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Post by daylilydude on Jun 25, 2014 5:20:16 GMT -5
I know cursed grass, but I gotta mow it... ! Anyway my really old riding 38" cut Murry mower is on it's last leg, it ought a be it's 11 years old... been a great one. Wifey tells me to go price a zero-turn mower which is what a lot of us here call a "2 sticker" lawn mower, and I was wondering if anyone here uses one of these and can give any info on what is the best brand to buy... and most of all... how hard is it to learn to drive?
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elliemater
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Post by elliemater on Jun 25, 2014 8:18:02 GMT -5
I was considering one, just for the speed and ease of mowing since I don't have too many holes punched into the lawn or trees to go around. I do think it is most useful when you have an uncomplicated lawn to mow. I'll see if I can did out what I found. This Husky was a most popular, most sold one (but that doesn't mean it is best): www.mowersdirect.com/Husqvarna-967-00-37-01-Lawn-Mower/p7603.html
As far as difficulty to driving it, I can drive a tractor and a fork lift...I think my difference here would be having the reflexes for the faster speed. "Whoa Nellie! Oh dadgummit, there goes my best peach sapling!"
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Post by paulf on Jun 25, 2014 18:10:00 GMT -5
The two stickers are pretty easy to get the hang of. They work better on terrain that is not too hilly or as least too steep. They seem to me to be more expensive than the old 4 wheel riding mowers. I have a mid level traditional John Deere riding mower because my landscape is hilly with steep places and the extra horsepower is necessary to climb the hills.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 26, 2014 20:49:58 GMT -5
elliemater, paulf, Thanks y'all, we went ahead and just bought a 46" Snapper riding mower because of price and I have some hilly terrain also. Funny thing these new riding mowers actually have cruise control...
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elliemater
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Post by elliemater on Jun 26, 2014 22:28:02 GMT -5
daylilydude, elliemater, paulf, Thanks y'all we went ahead and bought a 46" cut Snapper mower because of price and all the hilly terrain we have... On another note... this thing has cruise control... But does it have dual cupholders, AC, AM/FM radio and an overhanging shade hood? hahahaha! I wish!
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 28, 2014 7:05:35 GMT -5
elliemater, paulf, LOL... well it has a single cup holder and it does have a shade hood that is sold separately.
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 10, 2014 12:17:31 GMT -5
elliemater,@paul, UPDATE: This snapper mower who now has a name... "turtle" is a real time saver... We mow a 4 acre trellised yard and before we were using a 38" cut 12.5 hp riding mower and just the mowing took like 7 hrs. because of stopping and shifting just to get up and down these trellised hills, but now we can mow and weed-eat the entire yard in roughly 6 hrs.
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Post by paulf on Jul 10, 2014 16:07:56 GMT -5
While we are on lawn mowers, here is my latest feelings about a mower I bought three years ago. It is a Toro self-propelled mower for the really steep hillsides and the trim work where my JD 26 hp rider can't get. Mostly it is used for a steep bank (where I should be using a weed eater but I try to mow anyway) and one longer hillside that we call around here "down in the hollow". It is about 150 feet long and 50 feet wide and is on about a 40 degree slope. I do mow sideways rather than up and down.
On to the mower. I had a Toro self-propelled with three gears forward and one in reverse with a clutch handle. That thing actually dragged me up and down the hillside. Finally the 15 year old mower blew out the gearbox and clutch assembly and parts were not available for a fix. No big deal, I will just buy another self-propelled Toro. Wrong. The new ones have a match your walking speed "smart" propulsion system. It does great on downhills...where I don't need it and is whimpy even on level ground and is absolutely worthless on any upgrade what-so-ever. No amount of adjustment of the gear cable will make it go up any hill.
I asked a Toro dealer what was up with that, all he said was it was because of the dummy factor. Too many dummies were dragged behind their mowers who couldn't figure out what the clutch was for and got injured and sued and won. So they had to do away with a real self-propelled mower. He said if I want a real mower again I would have to buy a commercial model for those who understand mowers and how to run them. Of course, they start at $1500. So what I've got is a piece of junk non-self-propelled that is too heavy to lug around on hills of any size. I can't make myself get rid of a fairly expensive mower while the engine still runs great. Maybe I need to buy goats.
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 28, 2014 4:30:21 GMT -5
Here is a pic of the one I bought...
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Post by spacecase0 on Jul 28, 2014 9:19:47 GMT -5
that sure looks shiny
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 22:25:58 GMT -5
I know cursed grass, but I gotta mow it... ! Anyway my really old riding 38" cut Murry mower is on it's last leg, it ought a be it's 11 years old... been a great one. Wifey tells me to go price a zero-turn mower which is what a lot of us here call a "2 sticker" lawn mower, and I was wondering if anyone here uses one of these and can give any info on what is the best brand to buy... and most of all... how hard is it to learn to drive? What was once a 5 hour mow job at our farm is now just under 2 hours with our X-Mark zero turn mower. If you can, I would recommend spending the money on a new one [any brand] rather than a nice used one because my cousin bought a real nice used one two years ago and the motor blew up shortly after he bought it. He had to pay for a brand new engine out of his pocket rather than a warranty paying for it. And it was not cheap.
