well.

Are you looking for a lawn tractor or zero turn?

I have a lawn tractor, I don't honestly have a preference. Looks like I could do it faster with a zero turn and get a bigger cutting area, but otherwise no preference 

I'm in the same boat but don't have that much to cut and don't really want to spend $6k.  

15-20 years is a very tall ask. 

I have nothing useful to contribute.

I just can't get comfortable with the zero turn configuration...seems like a human salad shooter.

lnlogauge said:

15-20 years is a very tall ask. 

I'm 16 years in on a "China" made John Deere that was $2k. Hoping this would go further

My dad got a toro zero turn from home depot for 3500 or so? I have used it, its pretty amazing.  The entire driver area(seat, floor, etc) is on a weird shock absorber system. All i know is it works fantastic. Feels like a magic carpet ride.  And of course it cuts great too. 

If you want new, go to a dealer not a box store. I hope you're not in a hurry though, I've been on lists at cub cadet dealers since April. 

I'd suggest buying an older tank personally. 

There was a thread a couple months ago about older stout garden tractors. I think those are nice if you have a couple or few acres that are pretty open. 
I bought this a few weeks ago. Probably half what a box store mower would cost and it is really well engineered and built. 
These are out there and other Toro's or older Cubs or John Deere's. This has a 22 Hp twin and a 54" deck, it eats up grass. 

 

Do you have a tractor?  How about a tow behind mower?  Don't have a tractor?  Get one because tractors are cool.  Then get a tow behind mower.

I got a Hustler SD with 54" deck last fall to replace an early 80s vintage Simplicity tractor with 48" deck.  It's a mid range model with fabricated deck, hydros arent servicable but with the size of my yard I dont put much time on it.

  Here I've buried it on flat ground and my dog is attempting to establish dominance while we await lifting help...

I have a little over .5 acre to mow; it's cut mowing time by over 50%, usually 0.6 on the hobbs per mowing event. 

Downsides:

-its pretty traction limited even with just morning dew on the ground.  If I had actual elevation change it could become exciting.

-I end up doing more with the string trimmer because the big deck limits where you can go in confined spaces.

OTOH, I'm fairly sure my kids will be using it 30+ years from now if they haven't gone to EV ZTRs by then.

Stampie said:

Do you have a tractor?  How about a tow behind mower?  Don't have a tractor?  Get one because tractors are cool.  Then get a tow behind mower.

I don't, my FIL lets me borrow his whenever I need one. For my lawn a tractor would be way overkill

It's also got a bunch of swales and stuff that anything bigger than 60" is going to hang up in.

I would go with the best condition commercial zero turn you can find in your budget. You should be able to get something with under 500 hours and with everything serviceable it will last forever.

Yep. Used commercial ZTR is the right tool for the job. Time is money. Preferably liquid cooled if you can find one.

I'd strongly consider a brand with local dealer support. You can get pretty much anything online these days, but sometimes you need it right now to get the work done instead of waiting a few days.

My Scag Turf Tiger was a tank. Grease fittings everywhere, low center of gravity, really nice fabricated deck with efficient design, all major components serviceable. Other low end ZTRs felt like cheap toys by comparison. My FIL had a big Ferris, and it was the only thing that I've used that had similar quality feel. These mowers cost $10k+ when new, but they can go 2000hrs or more so buying one with 500-1000hrs on it may not be a big deterrent.

If you've got some steep grades, a stand-on ZTR might be a better option than a sit down model. They're increasingly common among commercial mowing companies so you might even have more options than sit down models.