Zero turn advice

Can't hide money.

Get it at Lowes?
 
I have a zero turn and for what it costs, I doubt I'll ever buy another one. Regular lawn tractors are much cheaper and you get the same use out of them. And unless you have a lot of stuff to cut around, it wont save you any time. In an open field, a good lawn tractor will cut just as fast.
 
If I ever hope to cut my yard at "ZTR speeds", I'll have to spend a couple of years dragging around a roller first.
 
shawn said:
Can't hide money.

Get it at Lowes?
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Nope home boy hook up from one of my stops!! Lol
Fou bought a arguer from them and i have bought a few piece of equipment over the years and they worked me a deal(i did also take care of some tool needs for the owner)
 
Scag all the way.
Buy once and be done.
Quality product. Never had ANY problems from mine and it has been beat on hard for the last 10+ years

Hope the hustler works out well, looks good.
 
chromerunner said:
Scag all the way.
Buy once and be done.
Quality product. Never had ANY problems from mine and it has been beat on hard for the last 10+ years

Hope the hustler works out well, looks good.
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if it doesnt, they will take care of the issues vs having to work with someone I dont know or deal with..... I try to keep my money out of the box stores and in my route.
 
Depending on yard size (Shawn I dont think this would work for you in Raleigh..but you never know) but there is a real interesting argument about lawn equipment that I didn't have time to get into yesterday.

If you live in a residential neighborhood on an acre lot.
Option 1) Buy a $1,500 Murray/MTD/Bolens/ACME name brand mower. Committ to never spendign a dime on it. It will last 4 years or so. Then sell it for $200 and buy a new one.

Option 2) Buy a $5,500 mower and kep up with maintenance on it. Never replace in your life time. Figure gas is about the same and lets say you spend $150/year on maintenance on average (it will be more like 30/30/30/350...when you replace belts/blades wear items) ROI period/inversion point 25 years.

Option 3) Pay the local yard guy $40 per cut. Cut every two weeks between April 1 and October 1. Thats 14 cuts. or $560/year. This model actually trends the wrong way or is inverse of the other two. The cheap mower is cheaper than this model at any point after year 3. However this model is cheaper than a pro mower all the way to year 14***

Now one thing none of these numbers take into considertaion is the value of your time nor the time value of money. Option 1 is going to take a lot o haggling and craigslisting every few years selling an otherwise "good" mower. And both option 1 & 2 are going to take time by you to cut the grass every other week. Cutting the grass every two weeks will be on the edge of unkempt by the time its cut but shouldnt be bad enough to get the neighbors bitching. If you add in the interedst carrying cost of throwing down that money up front and assume you work at a side job that extra hour every couple weeks....a yard boy starts to sound very very tempting. Ive considered it for years but havent pulld the trigger.
 
Don't believe you can buy a Scag at a "box store" by box I assume you mean lowes and the such .
I don't know anything about hustler or there quality, I can tell you having a equipment dealer/shop that is honest and good to work with is worth a ton. You made a good choice on that front for sure! Let us know how you like the cut and performance.
 
Was going to recommend a Gravely but you picked up a good machine.

I went to purchase a Gravely years ago (2007) and ended up with an Ariens. It's a decent middle of the road machine. Bigger and faster than the Gravely of the same price but not quite as nice. Being said, it will last my lifetime but wish I had bought the Gravely
 
Ron said:
Depending on yard size (Shawn I dont think this would work for you in Raleigh..but you never know) but there is a real interesting argument about lawn equipment that I didn't have time to get into yesterday.

If you live in a residential neighborhood on an acre lot.
Option 1) Buy a $1,500 Murray/MTD/Bolens/ACME name brand mower. Committ to never spendign a dime on it. It will last 4 years or so. Then sell it for $200 and buy a new one.

Option 2) Buy a $5,500 mower and keep up with maintenance on it. Never replace in your life time. Figure gas is about the same and lets say you spend $150/year on maintenance on average (it will be more like 30/30/30/350...when you replace belts/blades wear items) ROI period/inversion point 25 years.

