John Deere lawnmowers ?

.................I bought a New Snapper rider...Model #1433.....it's a 33 inch cut with a 14 HP Kohler engine. I mow 3.5 acres out my total of 5 . It is into it's 7 th. mowing season and still gowing strong. I do all my own maintenance and change the oil and filter about 3 times a year. I paid 2k for it in dec-96 , best money I've ever spent. Anytime you buy these 2 bladed , wide cut , riding mowers they require alot of maintenance because of the Convoluted mechanical belts and pulley's to make those blades cut. Plus they don't seem to build much quality into their products these days. Personally , I have always felt that they are way overpriced for what they are..............fordy.....

my sister mows close to 4 acres at least once a week and sometimes twice. She says it takes her 9 hours to do it all (she is nuts, obviously).

she bought a new jd around 5 years or so ago, $5k and its been sitting in her yard now at least 2 years. Needs a new deck for close to $1k.

now obviously, she mows more than most sane people but she has decided she is better off buying a cheap $1k mower every couple of years and then pitch it. My father has a john deer tractor (have no idea of the make ) that he bought brand new almost 30 years ago. If I were her I'd use it and bush hog all that instead of mowing it! but I don't have any desire to live on a golf course or have a lawn that looks like one

mel-

This is a homesteading web page, right? If anyone has one usable acre or more of land, why are they wasting it with grass. It is a time, water and (obviously) money waster. Plant veggies, grab a neighbors goat or horse, or broadcast a bunch of wildflower seeds. Stop wasting your money, time and life trying to mow, weed and fertilize grass!

Did you say computers? why have a Computer controlled engine on a lawn mower, engineers these days are forgeting the "KISS" concept.

the only thing you need computers for is Surfing the Net, and if it wasn't for federal pollution control you wouldn't be needing a computer on a car(BTW the goverment mandated Electronic ignitions in the late 80's)

Now what would be cool is If somone made a small Diesel engine on a lawn mower! like a 10 hp engine. That would be cool.

Oh please. There are many aspects of homesteading that don't involve livestock, gardens, etc. Furthermore, I have a 3 acre lawn that yields hundreds of pounds of compost every 14 days. It takes 2-3 hours a week to mow the whole thing and rake some of the clippings, into the tumbler it goes with brooder bedding, and onto my 1/4 acre garden it's spread. I could spend that time being more intensive with my green manures, weeding more often, driving to the store to pick up a bag of fertilizer, or sweating my arse off turning traditional compost bins or loading manure from some other farm. It all comes out in the wash.

You don't have to pile everything up into one space to be efficient and successful. And you can have a nice yard to boot.

Oilpatch,
JD makes a diesel lawn mower that is strictly a lawnmower.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

We mow w/ a 8 year old MTD...20 hp Kohler, 50" deck...the poor thing mows 2 acres every week, and the back pasture (3 acres) once a month-plus, pulling trailers full of wood, the log splitter...you get the idea! We do the usual on it-oil changes, belts, blades...the only major thing we've replaced-outside on a lot of deck spindles is the steering rod this year-the worm gear finally bit it-and the coil on the engine! Of course, the plastic hood and sides bit the dust 5 years ago, so the thing looks like hell, but hey, she still cuts! I'm like the others here-I'd never spend big $$ on a mower-the cheaper ones-used if possible-are the best bang for the buck!

In our case the acres are either side of the lane, around the barns and sheds, you know, bits and pieces here and there. MIL has a sort of T-shaped lawn because they have cow pastures on either side of the lane and around the house and barns. Ours is sort of um, I don't know, polygonal because DH laid out the fences to make as small a lawn as possible.

We mow 2x a month, whether it needs it or not. Our lawn is volunteer pasture grass from sod chunks that didn't die when the house was built. I think it is fescue with some clover mixed in. We had a guy stop by and give us a quote on seeding etc. and we just laughed. I remember the first time DH mowed it looked like the Dust Bowl out here!

Thanks for reminding me of those funny memories!

Ann

__________________
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity."

Previous owner sold because mowing took too long. Fences cost money and time to build. Little by little lawn is getting smaller.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

Listen Fin,

Homesteading IS "livestock and gardening, etc". The whole purpose is sustainable living. I have chickens, and a half acre garden and still have grass. I plan on getting rid of this grass as much as possible in order to have more USABLE land. This is so that I don't have to "drive to the store to pick up a bag of fertilizer" I can create my own fertilizer with pigs or goats or chickens.

The person with the original post was complaining about her lawn and obviously not satisfied with it so Stephanie, VA was offering other suggestions besides buying more gas guzzling beasts that take up landfill space and this persons valuable time and MONEY. No you don't have to pile everything up into one space to be efficient and successful, but if all you have is an acre then you have to use it to the maximum.

We have a garden, 2 in fact. We raise goats and have several pastures for them. We also raise show dogs, Afghan Hounds, to be exact and they need running room. Nice clean running room. The only way to to that is to keep a nice lawn. We have about 3 to 5 acres in grass, so we use our riding lawn mower quite a bit. So Stephanie, VA grass does have its place in some homesteads. We also do not fertilize, or water the grass at all, nature takes care of that.
Alice in Virginia

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There is nothing any worse than an angry little old lady, they've had a lifetime to learn all the dirty tricks and people get upset if you hit them!

Might you be a bit more open with the problem. It sucks is not much info to go on. What "sucked"?

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Gary in Central Ohio

I have heard every type of mower mentioned except "KUBOTA" I know it is not an AMERICAN but ..............

1986 model G5200 14HP mid-pto hydrostatic-trans

52 inch deck

I bought it used 12 years ago at the Dealer for $2600 the only expense other than change the oil , add grease to the fitting and replace worn belts was the seat needed to be replaced a few years ago

I mow approx 1.5 acres now once a week need it or not

Oh did I mention that it is diesel

We had a problem with JD from the minute it hit the driveway- it wouldn't start. The dealership took it back and gave us a "loaner". They brought back the original, it went through 2 batteries before they listened to us that it was an electrical problem. The electrical/charging problems continued on and off. Several buttons/knobs snapped off, the snowthrower ate $12.00 belts. We had to take this thing to the dealership for every little problem and badger them to fix it. After careful oil changes and maintaince, the engine blew 1-2 months out of warranty. The fact that it had been in the shop multiple times didn't extend the warranty.

The dealership indicated that the engine blew because of mechanical problems, JD techs, without seeing the engine, said we didn't change the oil properly. I had to threaten them with an attorney and the BBB to help us replace the engine. They ended up kicking in $500 of the $1500 replacement engine. JD is the only company that I've written to that wouldn't respond to my letters. They do not stand behind their product...they won't stand in front of it either because of faulty brakes (that was the loaner). So, in the 5 years we had this thing it's costed us $16,000+

So, there you go in nutshell, John Deere sucks.

Stacy in NY

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

DH's grandpa was a John Deere salesman for awhile. So, yes, we DO have green everything. (Caps, jackets, coffee cups, ink pens and toys, toys, toys :haha: But anyway, Grandpa told about one major sales meeting when the president of the company came out riding on a lawn mower and told the guys this was the future. They about laughed him out of the room.

Well, I wonder who was right ... if JD loses lots of customers over mowers and lots of dealerships over urban/rural statistics.

I tell you what, those JD tractors we have just keep going. I'm sorry to hear the lawn mowers don't measure up.

ann

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"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity."