So my old crappy push mower finally blew up so I'm trying to figure out what I want to get. I'm cheap so I'm searching CL and I am thinking about going to a rider. My back yard is pretty good size and takes me about an hour to do my entire yard with the push mower. I don't know a ton about these things but what are the decent brands and what normally goes wrong with these things? I'm not mowing 10 acres with the thing and my lot is mostly level so its not like I need something heavy duty. Am I stupid for buying one used? I'd like to spend less than a grand for something used but I really don't know what good budget is for something like this.
Most of the cheaper ones are made by MTD and are more or less the same. Most of the ones made in the last 10 years have an hour meter so you know what you're getting into. As long as it runs I'd buy a used one if it looked like it had been stored inside with less then 200 hours or so.
Go with hydrostatic. It's easy to tighten a stretched, or replace, a broken belt. Buy the cheapest thing You can find used. lawn mowers are a dime a dozen. easy to work on, and if they just die on You, cheap to replace. Don't waste Your money on a new one.
FWIW; 7 years ago I bought a Toro 11-32 that was made in 1985. I replaced the belts and last year managed to finally burn the clutch plate out of it when I was moving my enclosed trailer....some 3200 lbs with the wood that was in it. Found a replacement clutch from a donor on CL and installed that within a couple hours. The engine burns oil like it's going out of style and the brakes have been toast for 3 or 4 years but I paid $150.00 for it and will be cutting with it this weekend.
Sounds like my last mower haha! It smoked like an old diesel and had a nasty case of rod knock before it finally died. The zoysia in my back yard was just too thick for it. Yeah I am finding that lots of these things look the same other than paint and whatever 'brand' sticker they have on the hood. Looks like $400-$600 should get me something decent.
When we bought are current house, I upgraded to a small Honda rider that was a hydrostatic drive. I have a very steep hill that is the entire front yard. Needless to say the hydro went out less than 2 months after I got it. And for that model, Honda quit making parts. I upgraded to a larger but older Deutz-Allis "lawn tractor".. 48" deck and it's geared which I like much better. But even with being a re branded Simplicity, parts are still tough. Craigslist is littered with them right now for $500. I like the larger tractors because I move my trailer with it, push snow, or pull the lawn roller. The downside is it's a heavy SOB. You can get a craftsman for next to nothing. Get 14HP or larger if you pick up anything over a 44" deck.
This one seems pretty cheap and looks almost new. I think I want a wider deck but damn $400 is pretty cheap... http://kansascity.craigslist.org/grd/2977353334.html
I bought a base model, belt driven JD from HD 7 years ago. I think I paid $1000 for it. If I knew I would get 7 years out of the next one like the 7 years I got out of this one, I'd buy another in a heartbeat. I have about eleventy-billion hours on this thing and it's just now starting to blow a little smoke.
Gonna look at this one tonight or tomorrow and will probably offer $400. Most of the other ones in this price range are less than 40" deck and around 15hp. The bigger deck would save me a ton of time on my backyard which would rock, plus it probably won't blow up from my thick grass haha! http://kansascity.craigslist.org/grd/2986691902.html