Lecso owners

[Shuter]

I am looking to get a new 36" walk behind. I am considering Exmark, but do to the price difference I looked at Lesco. Lesco is $800.00 cheaper. I now the differences betwen the two, and you can not compare them exactly, but for the money and for what I do, Lesco seems my better choice. My dealer is only 3 miles away and I already by my fertilizer from him. Just looking for some opinions on Lesco motor.

I found the Lesco to be sturdier and I will have to muscle it around more. Motor difference is exmark 12 hp and Lesco 14hp.

Not sure which to choose. I only 15 accounts/week so I do not need a high production machine.

[Boycea]

I believe the Lesco would suit you just fine for only 15 accounts per week. I have a lesco 48" Hydro walk behind with the sulky and have had no problems whatsoever. It all depends on your budget and your preference. I would maybe demo both and then make your decision.

Adam

[xpnd]

The motor on the Lesco should be a Kaw. The only caveat I have about Lesco (based on my experience with my dealer) is that they are a fert/chem company. My Lesco dealer does not have equipment service capability, only common spare parts, no mechanic, virtually no tools.

[paponte]

A bigger motor, and cheaper. I would get the Lesco. I have 4 of them and we cut about 100 accts' a week with them. Holding up strong. The only problem i have had was on my 48". I had to weld the deck where it separated. For 15 accts, I would put the extra $800. towards more equipment. Get more for your money! :D

[AL Inc]

14 Kawi is a great motor. I have one on my 48" Scag that now has 6 seasons on it, just keeps going.

[Jason Pallas]

I've been pretty happy with the two Lescos we have 48" belt w14kaw. They have a zero down time policy and I've used it a a couple of time. They stock a lot of parts and if you do your own mechanic work that's good.

Two Questions for Lesco Owners:

1) Has anyone else had problems with the rear axle breaking in half (happened twice - they waranteed it both times)?

2) Does anyone else get a lot of debris blow-over on the front deck. The grass shoots out up and over onto the deck a lot on ours. I fabbed a simple baffle system to stop this but I was just curious if other owners had similar experiences?

[imograss]

(originally posted by Jason Pallas) Does anyone else get a lot of debris blow-over on the front deck. The grass shoots out up and over onto the deck a lot on ours. I fabbed a simple baffle system to stop this but I was just curious if other owners had similar experiences?


jason,
i talked my briyher into bying a commercial mower for his personal yard and possible side jobs. he purchased a new lesco 48" fixed deck w/b w/ 15hp kawasaki. the first thind i noticed about it is the deck does alloy alot of grass, ect. blow out of the front of the deck and goin all over the operator. i tried different cutting hights and showed no improvement. how did you remedy your problem?
this turned me away from purchasing a lesco hydo for this season.

[Jason Pallas]

What I did was quite simple - I took two pieces of angle iron and cut them to fit on the inside of the front deck. I then attached this (essentially forming a "Lip" under the mower to interput the air flow) to the entire lengths of the two front parts of the "V" .

So if you were to look at a cutaway cross-section of the deck, the angle iron would be bolted to the front inside of the deck (in the cutting area) so that one angle ran parrallel to the front perpendicular part of the front deck - thus the other angle located at the bottom of the front facing part of the deck, faced back in (running parallel to the ground). Hope all that's clear.

This interputed the air flow enough to completely eliminate all that blow over.

2 Notes - you'll have to remove the front metal bumper plate held on w/bolts from the front face of the deck AND when you bolt the new lips on, watch the clearance for the front wheels. A bolt in the wrong place will wear right through your wheels. Good luck. It's really quite easy and well worth it.

[Russ]

I have a Lesco 48WB belt "trim mower". I chose Lesco strictly because of the price. The mower has 5 years of service with absolutely no problems. Now I gotta find some wood to knock on. P.S. by trim mower I mean I use it for steep hills and small properties.

[imograss]

thanks for the reply jason.

[paponte]

Yes Jason Pallas, i have had my axles snap on my larger machines (48" & 52"). i can't blame it on the manuf. though. I have seen my guys do it time after time, and have told them not to. They are lazy and like to hop off curbs at commercial buildings. The axle just can't handle the weight of the machine, never the less a full catcher jumping off a curb.

[Jason Pallas]

Paponte - that's what I suspect is happening with these axles - as the mowers are not on my crew. They're on the other crew's truck.
Unfortunately Lesco has integrated that whole axle into the back half of the machine. This means that when it does break, the whole rear deck has to be replaced !!! Bummer! With other brands, I've found that some (especially the Bunton's - older style) plan for such breakage and have made the axle a separate component. The replacement cost there is about $45 - whereas with the Lescos I'm gonna guess that rear deck is about $350-$400.
Other than those two complaints - debris blowover and the axle issue, I've been pretty impressed by the Lescos - and we use the hell out of the two that we have.

[Shuter]

Thanks for the replies. Xpnd, it does have a Kawaski motor. Alos my Lesco dealer now has full time in-house services and stocks all major and common parts for the machines. I do regular maintenance and service myself, so only big repairs or warr. work would be done there.