Simplicity Lawn Tractors?

[John Miliunas]

LOML & I finally decided to take the plunge on a new lawn tractor. The last four we've had, including the present Husqvarna, were bought used or "hand-me-downs". She is leaning heavily toward the Simplicity we looked at today. It's actually last year's model, but still new and hence, a decent discount. This one is a 16hp, Conquest with 44 or 48" mowing deck (I forget exactly).

Anyhow, I cut about 1-1/2 acres with LOTS of trees and other obstacles. Now, before someone pipes in about the ZTR-type units, we had to nix that idea, as we have a fair amount to cut on a pretty steep grade, plus a decent one is out of our budget. Our terrain is pretty uneven and downright bumpy in many areas and her thought is that, the deck follows the bumps and lumps. I guess I can see that, but it may also introduce more wear and tear to the mower deck. The dealer tells us the deck is the BEST part of the mower. Any of you guys run a Simplicity and, if so, what's your story? :cool:

[Jim Baker]

We ran our first Simplicity for about 12 years snd it performed so well tht we bought another one two years ago (ZTR this time). I'd recommend them. We really liked the striping effect that our first one gave.

[John Weber]

John,

Push it and get a bigger jointer. Someone had to say it :)

John

[Tim Morton]

You'd have to ask the wife that question...she does the lawm mowing in our house :D

[Rob Russell]

I don't have first-hand experience with Simplicity, but my uncle's ben using them for 50+ years. Gets 15-20 out of a tractor.

[Mark Singer]

John,
You didn't listen to me ....I told you not to break it!

[Jim Becker]

There are lots of choices for machines to do what you need, John. If you just want something to mow, than the choice is a little easier, but consider that the wider the cut and greater the manuverability of the unit, the sooner you can get done. In fact, a wider deck can sometime be easier to use around trees as it may let you get closer to the trunk. That's very true of my 60" MMM...I have almost no trimming to do once the cut is done. If you want other functionality for property mainenance, than there is a lot more to consider..."garden tractors" have their limits.

[Keith Outten]

John,

The biggest difference between homeowner and commercial mowers is in the transaxle. I have a Cub Cadet Model 71 that was made in 1964 and it still runs great...it has a very large cast iron rear-end and frame that was made to last. A new short block every 20 years and it will go forever. I will admit that you can't buy this type of mower anymore but the biggest reason homeowner mowers are priced lower is due to a decrease in quality in the transmission.

Like woodworking tools mowers should be purchased with the same goal, your needs are based on quality and service life or just price. If price is the controling factor buy the cheapest mower you can find and when it dies just buy another bargain mower. If you are looking for a quality machine go to a commercial lawn care facility and buy a commercial mower. IMHO you should never purchase the middle of the road machines as they are never the best bargain.

I've been cutting grass for 40 years and my yard is 6 acres so I have logged a few hours mowing. Three years ago I bought a Dixie Chopper, a top of the line mower and it should be my last. At 10 grand it was an expensive machine but it will cut 6 acres in under two hours with ease :).

I will admit that I am not an expert in selecting riding mowers since I have only purchased two :)

[John Miliunas]

John,

Push it and get a bigger jointer. Someone had to say it :)

John

John, you're a riot! :D I *like* the way you think, but I have two problems with that concept: 1) Lord knows I could use the exercise, but I've been blessed with a pretty bum ankle and pushing about an acre and a half would take me completely off my feet for several days! 2) Along the same lines, it would take so long to do pushing it that, it wouldn't leave me all that much time to *use* the bigger jointer! NOT a good plan! :( Nice thought, though! :cool:

[John Miliunas]

We ran our first Simplicity for about 12 years snd it performed so well tht we bought another one two years ago (ZTR this time). I'd recommend them. We really liked the striping effect that our first one gave.

Thanks for the opinion, Jim. The ZTR is pretty much a non-issue, as our terrain simply won't allow for it. I know there's some high-end one (I think it's a "Hustler"), which would accomodate that, but that's out of our league price-wise. :cool:

[John Miliunas]

John,
You didn't listen to me ....I told you not to break it!

Mark, what was that you said? :confused: :cool:

[John Miliunas]

Rob, the longevity thing is what I've heard from a number of Simplicity owners. This is a GOOD thing! :D I *don't* want to have to do this every five years or so!

