Post Your Riding Mowers, New and Old

[toxcrusadr]

Jealous of all you guys with 'real' JD. I confess I spent so much time fixing old mowers that I wanted a new one, and couldn't justify the expense of a heavy duty JD. So I compromised with the D series. I'm sure it'l fall apart eventually but I'm in season 3 with not a single glitch, and that's what I wanted.

 

[Djcoolray]

I'd love to put a 265 V-8 in a large yard tractor....

 

[BigElCat]

We had an 8N when I was a kid. I always thought a flathead V-8 would be great for the thing.

There are a lot of crazy tractor videos, though. We're straying from the topic.

 

[mhardy6647]

our daughter & son-in-law got a new riding mower this spring

DSC_7339 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

^^^ It gives Marky a chance to hone his bucket (and tilling) skills, too!

 

[toxcrusadr]

Nice Kubota! 4701? Looks just like mine, brush hog and loader included. Mine's a 4600 from 2013, basically the same model as the 4701. So many convenient features, and built like a tank. Just love it.

 

[mhardy6647]

It's an MX4800. It was a "last year's model", but brand new, and the price was right -- dollar for dollar, it's a lot of tractor (and implements) that should last them (and us*) a lifetime, methinks.

We learned a lot in a few months about tractors The market is skewed towards smaller "gentleman farmer" tractors; for virtually the same $, the slightly less sexy "midsize" tractors offer lots more capability.

Our son-in-law's got a large field to bushwhack, plus he wants to use it to skid logs (they've also got a very large woodlot).
--------
* we'll be investing in a sufficiently hefty trailer anon -- and we're both looking at big-butt pickups with enough chutzpah to pull it. It's right beefy.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Ours has really changed the game for moving logs. I got a forklift attachment from Titan, very well made in USA and shipped free to my door, great for moving lumber stacks and logs. Tractor can really quick-change front implements - one person, 5 minutes. Kubota comes more from the construction side, I think, so their stuff is just heavy. I know what you mean about the 'gentleman's tractor'. I priced a new JD that was much smaller (Kubota has them too) and designed for that weekend farmer/estate market. Just not nearly as heavy and solid. I was lucky as heck to find this one with 77 hrs on it for less than a much smaller tractor would have been brand new.



I scooped up 2 years worth of sawdust from the mill on Saturday and spread it on our walking trail/logging road. Lots of walnut and cedar sawdust in there and I was worried about using it on the garden since walnut can inhibit plant growth, so I used it as mulch. Four big scoops covered about 50 ft of trail 1-2" deep.



Kinda getting off on a tangent from the riding mowers, at least scale-wise, but I do love talking about this machine.

 

[Marine0811]

I can't get to mine right now but I mow with a Simplicity 9020 Powermax. Pretty neat machine. I also have a POS Cub Cadet LT1050

 

[mhardy6647]

Ours has really changed the game for moving logs. I got a forklift attachment from Titan, very well made in USA and shipped free to my door, great for moving lumber stacks and logs. Tractor can really quick-change front implements - one person, 5 minutes. Kubota comes more from the construction side, I think, so their stuff is just heavy. I know what you mean about the 'gentleman's tractor'. I priced a new JD that was much smaller (Kubota has them too) and designed for that weekend farmer/estate market. Just not nearly as heavy and solid. I was lucky as heck to find this one with 77 hrs on it for less than a much smaller tractor would have been brand new.

View attachment 944498

I scooped up 2 years worth of sawdust from the mill on Saturday and spread it on our walking trail/logging road. Lots of walnut and cedar sawdust in there and I was worried about using it on the garden since walnut can inhibit plant growth, so I used it as mulch. Four big scoops covered about 50 ft of trail 1-2" deep.

View attachment 944492

Kinda getting off on a tangent from the riding mowers, at least scale-wise, but I do love talking about this machine.

