Garden Tractor Or Zero Turn ?

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by MrDB

A ZTR is more maneuverable but as you said more expensive. I've had good luck with Husqvarna tractors, seem to be made well and easy to work on when necessary. For a hunting property where a manicure style lawn is not needed a good lawn tractor might be the best bet. Plus if you need to pull a little trailer for firewood, debris, etc. they are best for that.

My best ones over the years were Husqvarna and Ariens.

[RJVB]

We don't have that much terrain (2500m2 is still a lot though) but I used a scythe on the "prairie" part as well as the underbrush until my partner bought a battery-operated rotary trimmer.

Good physical exercise, surprisingly not bad for a arthritic lower back once you get the hang of it! And cheap compared to the prices I see above (or even the trimmer we got)...

[Bridgepin]

WOW! That's all the life you get out of your mowers? Do you change the oil and replace the air filters? I had 22 years on the same mower which was a 36" walk behind that I sold with the house when I moved, I've got 15 years on the current one it shows no signs of engine failure.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Bridgepin

I've got 15 years on the current one it shows no signs of engine failure.

Maybe not the engine that fails but something in the mechanism that does the actual work? From what I've seen in electric models with a rotary blade, the transmission (read the plastic or nylon clutch the blade is fixed to) is designed to yield when you hit a rock or big branch in order to protect the motor. Needless to say that protection will also kick in after a sufficient amount of cutting just too thick grass or hitting dirt. More expensive ICE models undoubtedly have fancier implementations of the same protection that take longer to fail but could be just as economically irreplaceable as those cheap nylon clutches.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Bridgepin

WOW! That's all the life you get out of your mowers? Do you change the oil and replace the air filters? I had 22 years on the same mower which was a 36" walk behind that I sold with the house when I moved, I've got 15 years on the current one it shows no signs of engine failure.

It's not the engines, yea I change the oil and air filters.

On the riding tractors, when mowing large acreage, the deck systems will rot away over 7/8/9 years. That's been my experience with them. That mower is in the woods, no water, no power, I can't really wash it down after every mowing. And the sealed hydro unit are usually junk after 7/8/9 years as well.

And the seat, and the steering systems...