“Classic” riding mower recommendations please

I don't know about that, my old 18 hp Briggs in the Craftsman mower we bought around 1993 is still going strong. Sure, I had to weld the frame up and some of the deck but it's still all original except the belts.

 

I’ve got a Cub Cadet 1517 I bought new about 20 years ago. Had to replace the PTO clutch last year and that was the first major service. It’s been a good little machine. Has about 600 hours on it and I mow about 1.5 acres on a 42” deck.

 

I'm running a 2001 355d on well more than an acre and its still going strong. I'm pretty handy and have had to repair things here and there, but its a been a solid machine. The plastic hood is an abomination- no excuse to put a 10 year hood on a 50 year mower, but other than that no complaints. For me at least, diesel is a lot more convenient than gas.

If I were to buy new and had the money, I would buy a commercial-grade electric mower if I could find one. I've had an electric car for a year and a half and other than charging infrastructure (which wouldn't matter on a mower), it is better in every way than internal combustion. So much simpler, quieter, more reliable, cleaner, more low-end torque. That is where I would be looking.

 

I'll look on the gt group to see if any are listed

 

The donor motor in my ariens came out of a craftsman gt6000. I'd be leery of any belt driven mower though.

 

A sunstar is a great machine as well. My neighbor has one. That thing, like my ariens will last forever. Older ones though. Newer ones are not built as well. My other neighbor has a couple year old prestige and while it's a nice mower, and blows snow well, but the frame on it is nothing compared to the frame of his old simplicity, and that was half as beefy as my ariens.

 

Zero turns are great for mowing. That's it. They can't tow much if anything. Many of the hydro units on then are rated for barely over what the driver weighs.

 

I have a Husqvarna that has been a solid unit.

 

Yep, those John Deere's were pretty good.

 

You're probably right, there. And my Kubota is not the one I would get if I was shopping for new, but a good commercial zero turn will mow circles around a tractor type, when it comes to mowing, IMHO, unless maybe you are just mowing a field or something.

 

A couple of the OF's at work were really beeching and moaning about the new zero turn mower we bought...the one has finally come around to wanting one for himself now that he has some time on it...the other guy is still holding out...partially because he doesn't run it much, partially because he is still trying to justify the $20k (+) that he spent on a "tractor" type mower for his 2 acres!

 

Yes, a good commercial zero turn is extremely hard to beat with any tractor, for mowing lawns.

When I was swapping the kohler kt17s2 for the magnum 18 in my ariens a couple years ago, I hired a guy to mow my 1 acre. He had a 54" toro pro zero turn. He could mow my lawn about 8 minutes quicker than me with my 48" decked gt17. Now I wonder how the there's would compare if I put a 60" deck on my ariens?

 

This doesn't sound right...Do you just mow in a circle or do you do 3 point turns at each turn?

 

Yep, and I just realized the OP said "Classic" so that would be a tractor type. The zero turn comes into it's own more if you have a lot of stuff to have to mow around, it's very easy to swap directions, but not as versatile for other chores. I forgot about the Toro zero turns, you see a lot of them around here being used by the pro guys who do lawns for a living.
I wouldn't mind own a small John Deere tractor with belly mower, but it is sort of in-between for me, as I have a Ford 3600 and brush hog for the fields, and my zero turn does the yard. If I had a small acreage instead of my farm, the John Deere with belly mower, might be the best choice over all.

 

I cut my mowing time in half last year when I bought my zero turn. Worth every penny if you hate mowing as much as I do.

 

I do a hybrid of those two. I do the outside rings in circles, then the inside parts up and back, reversing the stripes with my rollers but I rarely do 3 pt turned, but rather loops to spin around without having to reverse it.

My wife timed me, and the guy on the zero turn. Mind you, my tractor is a real garden tractor, and does 7 mph, and I mow at that speed most times. The ztr guy would pretty much do the same thing as me, except he'd zero turn after the each pass.



My point is that I bet I'd at least be as fast with the 60" deck as that particular ztr.

 

Last year, I only mowed the yard about 3 or 4 times. We didn't get a lot of rain, and I hated to mow it, when I had cows on the other side of the fence, that were short on grass, so I just turned them into the yard for a few hours and they would mow it nearly as good as I could with the mower.

They even did a fair job weed eating. Of course they leave a little fertilizer behind but I built a drag out of old tires to drag the cow piles and break them up, and they are gone pretty quick. It worked so good, I am going to do it again this year. Beats the hell of mowing all of the time, and a lot less wear and tear on the mower.

All I have to do is rattle the chain on the gates, and the cows will start bawling. If the cows are within ear shot, I can have 40 to 50 cows in the yard in 5 minutes, and they will clean it up, real good in about 3 maybe 4hrs tops. I drive them back out and shut the gates. Fifteen minutes or so, with the 4 wheeler and drag, and I am done.

Of course, I live in the country and can get away with about anything I want to do.

 

Definitely not doubting that both times are correct, just questioning your ZTR driver. Could be wrong, but why would someone pay 10k to save 8 minutes.

 

IDK. My tractor was around 10k in today's money with inflation. . Looks like top speed on that toro is 7 mph so the same mph as my tractor.

I bet I'd I had the same ztr as he did, I'd probably be able to mow my lawn faster than him, because I know the lawn and the lay of the last. It's an odd pie shaped lot due to the cul de sac.

My wife is now saying she wants me to have a new lawnmower. A zero turn actually. The lawn guy was going to let me try his toro out, but you know how that goes, and I didn't want to get the itch for something that wasn't on the list of things to spend $$$ on.