Buying Advice Sick and tired of low quality riding lawnmowers

[ETD66SS]

My father's Husqvarna riding mower with Kholer 26 HP Courage (SV735S) engine is bending/breaking starter motor shafts. Not sure what is going on with that, but I notice when working on the mower how cheaply made everything is. My personal riding mower is an early 80's Ford LGT17H that I picked up on CL for $250 8 years ago. I've never had to do anything to it, it's built so much better than any of the crap I see at big box stores these days. The Cub Cadet Hydro my father had when I was growing up was the last riding mower he owned that wasn't full of cheaply made Asian parts, and that thing lasted a good 25 years.

My father wants me to help him buy a "good" riding mower, Made in USA, and he can spend like $3500. I'm not sure those things go together these days... He spent around $3700 on this Husqvarna mower and I can't believe what he got for $3700, it's a throw away machine. Two years after he bought it both coils failed, and it turns out it was a design flaw and the coils were redesigned, iirc he spent like $300 on new coils. Now this starter shaft issue, I see that Kholer redesigned the starter to have 9 teeth instead of 10 so they could make the weak shaft larger in diameter... This is BS for something he paid $3700 for IMO.

He's 86, recovering from a stroke and I don't think he can lean how to use a zero turn in his current state. So, wondering where to start researching for a new riding, HST, ~54" cut lawnmower? I'd love to buy an older machine on CL and fix it up for him but I simply do not have the time, so need to find a unit to buy that isn't junk.

 

[RickB]

You simply aren’t going to find anything new, of acceptable quality and within his budget.

 

[attract her]

It's not an endorsement, merely my confession of desperation. I've been using a 22" B&S 4.5 HP walk-behind for a generation. I finally bit the bullet & bought a brand new John Deere (it matches my lawn).
List price was $1,999.oo
I think it's an D140.
Lowe's knocked a $100.oo off the price, and also gave me a $250.oo Lowe's gift card (use it like a credit card).
I'm not sure why they did all that, except that when the unit was delivered the battery was dead, dead, dead. I jump-started the machine and mowed one of the smaller lawns, thinking it would charge the battery up. NOPE !!
I had to charge it over night to get it in shape. I've had it a few years, probably needs a new battery. Other than that, seems OK. But I only run it a few hours a year.

E6,
Have you considered an autonomous mower? Depending on the size of your mowing needs, you might even get by with an autonomous all electric. Might even save some money.

 

[ETD66SS]

You simply aren’t going to find anything new, of acceptable quality and within his budget.

Even a "tractor" like this: XT3 Enduro Series 25hp Kohler engine | Garden Super Tractor | Cub Cadet is likely full of Asian parts that are junk.

Not sure how companies can say Made in USA but in the fine print say "we source parts domestically & globally". The globally sourced parts are why these units are garbage... Kholer puts a Chinese built starter on their 7000 series engines, that engine in my mind becomes junk, no matter if there are any US made parts on it or not. I've never seen starter shafts bending & breaking until these past few weeks, incredible.

Yeah, not sure what to do. Very frustrating.

Have you considered an autonomous mower? Depending on the size of your mowing needs, you might even get by with an autonomous all electric. Might even save some money.

He cuts about 1.5 acres, don't think that is an option.

 

[Motorboatin]

I've been looking at mowers and if you want something that will last it cost at least double what your father paid

There is a huge difference in quality between pro grade mowers and homeowner models. There doesn't seem to be anything in the middle

 

[ETD66SS]

I've been looking at mowers and if you want something that will last it cost at least double what your father paid

There is a huge difference in quality between pro grade mowers and homeowner models. There doesn't seem to be anything in the middle

I see that, but quality pro grade mowers these days are all zero turn?

 

[jaxs]

That is a common complaint. While everyone has their favorite,I seriously doubt there being one or two brands that stand apart from the rest. I am of the opinion a mfgr could remain competive in pricing and turn out a better than average lawn tractor or other product if they didn't change design to keep up with trends. The question is would consumers approve of and buy the product if they couldn't tell the age by looking. The mfgr could continue tweaking to improve quility (such as the larger starter shaft) as necessary while retaining proven parts and pieces. Amoungest other benefits,replacement parts would be easier to find since dealers would need to stock few parts than required for competitors brand. The ray of sunshine in this is a man of 86 shopping for a mower. We should all be so lucky. Bless you for making time to help him out.