Option 3) Pay the local yard guy $40 per cut. Cut every two weeks between April 1 and October 1. Thats 14 cuts. or $560/year. This model actually trends the wrong way or is inverse of the other two. The cheap mower is cheaper than this model at any point after year 3. However this model is cheaper than a pro mower all the way to year 14***

Now one thing none of these numbers take into considertaion is the value of your time nor the time value of money. Option 1 is going to take a lot o haggling and craigslisting every few years selling an otherwise "good" mower. And both option 1 & 2 are going to take time by you to cut the grass every other week. Cutting the grass every two weeks will be on the edge of unkempt by the time its cut but shouldnt be bad enough to get the neighbors bitching. If you add in the interedst carrying cost of throwing down that money up front and assume you work at a side job that extra hour every couple weeks....a yard boy starts to sound very very tempting. Ive considered it for years but havent pulld the trigger.
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I've been down both sides of this road (minus the really expensive mower). When we bought our house, I didn't own a mower and was low on cash. Did the above math, and said, fuck it, I'm too busy, we'll pay a guy. Well it turned out, no teenage hungry kids in our neighborhood... so I found a $40 guy... who in the end wasn't reliable and only wanted cash (can't blame him) but we rarely had it on-hand, and it became a PITA. Got a new, more reliable guy... was actually $55/cut, and more like every 10 days average... got expensive quickly. Lesson learned - cheap lawn care may not pan out.
So I said fuck this, and bought a $150 mower on CL that needed the deck welded. I welded it, rocked it myself for 2 years. It blew the motor. I got another one for $250, sold that first one for $100 as "parts".
Then, our 18 y/o nephew moved in. Now I get my lawncare for free. :DWell, sort of... now that I think of it, the food bill definitely costs me more than the lawn guy did. o_O

In the end it's definitely a question of what your time is worth. If you like tinkering w/ motors etc - the best model is to buy used, sell when its really used.
If you're lazy and have other things to do - lawn guy all the way, just don't get a schlub.
And if you have fun zipping around drinking beer cutting shit up in your yard - then buy all means, buy a fun mower!
 
Ron said:
Option 1) Buy a $1,500 Murray/MTD/Bolens/ACME name brand mower. Committ to never spendign a dime on it. It will last 4 years or so. Then sell it for $200 and buy a new one.

Option 2) Buy a $5,500 mower and kep up with maintenance on it. Never replace in your life time. Figure gas is about the same and lets say you spend $150/year on maintenance on average (it will be more like 30/30/30/350...when you replace belts/blades wear items) ROI period/inversion point 25 years.

Option 3) Pay the local yard guy $40 per cut. Cut every two weeks between April 1 and October 1. Thats 14 cuts. or $560/year. This model actually trends the wrong way or is inverse of the other two. The cheap mower is cheaper than this model at any point after year 3. However this model is cheaper than a pro mower all the way to year 14***

Now one thing none of these numbers take into considertaion is the value of your time nor the time value of money. Option 1 is going to take a lot o haggling and craigslisting every few years selling an otherwise "good" mower. And both option 1 & 2 are going to take time by you to cut the grass every other week. Cutting the grass every two weeks will be on the edge of unkempt by the time its cut but shouldnt be bad enough to get the neighbors bitching. If you add in the interedst carrying cost of throwing down that money up front and assume you work at a side job that extra hour every couple weeks....a yard boy starts to sound very very tempting. Ive considered it for years but havent pulld the trigger.
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Since I like playing with numbers...
Lets throw in option 4: Buy a good used Zero Turn for $3000. Use it for 5 years. Spend $150/year on maintenance Sell it for $2500. Repeat.

4 year cost of ownership:
1. $1500
2. $6100
3. $2240
4. $3600

10 year cost of ownership
1. $4300
2. $7000
3. $5600
4. $5000 (or $5500, depending on when in the 10th year you buy the mower)

20 year cost of ownership
1. $8000
2. $8500
3. $11200
4. $6500

Now the assumptions are there are no other major issues with options 2 or 4, and also assuming that the cost of option 3 stays flat at $40/cut. I cut my grass pretty much once a week, so those numbers would have to be doubled for lots of people.

If someone wants to spend more time, factor in the opportunity cost and change it to every 1.5 times per week, and then we might have some real numbers.

At the end of the day, I like doing it myself, because I don't like others snooping around my house when I'm not home, and I don't like paying people to do things I can do myself as well or better. I also like having toys or higher performance versions of things (why do we all mod our 4x4s?).
 
Option number 1 sounds wrong. I would be pissed if I paid $1,500 for a riding mower and it was junk after 4 years. I'm starting my 10th year with my used $800 Craftsman riding mower and I've invested less than $100 in maintenance over those 9 years. It took me 1.5 hrs to cut the grass at my old house, and a little less at my new house. I'm hard on it too pulling an aerator with 200lbs of block every fall, and pulling a yard trailer full of heavy stuff frequently too.
 
