The new lawn tractors are junk.

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We had a reliance rental when we bought this house six years ago . Called to buy out the contract , they said they needed fourteen hundred for a fifteen yr old heater . Waited a yr and it was eight hundred bucks ? Bought it since we paid about six hundred a yr . It’s a racket but there are thousands out there .


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crankcall said:
We had a reliance rental when we bought this house six years ago . Called to buy out the contract , they said they needed fourteen hundred for a fifteen yr old heater . Waited a yr and it was eight hundred bucks ? Bought it since we paid about six hundred a yr . It’s a racket but there are thousands out there .


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Did they use sedatives when they cut off your arm?
 
DJM said:
I don't know much about them, but looking to get a small one for my new place, under $5K. Just a cursory look at the ones at Rona and Home Depot, they look chintzy AF. Even the John Deere's look cheap. Is there a brand that's decent and will last past a couple of seasons or should I look for an old, used one?
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I just went through this a couple weeks ago after doing a lot of research. Do you have any hills and if so how large? (hills will be the biggest deciding factor in determining what you need to buy). Is the area mostly wide open or are there tons of obstacles to mow around? Do you care how fast you mow (ie. do you want to get the job done as fast as possible)? How long do you want the mower to last? Answer those and I can easily narrow down the right machine for you.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
I just went through this a couple weeks ago after doing a lot of research. Do you have any hills and if so how large? (hills will be the biggest deciding factor in determining what you need to buy). Is the area mostly wide open or are there tons of obstacles to mow around? Do you care how fast you mow (ie. do you want to get the job done as fast as possible)? How long do you want the mower to last? Answer those and I can easily narrow down the right machine for you.
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Sorry, I just found your reply. Having some analysis paralysis that's for sure.

Flat ground, 1/2 acre and 6 mature Norway Maple trees to go around. Not in a hurry but needs to be bloody easier and faster than when I last push-mowed it, that took almost 2 hours because of all the broken twigs and maple keys littering the lot. Need about 10 years if that's reasonable. I expect a heavy fallen leaf load come autumn as well.

Read all about the low-end sealed-for-life Tuff-Torq hydrostatic drive failures but apparently you can mod them to accept a drain plug for maintenance and synthetic fluid change. I do know how to maintain equipment so that's a doddle.

There's a Cub Cadet dealership around the corner from me with a nice XT2 LX42 for $5K. 42" deck will just fit through the fence gate so that's max width. It has a fabricated deck instead of stamped.

There's also a JD dealership in Chatham but JD seems overpriced for what you get. Maybe an S220 would fit the bill but it has a stamped deck.

I also saw this old Cub Cadet 71 but it's only 7 HP.
 
DJM said:
Sorry, I just found your reply. Having some analysis paralysis that's for sure.

Flat ground, 1/2 acre and 6 mature Norway Maple trees to go around. Not in a hurry but needs to be bloody easier and faster than when I last push-mowed it, that took almost 2 hours because of all the broken twigs and maple keys littering the lot. Need about 10 years if that's reasonable. I expect a heavy fallen leaf load come autumn as well.

Read all about the low-end sealed-for-life Tuff-Torq hydrostatic drive failures but apparently you can mod them to accept a drain plug for maintenance and synthetic fluid change. I do know how to maintain equipment so that's a doddle.

There's a Cub Cadet dealership around the corner from me with a nice XT2 LX42 for $5K. 42" deck will just fit through the fence gate so that's max width. It has a fabricated deck instead of stamped.

There's also a JD dealership in Chatham but JD seems overpriced for what you get. Maybe an S220 would fit the bill but it has a stamped deck.

I also saw this old Cub Cadet 71 but it's only 7 HP.
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With JD. Stick with the X series. 300 and up They have the tougher transmissions K54? Not the K46 crappy one you get from the box stores. (This may no longer be the case for 2026 models)

When I bought my X300 a few years ago. I got the Kawasaki engine upgrade. Well worth the money.

Might not be "cheap". But if you plan on keeping long term, worth it.
 
DJM said:
Sorry, I just found your reply. Having some analysis paralysis that's for sure.

Flat ground, 1/2 acre and 6 mature Norway Maple trees to go around. Not in a hurry but needs to be bloody easier and faster than when I last push-mowed it, that took almost 2 hours because of all the broken twigs and maple keys littering the lot. Need about 10 years if that's reasonable. I expect a heavy fallen leaf load come autumn as well.

Read all about the low-end sealed-for-life Tuff-Torq hydrostatic drive failures but apparently you can mod them to accept a drain plug for maintenance and synthetic fluid change. I do know how to maintain equipment so that's a doddle.

There's a Cub Cadet dealership around the corner from me with a nice XT2 LX42 for $5K. 42" deck will just fit through the fence gate so that's max width. It has a fabricated deck instead of stamped.

There's also a JD dealership in Chatham but JD seems overpriced for what you get. Maybe an S220 would fit the bill but it has a stamped deck.

