Ride-on Mowers - How to rate them?

Mredmond

I'm in the market for a Ride-on mower and just looking for some tips on what to watch out for? Things such as:

What Manufacturers/Models have the best reputations

Same question - Worst reputations

Any known issues to watch out for

Essentially what are the characteristics of a good ride-on mower?

pauln

I can only speak on my experience but it seems the American brands are quite good Wheel Horse, Murray etc.. I haven't tried European makers so can't comment on them.

Things to watch for that has given me problems would be a mower excessively wearing out belts due to problems with the pulley system. You can't really check this when buying but you can have a look at the pulleys and see if there's any damage.
Other things would be general, like rust on the chassis, the electric start works fine and that the engine starts from cold without problems.

A bigger cutting deck will mean less time cutting as you'll get more with each pass, I find around 30'' is pretty good.
The engines horsepower is another thing, bigger is better, 11-13Hp is a good amount to have.
Deck height adjustment can be important depending on the terrain you'll be cutting over, make sure it goes high enough for what you want.

These figures are just what works for me, we have a Murray (pics here ), this mower gets a fair amount of hardship cutting high grass over around a half acre of hilly uneven ground and does it no problem. I just make sure to service it when needed and haven't had reason to complain yet, touch wood.

SAXA

It totally depends on the Size of lawn.
I have an acre to cut. Have a 40" 13.5 hp twin cut classic castlegarden with a mulching deck. Got it this Summer (new lawn) and so far am well satisified. Takes just over the hour to cut the lawn with the mulcher (bit longer to collect the grass). Have to cut a bit more often if using a mulcher. Briggs and Stratton engine but honda are good too I hear. Only needs service every 50 hours so once a season which even thsoe who know nothing about engines could do and clean it after use. Nothing major just a hose down of the deck after use.

Farls

I've studied ride on mowers for a long time now, we have one at the moment and are going to change now with the mowing season almost finished they should be down a bit in price.

Only two makes I would consider buying....countax (the best you can get by a country mile) or john deere. If its a massive lawn than kubota is what you want...their diesels but very expensive...normally only contractors use them.

If you go for some of the lesser makes ( Castlegarden, murray etc) make sure you dont get one with a briggs and stratton engine...these are very loud! The new honda engines aren't so bad but the B & S engines are deafening.

I can't reccomend Countax enough though...fantastic, i see quite a few of them in buy and sell if your not going to buy new.

pauln

Farls wrote:

If you go for some of the lesser makes ( Castlegarden, murray etc) make sure you dont get one with a briggs and stratton engine...these are very loud! The new honda engines aren't so bad but the B & S engines are deafening

I'll second that, ear muffs are a must with the B&S engine.

swoofer

westwood are the daddy of mowers, look here

http://www.westwoodtractors.com/

gb--

Rodney Trotter

I use a LawnFlite. The grass collection system is a pain in the butt. Any dampness at all and the chute clogs up. From what I hear this is the single biggest problem with ride-on mowers.


As to where you can find out which is the best collector? I don't know. Get a test drive, if possible.

Farls

Rodney Trotter wrote:

I use a LawnFlite. The grass collection system is a pain in the butt. Any dampness at all and the chute clogs up. From what I hear this is the single biggest problem with ride-on mowers.

Countax doesn't suffer from this problem...they are the real daddy . Also with countax you your lawn rolled everytime you cut it so you get the nice striped effect if you want it.

I'm not a salesman for them btw, i'm just a big kid when it comes to these sort of things!

thereformer

god i've never read so much mis-information! get a castlegarden or a honda (which are just like a castle garden) or some other castlegarden made mower. the new viking made by stihl t6 mowers are getting good reports too. avoid lawn flite, murray, husqvarna,john deere, johnsered, craftsman, ama,. there are so much much crap ride on mowers. any that have a side chute are useless. stick to briggs engine or honda or a kawasaki.

thereformer

god i've never read so much mis-information! get a castlegarden or a honda (which are just like a castle garden) or some other castlegarden made mower. the new viking made by stihl t6 mowers are getting good reports too. avoid lawn flite, murray, husqvarna,john deere, johnsered, craftsman, ama,. there are so much much crap ride on mowers. any that have a side chute are useless. stick to briggs engine or honda or a kawasaki.

moonshadow

your roughly 5 years too late with your advice:rolleyes:

Eric C

Hi All,
I am currently looking into buying a ride on mower. My garden is not too big 1/2 acre and is fairly level. I have looked around and asked the usual people for advice as this is my first time buying one and up until now knew not a great deal about them. Here's where i'm at.
Jonsered 17hp B&s engine 36" cut includ mulch plug. 2600.
John Deere L135 13.5 hp B&s 36" 2800 mulch not included.
Castlegarden 13.5 hp B&S 36" cut 2550 mulch included. or
Yardman 15hp twin cylinder kawasaki 41" cut 2800 includ mulch cut.

