How do you win?

7 years ago, a guy called us up and said he had a JD lawn tractor. We don't do JD. We are a Toro/Wheel Horse, and MTD servicing/Warranty center . Since the nearest JD dealer is over 20 miles away, and he didn't have anyway to bring it anywhere, we agreed to come pick it up - (less than 5 miles) and give it a annual tune up. This year, however, just like every year, I engaged the deck before performing the service. That thing made such an incredible racket my head hurts just from thinking about it. So I pull it in, take off the deck.. and inspect the 3 spindles, (non greaseable) and 3 idler pulleys. (3 idler pulleys? WTF!)
All are growley -rough, dry and noisy. Plus the belt and blades are shot. With pick up and delivery - and tune up + rebuild deck - $600 bucks estimate.
Holy shit! He goes balistic! He was like saying: "I purchased a JD mower cus I wanted quality that would last. And I brought it in every year for service. How can a tune up cost $600? You better save them worn out parts cuz I'm gonna show them to JD and file a complaint."

Well we called John DEERE and they pretty much said: "7 years without replacing nothing but maintenece parts is pretty good - he's a moron."

I have a 48" deck and It has been trouble free. I notice the wife cleans it good after mowing with compressed air.
The trouble she has is getting suck in the water saturated part of the lawn . She is getting good at towing it out . This week were going to look for a replacement that wont sink in the soft spots as bad. The lawn is like a golf course with lots of low spots that just don't drain well.

Consumer/home owner lawn mowers are crap no matter what the name on the sticker is. They are all "disposable" from my evaluation.

I bought a new 'consumer' Toro zero turn last summer. It too is disposable.

If you accept this fact going in, you won't be disappointed.

Av8r3400 said:

Consumer/home owner lawn mowers are crap no matter what the name on the sticker is. They are all "disposable" from my evaluation.

I bought a new 'consumer' Toro zero turn last summer. It too is disposable.

If you accept this fact going in, you won't be disappointed.

Click to expand...

Yup, and I always remember what my ol' dad used to tell me, "Poor people can't afford to buy cheap shit", or words to that effect. My philosophy on this kind of thing is that if it's something that I'm going to use maybe a couple times a year, then it's ok to buy "consumer" grade because even that will last for a good long while at that usage rate. If you're going to be using it week in and week out, you better spend the money and get the best there is because there is nothing worse than f**king with equipment that won't start, won't run or won't perform. Life is just way too short for that kinda thing.

TSAW....no good deed goes un punished.......but you know that ya did the right thing....he will to one day...

There is a lot of guys like that out there, drive til the wheels fall off and then complain about the noise...

Glad I don't do that kind of stuff for the public anymore!

Speaking of Toro, buying a Toro was buying a Toro made by that company.
Not anymore.
They still make their own zero turn equipment etc..

BUT MTD makes their LX series riding mowers!

It is a Red MTD model with Toro's sticker on it.
This is interesting for us as a Toro dealer, because we can get the exact same parts cheaper from MTD than from Toro.

Av8r3400 said:

Consumer/home owner lawn mowers are crap no matter what the name on the sticker is. They are all "disposable" from my evaluation.

I bought a new 'consumer' Toro zero turn last summer. It too is disposable.

If you accept this fact going in, you won't be disappointed.

Click to expand...

Buy junk, deal with junk. Sadly, some of the "quality" brands aren't much better.
Husqvaarna equipment has always had a reputation of quality. I bought a new one, last fall and found a few places where they could have made 'em better. Plastic lower chute blew out with the first small stone I found. Wiring between the handlebar warmers could be a couple inches longer, less clearance between the ends of the fan paddles would have prevented the above mentioned problem with the stone.
It has a Briggs engine which does start easily and runs strong. I had issues with the steering clutches freezing up and not working.
It's still better built than a comparable MTD built machine, but, for the money, it could have been better.

tsaw said:

Speaking of Toro, buying a Toro was buying a Toro made by that company.
Not anymore.
They still make their own zero turn equipment etc..

BUT MTD makes their LX series riding mowers!

It is a Red MTD model with Toro's sticker on it.
This is interesting for us as a Toro dealer, because we can get the exact same parts cheaper from MTD than from Toro.

Click to expand...

Isn't it true that there are only a couple of companies that make "consumer" level lawn mowers? MTD, Electrolux, ??

Trakternut said:

Buy junk, deal with junk. Sadly, some of the "quality" brands aren't much better.
Husqvaarna equipment has always had a reputation of quality. I bought a new one, last fall and found a few places where they could have made 'em better. Plastic lower chute blew out with the first small stone I found. Wiring between the handlebar warmers could be a couple inches longer, less clearance between the ends of the fan paddles would have prevented the above mentioned problem with the stone.
It has a Briggs engine which does start easily and runs strong. I had issues with the steering clutches freezing up and not working.
It's still better built than a comparable MTD built machine, but, for the money, it could have been better.

Click to expand...

The husquvarnia is what my wife broke. That channel frame that is suppose to be extra strong that they advertise broke on both sides and the seat is pushed into the steering wheel. The wife is the only one who operates it and se isn't overweight.
She want to go back to a JD.
Photo shows left and right side.