Tedro

Hello all. This is my first post and appreciate your opinions. I will be mowing 2 x 1/3 acre lawns, mostly flat.
My wife and father (near 80) asked me to buy a lawn tractor easy to handle, and Hydrostatic drive. Budget around 1600. I will be doing the Maintenence.
Will mulch these yards. I am looking at 42 inch cut or so, mainly for storage space in the shed.

1- Husky YTH2242 (B/S 22hp twin)
2- Husky YTH21K42 (Kohler Courage 21hp single)
3- JD - LA115 - (46 inch ..)
4- Craftsman YT3000 - 28934 (Kohler 22 hp single.) ( They also a have a 21hp briggs twin)
Also; what is your opionions between these 2 motors ?
Looking for the most reliability, and good mulching performance, as we do not have a trailer or truck to haul to the dealer for warranty and such.
Thanks for all of your help.
Ted

diesel_nut

Might check out Cub 1500 Series also.

Wonbill

Just my $.02 Cdn.
I mow about 4 acres of up down side hills swamp ditched and a few rocks not perfect property but I own it.
I started with the cheapest MTD gear driven 42" 14hp single I worked the H**l out of it and sold it 4 years later for about a 1/3 of what it cost me I put tubes in all the tires and replaced one front tire blade brakes (not a great design and burned out quickly) and a front pully and blades 2-3 sets a year nothing to brag about but it did the job (allways changed the oil every 25 hr)

The next was a sears lt 2000 22hp hydro 42"manual pto two things I noticed imediatly the steering was much lighter and at full throtle high speed heavy grass the 22hp twin bogged down more than the 14hp single gave it to a friend about 4 years later still running strong bent a front steering/tie rod once bought a new one and had it reinforced no problems after i had the front end rebuilt under waranty (50 months on special) and I think 2 tire tubes, the seat was a little better than the mtd but not a huge difference. o yes it was gas thirsty by 20-30% over the mtd
again oil and filter every 25 hr (mtd didnt have a filter)
Last year
I got a sears gt5000 54" hydro electric pto the seating is much improved i dont hobble off after 5-6 hours the triple blade deck is a joy for a smooth cut (note both twin blade 42" cut will leave a ridge of grass between the blades if the blades are dull, you are mowing too fast, the grass is too heavy there have been timed when i went full bore for 2 rounds then a round to do the 2 ridges i left) the triple blade has more blade tip overlap and the ridges left behind are less noticible in adverse circumstances again a further loss in fuel economy by about 12-20%
my recomendation to you would be a triple blade deck on a machine in your budget and read the forums on reliability/problems inexpensive jd drive problems seem to come to mind
good luck and happy mowing
Bill

diesel_nut

Actually I have read the 1500 Series Cubs may not be that good on uneven terrain. The 2500 Series, which is what I have, is excellent however(although a lot more than $1600(sorry)

Tedro

Both yards are even terrain, a few trees on 1 yard. Trying to keep it less than 46 inches due to storage limitations. Thanks for your responses so far !