 

[4570Man]

I see that, but quality pro grade mowers these days are all zero turn?

Pretty much. Because nobody or not very many people are going to pay 10k for a quality riding mower. If you’re in the select group that will you can buy a 7x series John Deere mower. I think those are an incredibly poor value. I think you already understand a new quality mower isn’t happening for $3500. The CL approach is your best option for a quality machine at that price. I’d also recommend power steering. A John Deere 455 has power steering. I’m a bigger fan or Orange mowers but I don’t know of anything they make that’s got power steering in that price range. Btw a church I mow has a 455 and sometimes I put a helper on it and I can out mow it by 3 times on my Grasshopper. My 96 year old Grandpa still mows on a ZT. He’s not a huge fan of it but he can’t get on the other mowers anymore. The second problem is he struggles with his non power steering B Kubota which is why I recommend getting one with power steering.

 

[searcyfarms]

Hi there ETD - I too have owned an LGT17H, and an LGT18H those were magnum kohler engines - they had eaton hydro pumps in them with tecumseh gears/rearends. I NEVER had a problem with either of mine, i then graduated to a GT75 - it was a 1997 and sold then with power steering, hydraulic lift on deck, two speed hydro, cruise control, to the tune of 10K in 1997 - i bought it used in 2000 for 2000 bucks with 50 hours on it because the deck was damaged and unusable and the motor had been rebuilt at 50hours due to the owners 5y/o son spraying up the exhaust pipe and hydrolocking the motor and bending rods - it took a considerable amount of time to repair so the owner traded for a new mower.

you cannot find a beefy mower like that now w/out spending comparable money - i restored the GT65 machine last year, painted it, put in new axle seals, rebuilt deck spindles and sold it for 3K - that would have been perfect for you so start looking at older used units that are in great condition/restored, there are old guys that do it for a hobby because they are retired and you will find something that is well made and reliable. Like you have already stated the older CUB, Deere, Ford, Wheel Horse, Snapper, tractors were more substantial.

the older 400 series were good Deere, 430 is a heavy diesel.
the fords as you know are great
wheel horse made several options

 

[ETD66SS]

Hi there ETD - I too have owned an LGT17H, and an LGT18H those were magnum kohler engines - they had eaton hydro pumps in them with tecumseh gears/rearends. I NEVER had a problem with either of mine, i then graduated to a GT75 - View attachment 611400View attachment 611401 it was a 1997 and sold then with power steering, hydraulic lift on deck, two speed hydro, cruise control, to the tune of 10K in 1997 - i bought it used in 2000 for 2000 bucks with 50 hours on it because the deck was damaged and unusable and the motor had been rebuilt at 50hours due to the owners 5y/o son spraying up the exhaust pipe and hydrolocking the motor and bending rods - it took a considerable amount of time to repair so the owner traded for a new mower.

you cannot find a beefy mower like that now w/out spending comparable money - i restored the GT65 machine last year, painted it, put in new axle seals, rebuilt deck spindles and sold it for 3K - that would have been perfect for you so start looking at older used units that are in great condition/restored, there are old guys that do it for a hobby because they are retired and you will find something that is well made and reliable. Like you have already stated the older CUB, Deere, Ford, Wheel Horse, Snapper, tractors were more substantial.

the older 400 series were good Deere, 430 is a heavy diesel.
the fords as you know are great
wheel horse made several options

Wow, that GT75 looks nice. I work own/work on a lot of machines, but not really riding mowers so don't know much about which ones are good etc. My house only has 1/2 acre lot, that's where I use the LGT17H, at my land (future home) I cut 5 acres, I use a Ford 1620 HST with 914 deck there.

I don't think I would be happy unless I found a good older unit on CL and restored it. I just wish I had the time to do that.