[AT] Mowing

Stephen Offiler soffiler at gmail.com
Thu Apr 30 10:21:17 PDT 2015


Five digits is a little high for me, too.

For the last 12 years, I've mowed about 2.5 acres that is sloped by not
truly hilly, with large boulders, ledge, trees, garden beds, dozens and
dozens of things I have to watch out for and work around.

I started out with a cheap, kind of crappy little JD STX38, 38" deck.  It
was kind of clapped-out when I got it, but it was cheap.  It lasted a
season or two, but the mowing job took a solid 4 hours.  Over the course of
ownership I had to perform numerous repairs, all fairly minor, but
necessary to keep it running.

Before the STX actually died, I happened across a Cub Cadet 1812 for sale
locally.  CC 1812 is from the MTD era right after IH went under, and it was
actually built straight off the tooling of the IH782.  It had an 18HP
opposed-twin Kohler, hydrostatic drive, and it came with a 44" mower deck
plus a really slick power-lift, power angle snowplow.  This dropped the
task from 4 hours to under 3 hours.  This machine also required a variety
of repairs, some not so minor, including a seal in the hydro unit that
failed and took me about 20 hours of quality time in the workshop to
completely disassemble, repair, and reassemble.  After a few seasons, a
flex coupling on the driveshaft let go, and that shaft swinging around took
out a variety of hydraulic, electrical, and mechanical parts in its wake,
turning it from a mowing machine that I needed desperately (the grass
refuses to stop growing) into a huge restoration project for somebody else.

I happen to also own a DR Brush mower with a 17HP Kawasaki twin, and they
offer a finish mower deck for it.  That was my next option after the demise
of the CC, and I mowed with the DR for several years.  The problem is that
the job slowed down, and the gear-driven, walk-behind machine was far less
optimum than a ride-on, hydro machine.  I was back up to 4 hours and if I
let the grass grow too long I'd have to gear down and due to the limited
number of gear ratios it forced the job up to nearly 6 hours.

I got really, really sick of that after a few seasons and went to the local
equipment dealer and purchased a Gravely zero-turn mower.   It has a 24HP
Kawasaki twin (big brother of the engine on my DR mower) and a 48" mower
deck with heavy, welded construction, not stamped sheetmetal.  It cost $4K
but there was a zero-interest financing deal paid over two years that was
quite painless.  There are NO downsides to this decision.  The Gravely (or
any equivalent zero turn mower) starts instantly, runs smoothly and
flawlessly, and I can get the whole job done in no more than 2.5 hours
tops, down to the 1.8-1.9 range if I really hustle and worry a bit less
about appearance. The machine is solid, the engine has a great reputation
even among the pro landscapers, and it gives me no trouble whatsoever.
It's not $13K, but loosening up the purse strings and popping $4K has saved
me enormous amounts of time and hassle.

SO



On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 12:29 PM, <steveallen855 at centurytel.net> wrote:

>
> I read these tales of owning mowers in the five-figure range, and I have
> to say they floor me.  I have not spent $13,000 on all my mowers, my
> tractors, my implements, my truck and SUVs, and my trailers all put
> together.
>
> We mow between 1.5 and 3.5 acres depending on the year, and all I have is
> a little White L-12 (I think) and two 6-hp push mowers.  I have no lawn,
> just yard that is full of twigs and rocks and holes and all the attendant
> detritus of Missouri weather.
>
> Of course, I DO have 2 teenagers.  And one cheapie weed eater.
>
> Now, don't understand this as being critical--I guess, if I could afford
> that kind of money on a mower, I might have one, too.  But, wow!  I can buy
> another set of decent used equipment (and throw away the previsou year's)
> every year for a long time and not spend $13,000!
>
> The guys who do this a business would find that kind of equipment
> necessary, I'm sure.
>
> The "original" Steve Allen
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