On Fri, Aug 24, 2001 at 09:21:56AM -0500, JNiolon@uss.com wrote:
>
> So after discussing my rebuild options on Kohler engines and finding short
> block prices over 700.00 I'm wondering about replacing my 22 year old cub
> cadet...
>
> I'm looking for recommendations on lawn tractors in the 12-20 hp range,
> hydrostatic drive... options would include hydraulic deck lift, pto, etc...
>
> any good reports, warnings, prices, other considerations.... in other
> words... what are you guys happy with or totally dissatisfied with ???
I bought a Deere "sabre" 15hp for lawn mowing. It's fairly
inexpensive and works well for mowing the lawn. I got hydrostatic
which I consider mandatory. I beleive that one of the chains
back east (Lowes?) sells them under a different label.
Buy the v-twin instead of the single cylinder I got, it'll
be smoother running.
The other stuff (hydraulic deck, PTO) isn't-- the deck is easy to move up
and down, and I don't think that a PTO is very useful on a lawn tractor.
They aren't big and heavy enough to get good traction, so most of the
stuff that you would do with a PTO, like brush-hogging or running a
tiller, is not very effective.
If you really do need to do that sort of stuff, then buy a used
compact diesel tractor (Kubota or the like) that's got the
size and power to do something. My little Kubota 7100 (a smallish
compact) can run most cat 1 implements and it's still not
big enough to be really effective with the box scraper and it
can handle only a 4' brush hog. This is ok for me since I
have hilly treed land so the manuverability of the smaller
tractor is more important than the greater effectiveness that
a slightly larger compact would have. But a lawn tractor
that's 1/2 the size and weight would be pretty much useless.
If you want the PTO to run a tiller for tilling the garden, just
buy a mantis instead. It's a lot cheaper ($350) and unless you're doing
a Really Big garden (like 1/2 acre or more) it'll work just fine.
With a normal family-sized garden you'd spend more time getting
the tiller on the tractor and manuvering the tractor than
you would spend tilling with the mantis.
Eric
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