Sorry if this gets a little long.
I currently mow my 3 acre yard with a 15HP, 42" Craftsman. It's transmission and mower deck will (hopefully) finish up this mowing season, but won't make another. I'm looking into getting a new mower later this year or early next. Right now it takes me 5 - 7 hours or so just to mow due to lots of trees and other obstacles, plus the yard is pretty rough in spots so I have to keep the speed down. The yard also grows rocks and occasionally coughs up old plow points and other stuff when you least expect it. I pick up rocks and mow with the deck all the way up but do sometimes hit stuff. Its not really sloped all that much but there are some dips and ditches.
After doing some research and reading on this forum, I've pretty much decided on a commercial ztr with probably a 48" deck, due to mowing between stuff. I've got some low hanging branches so I ruled out a walk behind and I really don't think another tractor will improve things much. The front mount ztr's with flip up decks look real attractive because of the ease of changing blades, which I've had to do quite a bit of. I'm looking for something with a heavy duty mower deck, ease of maintenance, and good reliability for a lot of years, plus reasonably priced parts with good availability when things need to be replaced. I'm fairly mechanically inclined so I'll be doing my own maintenance, unless something really serious happens.
The dealers in my area are John Deere, Kubota, Grasshopper, Cub Cadet, Husqvarna, Dixon, Toro, and, I think, Woods, plus maybe a couple of others. The Exmark, Hustler, and Dixie Chopper dealers are 1 - 2 hours away or more. I'm not going to demo anything until I get the choices narrowed down a bit more and am ready to buy, but so far I'm interested in the Grasshopper 618, JD F687, and Kubota GF1800. The cost of those are more than I really had planned to pay, but I'm willing to for a quality machine and I'd rather not buy used. I'd appreciate anyone's comments on these models or suggestions on others to look at. Also, what's the best time of year to buy to get the best pricing? Please don't say now.
Thanks.
I currently mow my 3 acre yard with a 15HP, 42" Craftsman. It's transmission and mower deck will (hopefully) finish up this mowing season, but won't make another. I'm looking into getting a new mower later this year or early next. Right now it takes me 5 - 7 hours or so just to mow due to lots of trees and other obstacles, plus the yard is pretty rough in spots so I have to keep the speed down. The yard also grows rocks and occasionally coughs up old plow points and other stuff when you least expect it. I pick up rocks and mow with the deck all the way up but do sometimes hit stuff. Its not really sloped all that much but there are some dips and ditches.
After doing some research and reading on this forum, I've pretty much decided on a commercial ztr with probably a 48" deck, due to mowing between stuff. I've got some low hanging branches so I ruled out a walk behind and I really don't think another tractor will improve things much. The front mount ztr's with flip up decks look real attractive because of the ease of changing blades, which I've had to do quite a bit of. I'm looking for something with a heavy duty mower deck, ease of maintenance, and good reliability for a lot of years, plus reasonably priced parts with good availability when things need to be replaced. I'm fairly mechanically inclined so I'll be doing my own maintenance, unless something really serious happens.
The dealers in my area are John Deere, Kubota, Grasshopper, Cub Cadet, Husqvarna, Dixon, Toro, and, I think, Woods, plus maybe a couple of others. The Exmark, Hustler, and Dixie Chopper dealers are 1 - 2 hours away or more. I'm not going to demo anything until I get the choices narrowed down a bit more and am ready to buy, but so far I'm interested in the Grasshopper 618, JD F687, and Kubota GF1800. The cost of those are more than I really had planned to pay, but I'm willing to for a quality machine and I'd rather not buy used. I'd appreciate anyone's comments on these models or suggestions on others to look at. Also, what's the best time of year to buy to get the best pricing? Please don't say now.
Thanks.