# Want A $17,000 Lawn Mower?



## BrotherBart (Apr 26, 2013)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-rolls-royce-of-riding-mowers-2013-04-26?link=MW_latest_news


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## mikefrommaine (Apr 26, 2013)

17k is ridiculous. But so is spending 4500 for one that will last 'several seasons' as 'pros suggest'


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## begreen (Apr 26, 2013)

I spent $1600 for a Craftsman, bought during an off season sale with the Kohler 18hp motor and 12 ga deck. That was 7 years ago. Still running strong and I work the heck out of it. I wish it had hydraulics for a tiller and front loader, but not at 11x the price.


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## gregbesia (Apr 26, 2013)

Wait a minute! For $17000 I could just watch somebody else cut my grass


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## DexterDay (Apr 26, 2013)

Spent about $14k on mine  

Some of us have pretty big yards... And need a bigger mower


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## bogydave (Apr 26, 2013)

DexterDay said:


> Spent about $14k on mine
> 
> Some of us have pretty big yards... And need a bigger mower
> View attachment 100634
> View attachment 100635


 
Got  GPS steering control ?
Nice straight lines 

Reminds me of a golf course


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## begreen (Apr 26, 2013)

That's not a yard, it's a golf course.


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## Michael Golden (Apr 27, 2013)

DexterDay said:


> Spent about $14k on mine
> 
> Some of us have pretty big yards... And need a bigger mower
> View attachment 100634
> View attachment 100635



Well it does have a cooler holder!


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## mikefrommaine (Apr 27, 2013)

I have Lazer Z. Which is the commercial line of Exmark. I bought it from a guy who had built the first McMansion in a new subdivision. After other people built houses he was embarrassed that he was the only guy who mowed his own lawn. Everyone else used a landscaper. He paid well over 10k. I bought with one season of use for 3k  I really wanted a Walker with a kubota diesel but couldn't find a low hour one.  Every one I found had over 2k hours and needed a little tlc from the abuse of low wage workers.

Going from a craftsman/mtd lawn tractor to a commercial zero turn is like going from a wildthing to MS660.


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## BobUrban (Apr 27, 2013)

Geesh - I bought my less than one year old Craftsman 24 horse with under 100hrs. for 725.00 and drove it home from the neighbors place.  I am mowing a couple acres and given my 1st choice I would be on an Xmark but could not pass on this deal.  I paid less for my 2011 Ford Escape Limited and my mower than this JD and it is not even a zero turn??? 

I will say x2 on paying someone to take care of your lawn if you have enough disposable income to buy a 17G mower but to each their own - certainly lubricates the economy when someone buys a new machine!!


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## WES999 (Apr 27, 2013)

17K!, for that price it better include the driver.


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## PapaDave (Apr 27, 2013)

Dex, plant some trees.


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## BrotherBart (Apr 27, 2013)

Dexter needs to sharecrop that place.


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## nate379 (Apr 27, 2013)

If I'm gonna spend 17K on a tractor it sure isn't going to be a tiny John Deere yard tractor!


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## jeff_t (Apr 27, 2013)

If you look at the list of optional attachments, it's not just a mower. The average mower doesn't have a 3pt hitch and rear pto available. Seems like an attempt to bridge the gap between mower and CUT. My guess is that it is a good mower, but probably lacking in tractor abilities.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 27, 2013)

Somebody paid the equivalent of around $16,000 for one of my IH Cub Cadet 149s in 1972 or 73.




Forty years later, I'd say they got their money's worth. Quality is not cheap.


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## nate379 (Apr 27, 2013)

Maybe so but can buy a nice CUT 30-35hp diesel with bucket for 17k


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## save$ (Apr 27, 2013)

As someone said earlier, for $17000,  you can hire the lawn done.   A lawn that size is more care than just cutting the grass.  Fertilizer, insect and weed control,  plus repair of winter damage. Then the watering if you are into that. I would rather look at a field of grass going through the normal season cycle than lot at a burned up lawn.  Put up a fence and get some sheep or some goats!  The grass gets  cut and fertilized,  you get wool or milk and cheeze.
I would use a push mower on my small lot, but with the ups and downs,  and my ups and downs, I am safer sitting. Bought a new machine last year from Sears,  Turns easier than any other I have owned.  I have  cart that I can load from the garage, go to the garden,  and work out of the cart, then return as needed and my back is still intact!


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## Flatbedford (Apr 27, 2013)

The article did mention that the $17,000 includes the tractor, mower, snow thrower, and you also have to pay for that green paint.


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## colin.p (Apr 28, 2013)

Wow, I thought I was doing great when I bought (brand new mind you) a 15.5 HP Poulan lawn tractor for $1100 delivered. It's sure nice to go out and have a lawn tractor that just starts up, without blowing up the tires, charging the battery, and trying to get the thing running, like my old one.


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## Freeheat (Apr 28, 2013)

DexterDay said:


> Spent about $14k on mine
> 
> Some of us have pretty big yards... And need a bigger mower


 
Dexter is that a COOLER on the right side?? If it is thats living


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## TreePointer (Apr 28, 2013)

I'm not a fan of having a heavy tractor for mowing lawns.  For $17K, I'd buy a dedicated lawn tractor or ZTR for much less and put the remainder toward a used larger CUT.   Of course, this all depends on how much land you have to mow and manage.


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## DexterDay (Apr 28, 2013)

Yes. It comes with a cooler mounted on the mower from the factory. It comes out for use, other than the mower, but is held snug in place by factory mounts. When on the mower. No cup holder. But unlike the Cub Cadet zero turn, when you let go of one stick, it stays where its at (kinda like cruise control).  One stick must stay forward for the other to stay though. But that allows a free hand   Or its easy enough to use a single hand when needing to grab a drink.