Any comments greatly appreciated

MetallicaBass

countax is the best you cant go wrong there

sky6

From the list you posted I'd go with the Yardman. I don't know anything about yardman but with a 41 inch cut + mulching and a kawasaki engine you can't go far wrong. I have a Kawasaki engine in my Snapper power train. 12 years old now no problems.

Farls

I've had 3 ride on mowers since this thread has started. Currently have a Honda 2417 HME and its the doggies, has an extra fan for blowing the grass so cuts wet or dry without a problem.

Had a Honda 2315 before that and it had no fan leaving it only half the mower.

Was going to get a Countax but the one big problem with them is that they give trouble, the garden centre I went too had any amount of them back in getting fixed and only a handful of old honda's.

For half an acre a Honda 2415 would do the job but I would advise going up another level and getting the 2417.

Don't bother/worry about mulching decks...this country is not suitable for mulching, all you will do is encourage moss growth.

If you have to go with something from your list then stay away from Jonsered, CastleGarden and JD, like I said years ago B&S engines are a torture. That leaves you with the Yardman and I know nothing about them.

A lesson I have learned with strimmers, chainsaws, mowers etc over the years is buy cheap, buy twice. Clarke Machinery in Cavan do good deals on Honda's.

doctorchopper

one thing i would suggest is getting a mower with hyrdostatic drive, much easier to drive, and the running gear seem to be better quality than the old clutch and manual gear types

mrlawntractor

westwood: strongest metal on a lawn tractor, have pulley pto at the back like big tractors and can mow in the wet without clogging thanks to the sweeper collector and leaves stripes.

countax: same as westwood just different bonnets

honda: has a fan in the cutter deck to force grass into the collector

STAY AWAY FROM: husqvarna, craftsman, john deere (because there not built as well as they used to be in the day) and murry.

hope this helped

michaelmakro

Don't buy one!
I bought a A20-50ride on from new, had it regularly serviced by the dealer (each time it came back worse than it went in) and it has cost me in excess of £500 each year for repairs (over £1000 one year) and spends half the cutting season being repaired. Just in from cutting the garden (2 acres) - the machine would hardly pull you out of bed. Looks like another cutting season begins with the repair shop. What a pile of JUNK!

Regnad

I have read this thread and like cars, depends on who you talk to re best make. Anyway, I am looking for a front mounted deck, for the manouverability as I have a lot of trees. Does anyone have any knowledge of the Stiga; what are they like with wet grass, and do they give trouble? What are the drawbacks of a front mounted deck machine? obviously no collection capability but that suits me.

CJhaughey

Regnad wrote: »

What are the drawbacks of a front mounted deck machine? obviously no collection capability but that suits me.

Very complex and for no real benefit.
I was looking at a diesel Stiga the other day and they don't do anything that justifies the additional cost/complexity.

Regnad

Hi CJ. Thanks 4 your input.
Regnad

Bravobabe

I'm trying to get a used mower for a soccer club with no or very little money (Budget is about 1000 approx).
Very hard to get anything in that small budget.
We were looking for something 15 to 20 HP, 36 to 48 inch cut that collects grass.

Can anyone suggest a good mower to do the job?
We need something to last two to three years

The current contractor cannot get to us often enough (one every 3 weeks, rather that once or twice a week), he suggested that we get a Countax as the roller/sweeper would be good for the pitch

Bravobabe

Hi,
I a little confused about which is the best type of lawnmower for cutting a pitch.
For a start on a very low budget €1000 - will go to €1300 max for a good bargain (I know my choice is going to be limited)

Countax - has been recommended, but I see good and bad reviews. Is it possible that the machines are not being serviced correctly or being mis-used or are they just sh1te?:eek:
Westwood - as above
Castlegarden - people tell me there too lite (not robust)
Husqvarna - told they are very reliable and east to service
Honda - told very reliable
Vigking - reliable
John Deere/Murray/MTD - ????

Originally was looking for 18hp 40+" deck with grass collection.
Told by dealer that 13.5HP would be good enough as pitch is level and grass will be kept short.
He is offering a Honda 2313 for €1000 - is this good value?

Any views, information or advice appreciated

RickMarengo

I agree and have just had another bill £414.67 this year after three visits and it still broke down after half an hour of mowing. They have a good reputation locally but cannot seem to get Countax spares (or prices) quickly and they are the third or fourth maintenance company I have tried in the area after the local ex-dealer (as I mistakenly thought it was the repair company incompetence). It is basic design issues, IMHO.

Like you, I too have not spent less than £300/year - every year (and sometimes over £1000) - since new. I look after it well and keep it serviced and oiled/ cleaned. I do not mistreat it. I cannot remember getting more than 10 mows out of it in any year since new. It just keeps breaking down.

