Facts on Replacing a Riding Mower

[tkcomer]

Hey all. New to this forum but here goes. I have an 11 year old 16.5 horsepower Murry rider that has a 46” deck. This thing is a trimming machine. The deck sticks out a lot on one side and I can stick that deck under woven wire fences, trim around trees and buildings. It takes about one hour to trim around everything I have. I then finish up with Poulan mower. The Poulan does a much better job mowing, but can’t even touch that Murry for close up trimming, or match the Murry on traction on hillsides. Reliability problems are why I purchased the Poulan. As the Murry becomes more unreliable, I want to know what kind of machine to replace it with. I’ve never seen a rider that has a deck that sticks out as far as the Murry. New Murrys now come with a 42” deck and could not even begin to trim around obstacles like this one. I live on a farm that has several lots with fences and that Murry trims things up really nice. And the turning radius is really small. So far, I have not found anything to replace that little rider, but options are limited in the small town I live in. Is there a rider that can replace my little Murry?

 

[ronjhall]

Welcome to TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I do not know if I can help you. I have a <font color="green"> JD </font> F735 front mower. The mower is offset to the left hand side at least 6". This gives about 18" between mower wheel and edge of 60" mower. Sure is great for getting close. I have not seen another mower with this type of offset. Yours sounds like it is similar.
My F735 is no longer manufactured. But they still make a F725 that has this feature. See attached picture.
You may be able to find a used one for a good price.

 

[tkcomer]

That’s a ZT mower. It looks too long to be trimming all the 90-degree bends I have in fences. I have a 6-foot Landpride mower that goes on the back of an IH 484. You can’t get that thing anywhere near a fence. It’ll get hung up in the wire in a heartbeat. That was my first purchase to take the load off of the Murry 5 years ago. But it is useless in all the tight spots I have. I had to put tubes in the front tires of the Landpride because I kept popping the tires off of the beads. I bought the Poulan 3 years ago. It’s a 25 horse, with a 48” deck. Does a great job if the grass is dry. Not so good if it’s heavy. Don’t even think about it if it is slightly wet. And I was shocked when I found out that the little Murry would run rings around it on uneven ground and hillsides. This Poulan won’t pull the hat off your head unless it is dead level. It needs a dif lock bad. The search continues.

 

[QueBota]

How much would it cost to make the Murray reliable?

If the deck, engine and trans are in good shape it may be more cost effective to put a few $$$ into the Murray.

Dave

 

[tkcomer]

That’s just it. I keep putting more and more dollars into it. Every once and awhile, the hydro unit acts up. Lawn dealer said that is an $800 dollar part. Told me that 3 years ago. Hard telling what they cost now. The mower was only $1199 new. It’s starting to burn more and more oil. You can hear it knock on startup, but it runs fine. The biggest problem right now is the belt for the blades is slipping. The spring for the tension pulley broke and I put a new one on. But for the life of me, I can’t get it adjusted right. If you adjust it where it won’t slip, the blades won’t shut off. They keep spinning. A new belt didn’t change things. It isn’t dead yet, just trying to find something to replace it with.

 

[KentT]

You may want to add some weight to the Poulan Pro, and perhaps change to ag-type rear tires -- both of these would help address the traction issues you describe, and would be the least expensive way out...

 

[tkcomer]

This is what I’m mowing: http://www.pixagogo.com/7000025205 The Poulan can’t trim around all the stuff I have. The pics make it looks like the ground is flat, but it’s not. I trim and do the slopes with the little Murray and then bring out the Poulan. Generally, I start trimming and then the wife takes off on the Poulan. Together, we can knock it out in about 4 hours. But she likes the foot feed on the Murry better. The Poulan is kinda jerky when you stop to back up and stop to go forward. The pics were taken last year when I spayed all around the buildings and fences trying to cut back on the use of the Murry. The moles had a hoe down in those areas. We are in a drought right now. I’ve only mowed 3 times since May and I figure with the season coming to an end, the dealers might be aching to move some machines at a discount. I’m starting to see ads, but no prices, from dealers outside the area in the local paper. I’m looking for something where the deck sticks out a lot on one side. That way I can maneuver it under fences.

 

[JTKub]

Did you check out the cub cadet 1000 series machines? the 46" and 50" decks stick out a loooong way on those. Many of the AYP/sears/husqvarna LT's have real wide decks as well.
G/luck
Joel

 

[tkcomer]

I haven’t checked anything out yet. I came to this board looking for ideas. I even thought about a small 4WD utility tractor with a mid mount mower to replace both riders and the IH 484. But it takes a good set of hydraulics to run the post driver. And so far, I don’t know if any of the little tractors could handle a 7-foot sickle mower. Most of my equipment is Cat II. I have a Case-IH 685 for the bigger stuff. I don’t mind spending some money if I could replace all 3, but most of the utility tractors that can handle my equipment don’t have the mid mount mower. A rear mower just won’t do.

 

[slammer]

I would just buy a Kubota GR2100. 3 Cylinder, 21HP diesel, 54" deck, AWD, PS, shaftdrive, and glidesteer. It's the tightest turning tractor on the market and is reasonably priced at about $7200. I have the gas GR2000. (identical except the 2000 has a 20hp Kohler Command Pro and 48" deck.) I could'nt fit the 54" deck through my gates. Obviously the 54" deck sticks out farther...

Slam








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