Opinions on riding lawn mowers

I’m looking for recommendations for a riding lawnmower by anyone that cuts more than an acre at a time and that regularly goes up and down hills that have a min of 15% grade or more.
In 11 years, I have burned up 7 trannys in my John Deere with the Tuff Turf Hydrostatic Transmission. Unfortunately, they make the Hydro tranny for nearly all the lawn moewr manufactures. Seems like they cornered the market and have engineers that smoke crack for lunch. I guess they are ok for completely flat 1/3 acre yards..
So anyways, ripp’n the engine off this Deere for my log splitter and buying a new mower. Budget is cash under 2K. Anybody know of something worthwhile to look at?

Id take a look at the simplicity lawn mowers awesome machine all im saying

I had a cub cadet zero turn for my acre of lawn, with a slight incline like you mentioned. Used for 3 season with out any hiccups. Could cut that acre quickly….less than ahour with the zero turn. 48″ deck.

More than an acre with hills, budget under 2k. Get used to fixing lawn mowers.

get yourself and exmark. commercial duty, quick, durable.

If you can find yourself one that you can stand behind and get the trolley to ride on – it’s the fastest cutting machine out there.

Get an old John Deere like a 318, 316, etc. Bullet proof and easy to work on. Parts are still plentiful. I have a 1976 300 that I bought on an auction for $100. I put a new B&S engine in it last year, and it is a beast.

Yikes. That’s a whole lotta hillside mowing.

Any indication of WHY the hydrostat is failing? At a guess, I’d say that on the sidehill the fluid is all running to one side and something is running dry and burning up?

IME, zero turns are NOT the way to go unless you can mow straight up/down the hills. On sidehills, ZTR mowers tend to slide sideways and the more you try to correct, the more you induce the slide. In perfectly dry conditions this can be manageable, but in any kind of damp, it’s really difficult to keep a ZTR on track.

My guess is that your best bet might be an old-school, non-hydro mower, but WITH a pressure lubercated engine. I’m not sure who makes such an animal.

As I’m sure you’re aware, the ideal fit would be a specialized hillside commercial mower. But obviously you aren’t likely to find one of these in your budget unless you get really lucky.

The one I’ve seen the most of is the Hustler 640: http://stlouis.craigslist.org/grd/3701282737.html

I also recall seeing some outfits using another brand, it was like Versatrac or something like that. Again, budget will be the primary issue as specializaed does not come cheap.

Grouse

Deleted – Double post

I have had great luck with my Cub Cadet 54″ deck, I mow 3 acres but no hills

Quote:

---

I have had great luck with my Cub Cadet 54″ deck, I mow 3 acres but no hills

---

The hillside issue changes everything. If he only had flat ground, he wouldn’t have a problem.

Grouse

Convert the hillsides to Native Perennial vegetation, No-Mowing Required.

If my son in-law likes or really condemns his zero turn, I post his comments later. They have 5-acres, 3-acres lawn with some steep (Excess of 20% grade; over 30 ft drop over 150ft) hillsides with trees.

They have an “Everide” 52″.
EverRide Hornet link

Mows twice as fast as their JD Lawn Tractor.

Says to make sure you get larger tires on Rear.

I have a commercial grade mower. Hade it for 8 years now. Mow lots of hills. I mow about 5 acres but you better put a 1 in front of that 2 you have. Find a good used comercial mower, still gonna be over 2 grand but worth your while imo.

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned a herd of sheep. Nice fluffy sheep…
DT

Buy your wife a push mower and that should solve your problem. You should definately have a lawnmower that rides well then! sorry couldn’t help myself!

Sorry Grouse, I do mow my septic mound with it, and yes that is more than a 15 percent grade
I was simply giving him an option in his price range

Randy.. you haven’t been to the house,, but I use a HONDA 4wd for the past 10 years.. I am sure that I cut over an acre , probably two..and I have a steep hill for at least a third.. with the exception that I go through a Kevlar belt about once a year….the sucker runs.. and trust me, that hill scares the crap out of me.. its steep.. I hit a tree last year and the next thing I knew I was next to my mower.. but the mower didn’t tip and I am still here.. the sucker runs and runs and the 4wd kicks in when you step on the pedal..

I have a cub cadet – LT1046 from ~2007 or so. Seems to be a solid unit for me. I pull a sweeper de-thatcher and then a seperate plug areator all around my 3/4 acre and I have a pretty good hill in the back. For reference its ~24′ from the water to the top of the hill and my lots is 100′ wide. In the fall pull a 4′ x 8′ trailer full of kids around the neighborhood for Halloween to help with the long driveways.

I bought mine new then for ~$1700 with tax – good luck.

hunter1723 – Wife pretty much said kiss her without opening her mouth. The red lights emerging from her eye sockets said it all.

DT – I like lamb and my wife doesn’t want me slaughtering them in front of the neighborhood kids

Everyone else – THANKS and also for the PMs. Haven’t jumped onto any certain model yet, but learned more about mowers in the last 12 hours than I really care to know about. Interesting that 2,00 to 2,500 mark can get you a residential grade with a commercial tranny and cheap deck, or a very good deck and the cheapest tranny. Seems to be the two items that really jack the cost up to 3-4K for an extra few hundred in parts The independent single axle drives would last a lifetime, but 10K is not going to happen.