kozal01
Gold Member
To add to the comments above, yes picking the wrong machine for your needs or buying cheap is the source of most of the complaints Ive seen. Buy the deck width that is suitable for your yard, most tend to go too big when that can be counter intuitive sometimes. Box store brands tend to be cheaply built with stamped decks, uncomfortable seats, tiny tires, cheap and unserviceable hydro motors and lower end engines. The wrong seat will make you hate life! I used my neighbors Cub Cadet Zero turn before I bought my Exmark and the seat on his was awful! No arm rests, very hard seat with poor ergonomics and terrible springs under it. It also didn't mow very well. You dont need to go full on commercial to get a quality built machine with good components, just stay away from the ones you see sitting out in front of the Lowes and Home Depot stores. Visit a dealer that sells something like Exmark, Scag, Wright, John Deere ect. Just like lawn tractors, you get what you pay for. Ive had my Exmark for about 10 years now and it was around $3,800 back then and its their homeowner model but has a really nice fabricated deck, Kawasaki engine and good entry level commercial hydro motors, was only $500 more than my neighbor paid for his Cub Cadet from Tractor Supply and it is a much nicer unit. Cut quality is not even comparable to my old JD and it easily mows twice as fast. I love mowing now, its like sitting in a lazy boy! I stretch out my legs, put on some tunes and cruise. Very comfortable.
As for maintenance, its easy. Oil changes are simple and its easier to get to the underside of the deck to take care of blades or whatnot than my lawn tractor was. A jack under the front gets it high enough to get my impact under it to swap blades, or to get myself under it to scrape the deck.