I need a high end weed eater that runs itself. I have so many trailers and vehicles in the yard that I weed eat more than I mow.
 
drkelly said:
Option number 1 sounds wrong. I would be pissed if I paid $1,500 for a riding mower and it was junk after 4 years. I'm starting my 10th year with my used $800 Craftsman riding mower and I've invested less than $100 in maintenance over those 9 years. It took me 1.5 hrs to cut the grass at my old house, and a little less at my new house. I'm hard on it too pulling an aerator with 200lbs of block every fall, and pulling a yard trailer full of heavy stuff frequently too.
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I've seen many many many of the $1000-2500 store bought riders not even make it to the 3 year mark for personal use. Doesn't seem to matter which brand.
 
UTfball68 said:
I've seen many many many of the $1000-2500 store bought riders not even make it to the 3 year mark for personal use. Doesn't seem to matter which brand.
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Three year warranty.
 
drkelly said:
Option number 1 sounds wrong. I would be pissed if I paid $1,500 for a riding mower and it was junk after 4 years. I'm starting my 10th year with my used $800 Craftsman riding mower and I've invested less than $100 in maintenance over those 9 years. It took me 1.5 hrs to cut the grass at my old house, and a little less at my new house. I'm hard on it too pulling an aerator with 200lbs of block every fall, and pulling a yard trailer full of heavy stuff frequently too.
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Your $800 crafysman is now $2500 for the same quality unit. The cheaper ones have gone cheap.
 
drkelly said:
Option number 1 sounds wrong. I would be pissed if I paid $1,500 for a riding mower and it was junk after 4 years. I'm starting my 10th year with my used $800 Craftsman riding mower and I've invested less than $100 in maintenance over those 9 years. It took me 1.5 hrs to cut the grass at my old house, and a little less at my new house. I'm hard on it too pulling an aerator with 200lbs of block every fall, and pulling a yard trailer full of heavy stuff frequently too.
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I have no idea how youve gone 9 years without replacing belts (deck drive and tractor drive belt), spindles or blades...but I am positive your yard is MUCH nicer tha mine.
 
snappy said:
Your $800 crafysman is now $2500 for the same quality unit. The cheaper ones have gone cheap.
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Bull. That is fucking nonsense.

In 1990, my parents paid $1600 for a Montgomery Ward brand (MTD) lawn mower. 18hp B&S motor, 7 speeds, whatever. It was basically identical to a bunch of other MTDs made in the same period, just painted a different color. It lasted about 3 years before the front axle pivot broke. Kept driving it. Lasted another year or two before the rear axle broke in two.

$1600 today is a hell of a lot less than $1600 in 1990 dollars, and buys you an actual John Deere brand ("not a real John Deere") at Lowes with a 3-4 year warranty.

$2500 at Sears gets you a Craftsman with remote keyless entry that drains the battery dead in a week's time.
 
shawn said:
Three year warranty.
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Everything is engineered to fail. And if the purchase automatically comes with a 3 yr warranty or you opted for the coverage...great...but how many don't. In my experience, they'll just warranty the item that failed. I hope that item they replaced at month 20 makes it longer than month 40 on a 36 month warranty. I'd say if you can make it outside of the warranty period these days, congrats...but you're living on borrowed time.
 
Fun fact: A $1600 lawnmower in 1990 would cost $2900 in today's dollars.

UTfball68 said:
In my experience, they'll just warranty the item that failed.
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Well, that's shitty. I know when the transmission goes out in my car at month 20, they give me a brand new car. Fuck MTD and the lawnmower they rode into town on.
 
shawn said:
Bull. That is fucking nonsense.

In 1990, my parents paid $1600 for a Montgomery Ward brand (MTD) lawn mower. 18hp B&S motor, 7 speeds, whatever. It was basically identical to a bunch of other MTDs made in the same period, just painted a different color. It lasted about 3 years before the front axle pivot broke. Kept driving it. Lasted another year or two before the rear axle broke in two.

$1600 today is a hell of a lot less than $1600 in 1990 dollars, and buys you an actual John Deere brand ("not a real John Deere") at Lowes with a 3-4 year warranty.

$2500 at Sears gets you a Craftsman with remote keyless entry that drains the battery dead in a week's time.
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To be fair Cub Cadet used to make Craftsman mowers. My grandad has a mid 80s Craftsman. The deck is SHAFT DRIVEN...like an 8 spline coarse shaft that is about the size of a TJ rear drie shaft. Has an Onan engine.
 
Ron said:
To be fair Cub Cadet used to make Craftsman mowers. My grandad has a mid 80s Craftsman. The deck is SHAFT DRIVEN...like an 8 spline coarse shaft that is about the size of a TJ rear drie shaft. Has an Onan engine.
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Well, if you want to spend 1980s Craftsman money on a mower today, you can get one with a shaft drive and a Yanmar 3cyl.

My parents bought the Monkey Ward mower because it was a bunch cheaper than the Craftsman.
 
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