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Re: lawn tractor advice needed

To: Mark Andy <mark@sccaprepared.com>
Subject: Re: lawn tractor advice needed
From: nick brearley <nick@landform.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 19:39:54 +0000
At 14:14 12/03/04 -0500, you wrote:

>Howdy,
>
>Ok, the land where my shop will be currently has grass on it that needs to
>be mowed... :-)
>
>We're moving into our new house in April.  Its a two acre lot, all grass
>that needs to be cut.  The push mower I've currently got isn't going to
>cut it... :-)

  Hi Mark,

As you've realised there's a mountain of grass cutting equipment out there. 
Knowing how grass can easily get out of hand I'd recommend something well 
on top of the job. Since it's a sizeable investment it's worthwhile looking 
for something with more than one use, so a compact tractor could fill the 
bill. A ride-on mower is great for cutting grass, particularly an out front 
one, but they are dedicated machines and struggle when you ask them to do 
more than tow a small trailer. You mention your future shop so some sort of 
compact tractor could help out in the building and with lifting engines etc 
in years to come.

Someone mentioned Kubota and they make some great machines. Pioneers in the 
field. John Deere also, I had an 855 for a few years and found it a lovely 
tractor to use with the hydrostatic shuttle transmission. Where most 
compact tractors fall short is in the three point linkage lift capacity and 
the hydraulic flow. For that I've found the Ford (New Holland) range  to be 
much better than the competition. As a contractor I've run several for 
quite a while, the oldest is 16 years old, with no major problems. You can 
assume that if they'll stand up to contract abuse you can expect to pass 
one on to your grandchildren. The model we use is the 1920 4wd. The current 
equivalent can be seen at

http://www.newholland.com/na/Products/TC30_tractor.html?Reg=NA&RL=ENNA

A  60 inch front mounted snowblower is offered as an option. There is a 
more modern range also now that looks more consumer friendly with a sloping 
bonnet (hood). There are smaller models that would probably be more suited 
to your requirements.

It could be worth looking out for a used model. Unless it's been grossly 
abused or damaged it should be more than up to your requirements. Direct 
transmissions are easier to work on than the hydrostatics. We buy our 
tractors with direct transmissions and creep boxes. That gives a useful 
halfway house, low speed controllability with lower potential repair costs 
than the hydrostatics. You are better off with turf tyres than ag tyres for 
mowing use.

HTH.

Nick






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