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billh
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Post by billh on Jul 30, 2014 6:10:15 GMT -5
DLD I like the snapper mowers and personally I think you made the better choice with the tractor. The snapper 2 stick I had didn't have any suspension so it was pretty tuff on backs and tushies. The other thing was with the 2 stick pulling a trailer or yard sweeper was difficult. By the way nice and shiny, have as much fun as is possible while mowing
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 31, 2014 7:14:12 GMT -5
elliemater, paulf, spacecase0,@willyswoodpile, billh, I just love this mower especially the hydrostatic... no more having to stop and shift into another gear for the different areas in my yard... and yes I have even used the cruise control... It has cut my mowing time a great bit, the only thing I miss is on this particular model it does not have a mulching system
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whistech
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Post by whistech on Jul 31, 2014 14:20:39 GMT -5
Daylily Dude, good looking mower!
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billh
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Post by billh on Aug 1, 2014 5:39:36 GMT -5
I wonder if you can buy the mulching blades and cover the exhaust chute? I don't know if that is all there is to it or not.
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Post by paulf on Aug 5, 2014 8:35:26 GMT -5
After all the searching for a true self-propelled walk behind mower Honda has a mower with hydrostatic drive that can be put into cruise control. There is hope yet. It also has a double blade system for finer mulch so maybe you wouldn't need to block the exhaust chute. Often the ads sound better than the performance. anybody want to buy a three season old Toro?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 5, 2014 8:49:55 GMT -5
I wonder whether self-propelled mowers are even worth buying any more. We've had such bad luck with them being unreliable. The self-propelling mechanism always seems to be the first thing to break. Of course, we don't have hills to mow.
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materman
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Post by materman on Aug 5, 2014 8:59:16 GMT -5
After all the searching for a true self-propelled walk behind mower Honda has a mower with hydrostatic drive that can be put into cruise control. There is hope yet. It also has a double blade system for finer mulch so maybe you wouldn't need to block the exhaust chute. Often the ads sound better than the performance. anybody want to buy a three season old Toro? What you need is one of those European Honda riding mowers! You can mow the grass and then flip a lever and cruse to town at 60mph! I would sure like to have one, but shipping would be expensive. www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2013/11/06/honda-mower/3449285/
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Post by daylilydude on Sept 15, 2014 11:44:08 GMT -5
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Post by stratcat on Sept 15, 2014 11:57:41 GMT -5
Hey, stereo mowers!
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Post by paulf on Sept 15, 2014 18:32:34 GMT -5
Hers is the one at the front of the trailer, correct?
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Post by spacecase0 on Sept 15, 2014 19:18:29 GMT -5
taking them out for a day of lawnmower races ? why are they on a trailer ?
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materman
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Post by materman on Sept 23, 2014 21:47:42 GMT -5
daylilydude Richard, your snapper looks a little nicer then mine, but I like mine for it has a standard high and low transmission and can pull quite a load.
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Post by daylilydude on Sept 24, 2014 4:24:07 GMT -5
paulf, she doesn't like it at all... she says the hood is to big and gets in her way... spacecase0, we mow different yards around town to help the elderly... some of these lawn mowing companies around here charge a lot and they just don't care if they are on a fixed income, so we try and help them out. materman, I need those back tires... lol
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Post by timothyt on Sept 24, 2014 13:40:02 GMT -5
Ahhh, memories....in summer of 1972 at the ripe old age of 14, I bought a used 6.5hp, 3 forward and a reverse, 28" cut U handle riding Snapper mower to start a Summer lawn mowing business for $ 125. Cleared $400 that Summer after paying for mower and expenses at $5 a week per lawn regardless of size and included triming and edging by ye old hand held implements.
Funny how 6.5hp was enough for a riding mower back then, but now most push mowers have to have 5hp-6.5hp and bog down! Guess they don't make horses like they use to<grin>!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 17:39:00 GMT -5
Forest Gump style lawnmowers rule
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Post by izitmidnight on Oct 6, 2014 18:08:49 GMT -5
Best lawn mowers have four legs and fertilize it as they mow!!
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elliemater
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Post by elliemater on Oct 20, 2014 14:58:39 GMT -5
So...why is his so much smaller than hers? Heee.....
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Post by paulf on Oct 21, 2014 9:40:07 GMT -5
So who knows anything about a Sarlo self propelled walk behind mower? It looks like a gear driven three speed mower that will go up my hilly ground. Expensive, but less so than the comparable Ariens.
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