Garden Tractors - any thoughts?

[durango dude]

Well - I've spent the last few years with three (3) wheelhorse tractors. One of them came with the house (244). I bought another one for snow plowing (B100), and another (416)
because LOML didn't feel comfortable on the other two. I grew up with wheel horse tractors, but I'm now tired of fixing stuff. I sold all three in just one day.

I set out this weekend to find a garden tractor. I have 1.5 acres of WV hill country. I need something that can mow, push snow, and help out with yard work. I have some stinky hedge bushes to pull out from around the home, and an old laundry line pole to yank out of the ground. Will start a garden, next year. I really want "Made in USA." Top 3 are:

HUSQVARNA - Wanted to love the 48" Garden Tractor. It is loaded with nice features. A garden tractor for $2600! (?) Beautiful fabricated mowing decks. Diff lock! And oh ---- cup holder. the world's biggest producer of riding mowers. I've been watching them for last 2 years - really conflicted.. The Parent company has talked about pulling out of the business. A couple of years from now, I am worried it will be just another MTD brand. MTD = Made to Dispose.

DEERE ---- Love the dealer models - but DAANG ---- dollars, dollars, dollars. Do not see any Deere tractors in the big box worth buying. Looking for a good used one.
Problem I have is that 500 series is the best fit for my hills.

CUB CADET --- Tractor Supply recommends them. TSC seems to stand behind them ----- but there's that MTD connection. Not thrilled. Good price for a Garden Tractor. My eyes are rolling at the 5 year warranty (the frame is guaranteed 5 years)

Anyone here have anything to say about one of these three brands?

I love some of the other brands out there (Simplicity, Massey Ferguson, Kubota, etc). For me - I'm wrestling with Powermatic taste and Ryobi money.

[leehljp]

I love some of the other brands out there (Massey Ferguson, Kubota, etc). For me - I'm wrestling with Powermatic taste and Ryobi money.

I know the feeling! I have a 7 year old Husqvarna push mower and the quality of it over any other I have ever had is incomparable. It still starts on the first pull every time. I keep it reasonably cleaned and check it often, but I am not obsessive about it.

I have a 20 year old Sears/Craftsman 42" lawn tractor and it is still running. I'll probably get another 4 to 5 years out of the mower section before it gives out, but the motor is fine. I can say the quality of the Craftsman is no where near the quality of the Husqvarna.

You can see that I take care of my outdoor machines, but I can tell which brands are higher quality.

[BadeMillsap]

I live in ROCKY HILLY Texas and mow about 1.5 acres of grass, weeds, cedar saplings and rocks that just keep showing up. Over the last 38 years I have had and destroyed a plethora of various brands including several Sears, Poulan and some I can't remember. The last two were Deere from a Deere dealer not the big box stores. My current is a X310 and it's going on its 8th year with only normal maintenance. This is the first I have had with power steering and it is worth the money.

PS I also use my tractors as workhorses on my 8 acres that includes hauling in a trailer everything from rocks to garden soil and grandkids. These "real Deere" tractors can handle the load.

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[capncarl]

I have been really impressed with Kubota small garden tractors, I think they call them estate tractors. For service work some of my friends swear by them and swear at John Deer. They can’t say enough about Kubota. I’ve owned Gravely equipment for 48 years, so I’m biased toward them, I’ve had 3 custom convertibles walk, run or drag behind, single cylinder tractors that had front power take off with removable blade deck, rotor tiller, rotary plow, water pump, generator, snow blower, chain saw, sweeper or whatever you could dream up. Completely indestructible machines but they are not for older people with stiff joints. I now have a Gravely commercial 54” zero turn that I use for everything in maintaining our yard and find it to be well engineeered and well constructed, I would purchase another just like it if I need a replacement. Last year I “found” a piece of schedule 80 pipe that someone had probably driven in the ground for a survey marker. It was sticking out of the ground 5-6” with a bunch of blackberry vines growing around it. I hit it with the 23 hp Kohler running wide open and weeds and grass blowing out from under the deck like a storm. I thought the world was coming to an end with all the banging and jumping around, I think all 3 blades got a piece of this pipe before I got it stopped. There were neighbors coming out of their houses to see the train wreck. The only damage I could find was flat spots on the blades, I expected bent spindle shafts, broken belts and damaged clutches. I’m sold on it’s durability.

[Jim Frye]

My Brother-In-Law has had a Kubota for at least the last ten years. He really likes it and he’s a stickler for reliability. It’s a bigger model with a backhoe, front loader, and really big mower deck.

[durango dude]

Kubota tractors are absolutely, unquestionably, tanks. Yeah - I'd go orange if I could.
Heck - a 20 yr old Kubota BX is better than a brand new MTD (as long as it's maintained)

I noted I had Wheel Horses as a teen ----- but I also had a Gravely walk-behind. That machine
was really important for me building muscles as a flimsy, nerdy kid.

[capncarl]

I think the 4x4 diesel Kubota lawn tractor is capable of adding a front snow blower...... and if it gets too deep you can add a back hoe to dig yourself out. These tractors are not mtd junk, but you pay for what you get!

[durango dude]

I found a used Deere X570 at a dealer about 75 miles away.

Drove right over and grabbed it.

Jason Aldean made me do it.....

Thank God he doesn't sing for Powermatic or Festool..... I'd be in trouble.