The people who write complimentary things about this mower either work for Countax PR or cannot be using a Countax C800HE that I have bought! This was near enough top of the range and I bought several expensive add-ons so Countax have a deeply unhappy customer.
I really feel very badly ripped off.

prospect

I know this is an old thread but my checklist:

Must haves:

Horsepower: Get slightly more than you need, which is determined by the size of lawn, slopes and any other work you require the machine to do

Brand: Get a branded mower with a branded engine, purely from getting parts and accessing service agents. Doesn't matter which brand really, every manufacturer has people who love them and people who hate them.

Rear ejection: Side ejection is just not as good as rear ejection, especially with damp/wet grass.

Cutting width: The bigger the cutting width the quicker you'll get the mowing done. But the horsepower needs to increase with the cutting width. Also, the lawnmower obviously increases in size, so check it will fit in your shed, up paths & between trees etc.

Things that are a benefit, but not essential:

Hydrostatic: Basic its like an automatic. This usually means (and I am happy to be corrected here), that the mower will continue cutting even in reverse. Manual mowers need to have the blades disengaged to reverse.

Electric start.


Thats it really.

Bravobabe

Hi Rick,

Sorry to hear about your issues with the Countax C800HE.

Due to money issues, we ended up buying a Westwood T1200, it was over 20 years old but seemed in reasonable nick (but the gearbox is a bit iffy). We got it off Leixlip hire, who had serviced it.
This mower was used to cut a pitch. The overall area was about 150m x 100M. The grass was topped over thirty times between May and September and we had no problems. (But the machine was used carefully)
We used the mower about 8 times this season to cut and pull a fertilizer spreader and it is now in for its long overdue annual service.
The gearbox is not great and obviously we could do with more power (12hp is a little on the lite side for us).
I'm expecting the service bill to be €200 - €300 as we asked for a lot of things to checked incl. new sweeper brushes).

We were actually thinking of upgrading to a more powerful machine, but we are stuck in the used market due to Club money issues. Something like the Countax A20/50 or similar.

Your Problem: Perhaps you got a faulty machine or as you suggest perhaps its a manufacture design issue. The obvious response is to say that perhaps a more competent repair/maintenance engineer, but you seem to have covered that. The extra number of belts and moving parts does seem to phase some service people, as I was told to stay away from Westwood/Countax by several dealers, while others recommended them.

Did you try contacting Countax directly? If for nothing else but just to complain

NIMAN

I bought a 2nd hand Husq CTH171 off a friend about 3 years ago, and its generally been reliable for me.

I think he had it for about 3 years before that, so its maybe nearly 7 years old at this stage. He used to service it and fit parts himself, but to be honest I am not as handy and have had only one service done in the time I have owned it. I have had the drive belt snap maybe 3 times in my 3 years, about 30-40 to get it replaced.

Mine has a B&S engine, hydrostatic and it is slightly noisy but not too bad - I never feel the need to wear ear protectors tbh.

I have only once used the collection, always use mulching instead. Find it very good, but you do end up cutting more often and if you have a long spell of rain like we have had during some of our recent summers and you can't get at the garden for maybe a month, then it can get very long. Cuts much much better when dry.

So I'd recommend a Husq based on my own experience.

Tonyshan

I know this thread is over 10 years old but I'm very surprised that no one has mentioned Simplicity ride on mowers yet. I bought a second hand Simplicity Broadmoor ride on at least 17 years ago and have been using it ever since to cut my 1 acre with no major problems. As with all ride-on mowers the deck rusted away and was replaced two years ago but, aside from belts, a battery and engine servicing, this has been my only running cost.
I should point out that I do all my own maintainence and, as with any petrol powered lawn equipment, there has been minor problems with dirty petrol, clogged filters etc.
The mower is hydrostatic (absolutely essential for control) with a 14hp Kohler engine and a side discharge (power take off via pulley) grass collection system. It has no problem with wet grass, has never broken down but due to been left out in all weathers and significant abuse is now nearing the end of its life. I have never sharpened the blades, do not wash it after use and in general just ignore it when not in use. The exhaust is rusting away and the main chassis is showing signs of rust. It is now 21 years old so I can't complain.
I would never consider any other type of ride on - no question Simplicity are the best.

Bravobabe

Simplicity ride on lawnmowers

Thanks Tonyshan - can't get better than personal experience.

Our Westwood T1200 is still going and working well (but old age is catching up on it).
We could probably do with replacing the gearbox

We have now got a Iseki SXG and I will review that in more detail when we have used it a few more times.

looksee

Probably abandoned for 10 years because everyone has been posting in the lengthy and exhaustive (I presume, I never look at them ) discussions in the Gardening forum!

Bravobabe

Try - The great big Lawnmower tread