I also saw this old Cub Cadet 71 but it's only 7 HP.
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The benefit to fab decks is that they're often thicker so they can take a beating if there's risk of hitting things and they "can" take longer to rust through. Problem is they don't flow air (and with that, grass clippings) as well as stamped. Fab decks often have corners where grass gets stuck (lot's of people complain about having to clean it out after each mow) and this can cause it to rust out just as fast as a thinner stamped deck. Nothing wrong with a good stamped deck that's made of good thickness steel.
The Kawasaki engines and the Brigs used in the higher level JD units are good and will be just fine. Stay away from the Cub "Intellipower" engines as they're troublesome.
Consider a zero-turn as well. A Cub Z2 42" can likely be found on sale now for your price range (they have a Hero program discount as well if it applies to you). A JD Z320M or similar in that line with whatever specs you prefer is a solid option.
For tractors, the JD S240 would be perfect for you. It has the better Kawasaki engine and the K46 is just fine if you don't have hills (yes you can remove the K46 easily enough and just turn it over to dump out the oil and replace it with better synthetic). The Cub XT2 has either the Intellipower of the Kohler engines so I'd choose the JD over those two.
For a 1/2 acre lot with no hills either the Z320/330M or the S240 with good maintenance should last you 20yrs.
 
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SunnY S said:
With JD. Stick with the X series. 300 and up They have the tougher transmissions K54? Not the K46 crappy one you get from the box stores. (This may no longer be the case for 2026 models)

When I bought my X300 a few years ago. I got the Kawasaki engine upgrade. Well worth the money.

Might not be "cheap". But if you plan on keeping long term, worth it.
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The X300's that have the smaller 42" deck that the OP wants all come with the same K46 as the 200 series. The K46 is fine unless you have hills or try to pull heavy things.
 
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There's a JD dealership in Comber. I sent them a request for info and availability on the S240 and X330. I like the 4yr warranty on the X330.
 
DJM said:
There's a JD dealership in Comber. I sent them a request for info and availability on the S240 and X330. I like the 4yr warranty on the X330.
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I had a x300 with kawi engine as I stated earlier. It was bullet proof

I looked at the S back then (2014). But I recall, and I may be mistaken. I remember it "looked" cooler, but you could see the cost cutting on it.

I don't mind paying a little more for quality, esp if I plan on keeping it long term


Zero turn is fine if all you do is mow.

My tractor was used for mowing, snow blowing and I had the trailer too.

Very handy machine to have around. Sold it for nearly what I paid for it years later, as my land shrunk due to development.

I loved it and still miss it.
 
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DJM said:
Well it’s done. Got a new X350 with mulch kit getting delivered Monday. Paid more for the Kawi engine but I prefer that over Briggs. Thanks for all the input.
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Get the blower too. Then you have all season machine worthy of the investment.
 
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Scuba Steve said:
Get a zero turn I have a ferris pro cut s and love it. The time saving over a tractor are insane if you have trees.

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I agree. My lot city lot is about 1/3 acre lots of trees and obstacles. Standard lawn tractors don’t handle going around trees, buildings, pools etc.

I used a 28” Snapper for a while, but eventually went back to a regular lawnmower - more walking but overall less time in trimming and detailing.

Regular riding mowers are best cutting wide open fields, small zero turns can go where lawnmowers go.

I’m lucky, my wife loves cutting the grass. I did it for 30+ years before she gave it a go. She tried it once and never looked back, I don’t think I’ve cut the lawns in 5 years.
 
Mad Mike said:
I agree. My lot city lot is about 1/3 acre lots of trees and obstacles. Standard lawn tractors don’t handle going around trees, buildings, pools etc.

I used a 28” Snapper for a while, but eventually went back to a regular lawnmower - more walking but overall less time in trimming and detailing.

Regular riding mowers are best cutting wide open fields, small zero turns can go where lawnmowers go.

I’m lucky, my wife loves cutting the grass. I did it for 30+ years before she gave it a go. She tried it once and never looked back, I don’t think I’ve cut the lawns in 5 years.
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I don't love my new ZT but I'm hoping since I've only done two cuts with it I'll grow to like it better with more practice. I have fences, curved paved driveways, area between trees (ie. forest), and one 15 degree ditch. All of which is taking getting used to using the ZT a bit harder. Right now I'm struggling a bit with cutting close to driveway/fences, cutting grass on the larger hill and other rolling sections without chewing up the areas with my drive tires, etc. Kinda miss my tractor and at the moment wished I had gotten the X380 instead of the Z530M but I'll give it some time before I make a final decision on that.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
I don't love my new ZT but I'm hoping since I've only done two cuts with it I'll grow to like it better with more practice. I have fences, curved paved driveways, area between trees (ie. forest), and one 15 degree ditch. All of which is taking getting used to using the ZT a bit harder. Right now I'm struggling a bit with cutting close to driveway/fences, cutting grass on the larger hill and other rolling sections without chewing up the areas with my drive tires, etc. Kinda miss my tractor and at the moment wished I had gotten the X380 instead of the Z530M but I'll give it some time before I make a final decision on that.
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That is one of the good things about the procut s it has normal steering not levers. But is longer than a normal zero turn

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Hardwrkr13 said:
I don't love my new ZT but I'm hoping since I've only done two cuts with it I'll grow to like it better with more practice. I have fences, curved paved driveways, area between trees (ie. forest), and one 15 degree ditch. All of which is taking getting used to using the ZT a bit harder. Right now I'm struggling a bit with cutting close to driveway/fences, cutting grass on the larger hill and other rolling sections without chewing up the areas with my drive tires, etc. Kinda miss my tractor and at the moment wished I had gotten the X380 instead of the Z530M but I'll give it some time before I make a final decision on that.
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You might have been better with a standup. Your current beast has a huge footprint.
 
Seen to many big box store repairs that rival the purchase price for what amounts to be throw away junk.
I'll be adding: Ariens, Gravely, and Stiga to our line up this fall (Starting with Ariens snowblowers) I'm looking forward to seeing them as I'm in the market for a new snowblower myself.
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