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Cheap Riding Mowers, Best Lawn Tractors

Related Guides: Lawn Mowers, Leaf Blowers and Weed Eaters

With a lawn larger than roughly one-third of an acre, you probably want a low-cost and easy way to get it mowed. Cheap riding mowers or lawn tractors are your best bet.

Technically, a riding mower features an engine mounted behind the seat and a lawn tractor features an engine in front, but the two terms are often used interchangeably these days even though most cheap mowers with a seat have front-mounted engines. Regardless, the market is loaded with riding mowers that sell for up to $1,500. Thrifty consumers with flat or gently rolling lawns that sprawl across several acres and are relatively free of obstructions (think bushes, trees, and bird baths) will find good cheap riding mowers that give a level cut and are easy to handle.

Not surprisingly, there are differences between cheap riding mowers and higher-priced models. Cheap riding mowers run on a one-cylinder engine and are designed to mow grass, although most can also tow a small cart, snow thrower, sprayer, and the like. You also have to pay extra for bagging attachments and mulching kits with the cheaper models, it may be a challenge to find parts and/or service, and longevity may be limited to several hundred hours of use. More expensive models, including heavy-duty garden tractors, feature more powerful engines, more advanced engineering, better build quality, and more features (e.g., a meter that clocks how many hours you've run the mower, large gas tank, four-wheel steering, longer warranty). Our research nonetheless indicates that many consumers appreciate the value pricing of cheap riding mowers and are quite satisfied with their purchases despite some minor shortcomings.

As you start to shop, consider some important specifics. Are you comfortable with a clutch system to manually change gears to get a few pre-set speeds, or do you prefer an automatic hydrostatic transmission that lets you set your own speed within a given ranges Then there's the width of the cutting deck, which affects how many passes you'll have to make; 42 inches is common for cheap lawn tractors, but we found cutting decks as narrow as 26 inches and as wide as 46 inches among the best lawn tractors. (Remember that a wider deck makes the lawn tractor larger and harder to store.) The turning radius affects how large an area is left uncut as you turn the lawn tractor in the opposite direction. Stability and traction on inclines is critical if your lawn is dotted with small hills and dales. Will you need to mow in reverse. And of course, be sure that servicing is readily available and replacement parts easy to find.

The market for the best riding mowers is dominated by a few large players, such as John Deere, Craftsman, Husqvarna, Ariens, Troy-Bilt, and Poulan, and some produce and sell under several brand names. Bigbox retailers like Home Depot, Lowe's, and Sears carry cheap riding mowers, and you can also buy many models online. Note that vendors tend to specialize in certain brands, and because of the sibling relationship among some (Yard Machines and Bolens, for example, are owned by MTD), you may not see much difference between models as you shop. There are also private label store brands, but we found more than the usual number of reports from consumers about broken transmissions, loose belts, and poorly-engineered parts with these budget lawn tractors, so our list includes well-known brand names only.

Any one of several cheap lawn tractors should meet most consumers' needs. We found several new models this year to replace a few that made our list last year; although short on reviews, we included them based on the strength of user and expert reviews of their predecessors. And so... Two lower-cost lawn tractors worth considering are the Ariens 42 In. 19 HP Riding Mower 960460024 (starting at $1,399) and the Craftsman YT 3000 46" 21 HP 28924 (starting at $1,350, Amazon). Two good cheap riding mowers include the John Deere 42" D100 17.5 HP (starting at $1,499, Amazon) and the compact Weed Eater One WE261 (starting at $697, Amazon). One cheap lawn tractor that seems plagued by problems is the Troy-Bilt 20 HP Automatic 42" Riding Mower 13AX78KS011 (starting at $1,249, Amazon).

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Yard Machines 38 in. Riding Lawn Mower
Troy-Bilt 20 HP Automatic 42 in. Riding Mower
Weed Eater One
John Deere D100
Craftsman YT 3000
Ariens 42 in. Riding Lawn Mower

Ariens 42 In. Deck 19.5 HP Briggs & Stratton Automatic
Troy-Bilt 22 HP Hydrostatic 46

 

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