 But as fast as it cuts grass? You don't build up that large of a thirst. I went from 5-6 hrs with my Craftsman rider (50" / 20 HP), then down to about 2.5-3 hrs with my Cub Cadet zero turn (52" / 22 or 24 HP?), now down to an hour with the Dixie (74" / 33 HP ). Even with my Old Rider, I had to do 3 point turns because I like straight lines. No circles, or making rounds in the yard. Go around the outer perimeter and make a header to turn around in, then back and forth, back and forth. (On Google Maps, from the sky, you can see the lines ) My neighbor has a 72" Grass Hopper with a 35 HP Diesel (I think?) And his deck flips right up for maintenance and cleaning. He paid around the same price I did. 

I wanted a CUT w/ FEL. But at this stage in my Life? I don't have much time (2 kids), so when there older, and grown. Then I will get the Tractor (better have a cooler mounted to it). and get to work. Till then, the yard is a job in itself 



Freeheat said:


> Dexter is that a COOLER on the right side?? If it is thats living


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## MasterMech (Apr 28, 2013)

DexterDay said:


> My neighbor has a 72" Grass Hopper with a 35 HP Diesel (I think?) And his deck flips right up for maintenance and cleaning. He paid around the same price I did.


 
Dex, get yourself a Jungle Jack if you haven't already.



As far as a $17K mower is concerned..... That ain't no itty bitty lawn tractor.  The X700 series is a lifetime machine that will mow, clear snow, move mulch (they are loader capable), till the 2 acre garden and sweep the driveway clean. And since Deere has been selling a TON of 4x5 series machines, and the X400, X500 series machines that replaced them, and the 1st generation X700's, I'd say they are doing something right.

There are a more than a couple of folks on this site that run a $1000+ saw to cut what a $400 saw would do as well. Is this much different?


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## mikefrommaine (Apr 29, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> There are a more than a couple of folks on this site that run a $1000+ saw to cut what a $400 saw would do as well.


 

And we could all cut wood with a bow saw. Nut much fun in that.



DexterDay said:


> Go around the outer perimeter and make a header to turn around in, then back and forth, back and forth. (On Google Maps, from the sky, you can see the lines )


 
You always go for the same direction? Or do you try to make patterns? I like to go at a 45 degree angle to the last mowing to make diamonds. Occasionally I start in the center and go in a spiral pattern until I reach the perimeter.


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## DexterDay (Apr 29, 2013)

Been known to change directions.  





mikefrommaine said:


> And we could all cut wood with a bow saw. Nut much fun in that.
> 
> 
> No spiral action here.. If I had my choice, it would be the same direction every time. Some ways take more time? Seems odd, but a 45° starting in my front yard at the driveway, is easier than a 45° starting opposite the drive. Just because of the trees that line the driveway and the Flower island in the middle.
> ...



Click to enlarge


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## MasterMech (Apr 29, 2013)

mikefrommaine said:


> You always go for the same direction? Or do you try to make patterns? I like to go at a 45 degree angle to the last mowing to make diamonds. Occasionally I start in the center and go in a spiral pattern until I reach the perimeter.


 
When mowing areas for a golf course, our instructions for mowing greens, tees, or fairways always include a direction to mow. Straight up, Side to side, left to right (diag), right to left (diag), or Black and White. B&W is start in the middle and work your way outwards, produces light and dark halves. We always cycle thru each direction to prevent tire marks and perma-striping areas. B&W only gets used occasionally however.

I frequently will "double-cut" the back yard on the diagonals to produce that outfield look. 

Oh yeah, BB, we just inked the new lease on a rough mower. Roughly $50K, give or take.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 29, 2013)

While I'm sure the zero turn machines are fast and effective, they just don't look as cool as a tractor does to me. Guys on zero turns look like they are on giant motorized wheelchairs to me.


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## MasterMech (Apr 29, 2013)

Flatbedford said:


> While I'm sure the zero turn machines are fast and effective, they just don't look as cool as a tractor does to me. Guys on zero turns look like they are on giant motorized wheelchairs to me.


Get me on a ZTR and I _will_ make a tractor look silly.  They are brutally efficient mowers, but yeah, they don't look as cool in parades.


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## lukem (Apr 30, 2013)

I'd rather look not as cool on a ZTR and have 2-3 hours of my life back.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 30, 2013)

As we get older, looking cool gets less and less important.


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## Danno77 (May 2, 2013)

17k? I dunno if that's quite the rolls Royce of mowers, but it is nice. Grandpa spent more on his 1435 and that was like 2003 or so, even it was only "ok".  My Dad's is older nowadays, but was super nice when he first bought it. It has the center and two side decks and they are all hydraulic powered blades, which I always felt was kinda fancy. I can't even remember what brand it is, but it's green and not John Deere.


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## Delta-T (May 3, 2013)

guy down the street from me has an enormous lawn...he mows it with a herd of alpacas.


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## jotul8e2 (May 3, 2013)

I wonder what kind of trade they'd give me for my 1970 John Deere 140?


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## lukem (May 3, 2013)

Delta-T said:


> guy down the street from me has an enormous lawn...he mows it with a herd of alpacas.


Next best thing to a goat.


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## MasterMech (May 4, 2013)

jotul8e2 said:


> I wonder what kind of trade they'd give me for my 1970 John Deere 140?


Depending on the hydraulic setup (H1, H2, or H3 - How many levers on the left side?), attachments, and condition you could do very well selling it outright.  140's are hot collector's items.


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