Yeah, "we" looked at the "L" series Kubotas, too -- less tractor for the same price

DSC_7180 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr



Yeah, tractors are just too much fun. Up here in NH, virtually everyone has one. Mostly Kubotas (because there is a big, and good, dealer in town), but some others too -- and more than a few vintage ones puttering around.

from "our" shopping trip late last winter:

DSC_7176 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr (my daughter taking the one they ultimately bought for a test drive)

... and... dad... test driving it, fully tricked out, on the day they closed the deal.

DSC_7342 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

They got a 6' mower and a 6' tiller(!)

 

[FastG]

I General Electric E12s electric mower from the 70's, it was $1700 in 1973! Runs on 6 deep cycle batteries just like a golf cart, it's amazingly powerfull. Not good pictures, but you can see the electric cutting deck, and it also has a slow plow blade. It's packed up in a Pod on it's way to our new location on Maryland. But we close in a could of week on a house without a lawn, so I guess it will be for sale.

Graham

 

[mhardy6647]

heh -- here's our town administrator on an old JD at last year's Fourth of July parade

093 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

and -- finally -- sort of back on topic Kubota does make adorable little lawn tractors, too.
4WD lawn tractors, with Diesel engines.

stock photo from Kubota's website: http://www.kubota.com/product/BXSeries.aspx

 

[abpeep]

Jealous of all you guys with 'real' JD. I confess I spent so much time fixing old mowers that I wanted a new one, and couldn't justify the expense of a heavy duty JD. So I compromised with the D series. I'm sure it'l fall apart eventually but I'm in season 3 with not a single glitch, and that's what I wanted.

tox, I bought a bottom of the line LA100 in 2007 and it's still going strong. Have only had to do normal maintenance. I've used it to mow about 2 acres.

I've read comments on it that it's not made to last, the decks are crap, on and on... I've been very happy with this one.

With that said, I'm probably in the market to upgrade soon just because.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Fast G: Cool electric! Looks like it has a motor on all 3 blades? So no power transfer from the main engine - just direct drive! Amazing.

mhardy: As usual I bet the girl doesn't come with it.

abpeep: Glad to hear that about the JDs. Mine is in its third season and still clean enough to eat off of. I hose out the deck so the grass doesn't make it rust. Hoping it will last a good long while.

 

[BigElCat]

First, you get the Kubota, then you get the power. You get the power, then you get the girl. (quote from Scarface)

 

[gadget73]

General Electric E12s

Oh wow, an Elec-Trak mower owner. I met a guy on one of these at the Thresherman's Reunion at Rough and Tumble. Its an agricultural museum outside Lancaster, PA. People often drive around on lawn tractors and such there. Guy was running a set of deep cycle batteries like you are, the originals had failed many years before. He had a small trailer with him with a spare battery in it just in case he needed it to get back to his truck. He didn't have the deck mounted, don't remember if he said he had it or not. They were a cool idea.


Mine is a late 90s Troy-Bilt. Its your standard big box store MTD-made mower. Mine just happens to be red, but a virtually identical machine can be had in multiple colors. This year it got a carb rebuild and new starter, runs a treat now.

 

[longle]

Here's my 1994 Sears Craftsman, I've had it since new and it's still in regular use, mowing at least once a week. 14hp cast iron Kohler, 6spd manual shift, 42" deck. The original deck belt lasted 21 years, the TSC replacement lasted 2 years. Still has the original main drive belt. Shed kept, never out in the weather.

 

[toxcrusadr]

That looks so much like a nicer newer cleaner version of the old Craftsman that I have. Not sure of the date but I guessed it in the 80s. Here it is about 2005 when we had a mower race at a neighborhood cookout.



I will just point out that the special paint job did NOT make it go any faster. It was geared so much lower than the other two that it was embarrassing. I think it could have pulled a heavier load though.

 

[Descartridge]

Got my eye on a Kubota KT1570.
Any thoughts?

 

[toxcrusadr]

T1570? There's a riding mower with that model #.

http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/000/3/6/365-kubota-t1570.html

Built 2002-07, 15 hp Kohler single cylinder gasoline, hydrostat transmission.

 

[don philipe]

I'm considering one of these https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/rm480e-electric-riding-lawn-mower Any thoughts? Only a 38" cut but dam near 0 maintenance.