Riding mower/garden Tractor

There's little doubt that Kubota makes some of the best equipment on the market and most any line will have good when you get into the compact utility tractors.Was the other line that you looked at Mahindra or Kioti by chance?They make decent tractors for bit less than the others.There is another line made in China,I can't think of the name,they sell them in Northern Tool that I would stay away from.I had a chance to use one a couple years back and I didn't care for the hydraulics on it at all.With as many acres as your looking to mow,I wouldn't go any smaller than a CUT,there are getting to be quite a few on the used market if you know what your looking for,those can be had for about the price of a ZT or a little less.
 
I have mowed a 5 acre lawn at my Mom's place with her CRAFTSMAN tractor. It is high maintenance and low quality. The front axle in general is its weak spot - busted hubs, broken steering components, etc. Her yard isn't real rough but, it's also not golf course smooth. This tractor is a twin cylinder 54" deck and moving 5 acres takes over 8 hours on a good day and often takes some time mowing the following day.

Whatever brand you buy, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A LOCAL DEALER. I used my friends Kioti and knocked off a filter unhooking a backhoe and had my choice of TWO dealers in the state with the nearest being two hours away. And no, the filter was not available locally at NAPA or anywhere else because it was SPECIAL and only available in South Korea at great expense.
 
My father had a red mtd for years. He bought a toro he liked, which did well. I used the red 38" cut mtd for more years. Great mower then it passed on. I bought a black 42" mtd which self destructed the front end steering/hubs in a mater of 5 years. Still runs though. I bought a 1948? lowboy cub tractor with a 60" belly mower. My Father has one of those too. I do have to work on mine from time to time. His was rebuilt and only minor problems with his since. Lot of work these old tractors do. bought a 1966 cub with multiple attachments and the previous owner had the engine rebuilt. I have had some problems with it, but it has been a good tractor.....gotta figure out the hydraulic problem though. Had em both down and it seems everybody wanted me to buy a new mower. Bought a sears craftsman 54". mows quick but will not take the workload of the bigger boys. I shoulda put the money into a rebuild on the 1948 and worked it another 50 years. Craftsman gets stuck on any surface that is not perfect. It sucks. Check out a oldie, but make sure its got the single point quick hitch attachments for it. The only reason I bought the 1966, came with 60" belly mower, 4ft bush hog, snowplow, steel carry all for the back, single bottom plow and non functional sickle bar mower. sorry bout the long post.
 
You have to understand the MARKETING thing w/ most manufactures:mad: The big box stores drive a BIG market share, now the GREEN PAINT (John Deere) YES dealers sell "SOME" of the same models that the BB Boys do BUT, THE REAL DEAL GREEN paint dealers ALSO sell more models and heavy use "GARDEN TRACTOR" models, there is a HUGE difference ;) GREEN PAINT is good as long as it is NOT an LX, LA, etc model GO look!!:thumbup:
Kubota builds great equipment also.

It has been stated depending what your main focus is mowing etc;) you mention rolling hill terrain That is no major cocern for ZTR as long as the Hills can be attacked perpendicular (UP and DOWN) ZTR,s are helpless at @ 20 degrees on a cross pattern ESPECIALLY if the grass is wet OR the ground is muddy!!

I have a pond and have been DANG near swimming Twice in 5years of owning a ZTR, (Ferris!! bought from my local John Deere dealer:D)!!:D:o:mad::eek::D BUT I mow 3acres in 3hrs now when I mowed w/ a JOHN DEERE tractor it was 8 hrs ( both the same deck width)!! Time is money and the older I get the less I enjoy mowing!!;)
 
it takes about an acre an hour with a 60" belly mower on my international cubs
 
Ya know Danbo, the answer to this is, find out what the Mrs. likes and is willing to drive around the property for hours at a time. :D
 
Hi.

I would seriously look for a Farmall or small Alis-Chalmers tractor with a belly mower. It will be cheaper to buy, faster to mow with, last longer, and be far more versatile than any of the new lawn and garden tractors you could buy.

dalee
 
You don't say how much you want to pay.

We moved onto 380 acres in SE Queensland at the start of the year. The place hadn't been touched in 10 years and as you can imagine it was pretty feral. We have a Torro zero turn with the 42" deck and the single B&S motor, I have beat the living crap out of it hitting bits of farm implements half sunk into the ground, having odd strands of barb getting wrapped around the blade shafts (its belt driven but the point where the blades (2) are bolted to the drive is a magnet for odd cordage, wire and what-knot) anyway its done a fantastic job, but a little later, once we got an old tractor going that had been stuck in a paddock for 3 years going we managed to borrow a slasher off a neighbor.

This is by far the best way to do it, the slasher will cut 5' wide at 10mph easily and the finish cut, despite the name (slasher) is very presentable.

So, in reality I recommend you get yourself a hobby farm second hand tractor with a built in front end loader and a second hand slasher and then when you get a little more ambitious with projects other than grass cutting, you will have the gear to do it with.

less than 4K for this 40 HP Massey (great brand) and diesels last forever. I guarantee, within a very short time, your mind will turn to function over form and this will look like a centerfold :D

Add a slasher for about 1K

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I just went thru buying a new Mower last April, I feel for you. It was just awful . What confused me the most was all the different drive systems (hydrostatic,auto,etc.)
 
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