Jim & Keith, I know *exactly* what you're driving at and, under other circumstances, I'd be going for it. Several things prevent me from getting something like a Dixon or similar. Obviously, the main concern is $$$. :rolleyes: Just don't have enough of it to go around, though I realize, in the long-run, it would pay off. Which brings me to the second thing: I don't have a large enough area of land to justify that expense. Besides, it wouldn't fit in my shed! :( The Simplicity we're looking at is actually a cut above "middle of the road", from what I understand. It does have the heavier duty transaxle and a twin cylinder, fully pressurized oil system, etc... That, plus the engine, being a B&S, is built here in Packerland, which in a roundabout way, helps to nourish our local economy a bit. :)

The dealer is right on the way home from work for me and has been around for 30+ years. Even though we're about 35 miles away from them, they'll deliver it for free and any warranty work, during the two-year warranty, will include free pickup/delivery! Plus tomorrow morning, the guy is dropping off a "loaner" for us to try out right on our own property. Pretty cool, I think. So, I guess we'll see. I'm still just a bit biased toward a John Deere, but LOML has a say in this and thinks we'll get a nicer cut due to the deck design. Our "road test" should tell us the story!

Thanks for all your input, guys! Never fails to amaze me, the depth of experience and knowledge here at SMC! :D This is really, "one-stop shopping"! :cool:

[Jim Becker]

Have you considered, perhaps, picking up a "pre-broken in" Kubota or Deere sub-CUT or something like that? These are "real" tractors, have excellent cutting characteristics and can also do a whole lot more than a designated lawn mower. And...they have diesel engines which run pretty much "forever" as compared to gasoline units. 'Just a thought... :D

[John Weber]

John,

I only have about a half acre, but the old Toro pusher does a great job. Our next door neighbor has an acre and a old Snapper rear engine rider - you know the goofy looking ones. I think he bought it at a sale for $50. However is works great, almost no trimming and we always laugh because he always mows full speed. Anyway, while they seriously lack some cool factor, these small mowers (I think around a grand) do a great job, but with less features and things to go wrong then a garden tractor, maybe the ticket for you. Jointer, mower, jointer, mower, jointer, mower...hmmm...JOINTER.

John

http://www.snapper.com/images/m_side_discharge_rider.jpg

[Ken Garlock]

John, you have forgotten the WW mantra, "Buy quality, and spend your money once."

I bought the entry level Scag Tiger Cub ZTR. I have not found anything it cant handle including the ditch along the highway in front of the house. IMO, it will go anywhere your riding mower will go. The ZTR feature is slicker than snot on a glass door knob. :)

You might want to look at the Husky tractor/mower at Tractor Supply Co. My neighbor has one, and it appears to do a good job. The trade off is I can mow half again more grass(euphemism for weeds) in half the time he takes.

[Tyler Howell]

I think you should step up and get something like Jim's or Boyd's (mini tractor??), Your land can support it, Plow some snow in the winter and most important unload and place that new planer when it gets there.

Besides if you buy the planer first, you'l have a bum ankle and arm when you bride gets through breaking it.:p
Good luck bud! I'll come down and drive it a round when your all set up.
TJH

[Jim Becker]

We really liked the striping effect that our first one gave.
ZTMs make it very easy to "pattern" your lawn since you can turn on a dime, but you can do pretty well with other forms of mowers. The trick is to trim around things like trees first, raising the deck between objects, and then doing your pattern. Do three-point turns at the end and alternate directions for each pass. Changing the direction of your pattern each cut also enhances the effect while also reducing compaction since your tire patterns don't repeat each cut. I have three alternatives I use for the area (front lawn) shown below. Last cut was a diagonal not quite perpendicular to this one and the next cut will be "long ways" on the property. The trimming before the official cut takes a little more time, but the end result looks great. With a 60" deck on the tractor, this whole area cuts quickly once the ratting around is done.

[Wes Bischel]

John,

Alternate solution: ground cover! :D

Wes

Attempting to move from power mower to push reel mower by getting rid of the grass.

[John Miliunas]

Don't think I haven't thought along those lines! A nice 2 inch layer of blacktop painted green, comes to mind! :D LOML doesn't take to kindly to that option, though. :( :cool:

[Lee Schierer]

We're considering buying a Simplicity lawn tractor as well. Last winter we had to replace our snow blower and I ended up buying a simplicity. I am impressed with the design and workmanship. It does a great job blowing snow. Far superior to my old Toro snowblower. Our Craftsman lawn tractor is now 15 years old and we're wondering if this will be its last year. We are seriously considering a Simplicity as a replacement. By the way they have a deal on some of their mowers of 12 months the same as cash if your budget is constrained.

[Bart Leetch]

John

Get some goats.

[John Miliunas]

John

Get some goats.

LOL :D Thought o' that, too, but LOML likes her flowers too much! :cool:

[Bruce Page]

John, it's got a beverage holder - what else do you need? :D
John,

I only have about a half acre, but the old Toro pusher does a great job. Our next door neighbor has an acre and a old Snapper rear engine rider - you know the goofy looking ones. I think he bought it at a sale for $50. However is works great, almost no trimming and we always laugh because he always mows full speed. Anyway, while they seriously lack some cool factor, these small mowers (I think around a grand) do a great job, but with less features and things to go wrong then a garden tractor, maybe the ticket for you. Jointer, mower, jointer, mower, jointer, mower...hmmm...JOINTER.

John

http://www.snapper.com/images/m_side_discharge_rider.jpg

[David Wilson]

Have you thought about goats?

[Dale Thompson]

Hey Spring,
I've been using my rear-engine 13 hp Simplicity Coronet for the past three years and am VERY pleased with its performance. If I remember to keep the blade sharp, its cut is a good as my EXPENSIVE John Deere walk-behind. The bagger system is like a vacuum cleaner if I remember to use the high-lift blade. OK - so at MY age I forget most of that stuff but the mower works great anyway. :(

My lawn at home has quite a few trees and with the short turning radius I can get around most of them with one try.

My lawn at the cabin has jillions of small trees and VERY sandy soil. The Coronet still does a very good job. It has been extremely dependable even under conditions where I sometimes use a dust mask and a face shield to protect my facial beauty, my georgeous blue eyes, my delicate silky skin and my pure pink lungs (UGH! I SMOKE!). :eek:

Lastly, John, if it ain't a "Hydro", I don't think that I would buy it. At my age, I don't think that I will ever get used to operating with a "lever" instead of a clutch and mechanical shifter. On the other hand, the "lever" option is one sweet deal. I would NEVER go back to the old mechanical mechanism - especially under hard cutting conditions. Scratch that. I wouldn't go back under ANY conditions!! :) :)

Dale T.

[Dale Thompson]

Spring,
Assure LOML that the Simplicity deck will take them a lot better than EITHER of your lovely "bottom ends". (I was going to use the "french" term but, as usual, I am highly vexed at the french). :mad: :mad: ;)

Dale T.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks for the additional info, Dale! I'm getting the sense that most folks with a Simplicity are pretty happy. :) Even an old grouch like you! :rolleyes:

A regular gear shift is NOT even an option for consideration! Absolutely NO arguments on that one! :)

So, right now, we're down to a choice of one Simplicity (their Conquest w/18HP twin, 44" deck) and one of possibly two JD's. We tried the Simplicity Broadmoar on our own turf. LOML thought the ride was a bit rough (OK, rougher than what she expected.) and the cut was nice, but not overly impressive. The dealer picked it up today, but also brought a Conquest over, just for a quick spin. We both liked it over the Broadmoar. The JD dealer is bringing over their LX280-AWS on Friday, but just for a quick demo. I'm mainly concerned with its ability to traverse a rather long embankment, running along the ditch line. The "AWS", BTW, stands for, "AllWheelSteer". Talk about getting in tight for trimming! It's got the V-Twin Kawasaki engine w/48" deck.

Just have to wait and see, I guess. One way or the other, we plan on making a decision this weekend and have it here sometime next week. Friday should tell the story.

Thanks again to all for the input! :cool:

[Jason Thaxton]

I have the snapper and all I can say is it is a solid well built machine. Not alot of fancy stuff to break just a hard working mower. Simple and built to last all steel construction not alot of plastic and fiber glass my father has one that is over 30 years old and is basically the same design. I would highly recommend it.

[John Miliunas]

Well guys, I really and truly appreciate all the input and feedback on the mower thing. We had the chance to try out two Simplicity's here at "the ranch" a couple days ago. Quite frankly, neither LOML nor I were as impressed as we had hoped to be. Today, the guy stopped out with a green one. Their ads say, "Nothing runs like a Deere" and I'm thinking they're right! Nice machine! :D It's the LX280 AWS, which we had checked out at the dealer's lot. Sweet machine, handles great, more comfy than the Simplicity and noticeably quieter. :) I did a bit a research in between and found that the Kawasaki twin cylinder is one of the best out there. I did opt to have the drive tires liquid filled for a bit more traction on the steep inclines we have. The LOML wasn't home when the guy stopped, but after I told her about it, she seemed quite comfortable with the decision, so it should all be OK in the end. Should probably be here by the end of next week, which will give me some time to clear out a spot in the outside shed for the "old iron" (Husqy). Thanks again for all your help, gents! :cool: