i dont mind spendin extra cash if its somthing thats gona last me a long time. no matter how little i'd pay for somthing if it keeps breakin down or does a poor job i wont be happy. I'd rather just get it right the first time. Thanks for all the help guys

 

Well, if you get to the point and you decide a new commercial walk is the way to go, you need to do a couple things. One is to scout out the local dealers. Maybe even talk to some commercial mowing people in the area about what dealers offer the best service. Like anything that is mass produced, things can go wrong and your new machine could wind up back at the dealer for something. You want a good dealer. A lot of people even rank the dealer up higher than the brand itself...I am not one of those people. I will take a great machine and a decent dealer over a decent machine and a great dealer. Chances are, you are rarely ever going to see the place again, except for maintenance parts. Machine first, then find a good dealer that sells them.

That leads me to the second thing. Demo a few different mowers in your range. Just because we like a certain thing does not mean that is what you absolutely have to buy. Now is kind of a bad time to demo anything up north though. Once again, you may end up talking to commercial cutters to find out what they are using. One thing I will say though, I have not heard of any grass that Exmark decks do not cut well. I like my Excel Hustler equipment too, it is equal to my Exmarks for what I cut. But I just do not hear the same glowing recommendations from all areas of the county like I do from Exmark.

If $2500 seems too big of a hit to take, they offer some pretty good finance deals. Not just Exmark, but most commercial manufacturers have arrangements for good financing. I think Exmark has several, but one is like 36 months at 5.9%.

Just one more thing. Exmark was bought out by Toro a number of years ago. Toro sells what basically is an Exmark Metro in the mid size walk. Their's is available with either pistol grip controls or T-Bar. Where Exmark has the pistol grip or ECS. So you have three distinctively different motion controls on basically the same mower. That might be something you really want to look at. And if the small mower draws you in, Toro makes a nice commercial 21" mower too. Exmark has a carbon copy of that. Exmark decided they would fill the gap between 21" and mid size with a 26" Metro...do not go there! That mower has had a number of problems. Exmark has made few mistakes, but that looks like one of them. It looks like a giant 21" push mower.

 

how much snow do you get there?

 

3000 series Ingersoll. If your going to do more than mow -- till gardens, push or blow snow, landscape. It's the only way to go. Mine was built in 1979 and still runs like the day it was new. If you check on ebay you can find them under case or ingersoll usually for under a grand used. They are still as tough today as back when mine was built. If you want more info, let me know.

 

dad bought a gravley mower 2 years ago BIGGEST POS IN THE WORLD
the handle bars fell off
weve had problems with the deck
blades were loose and one fell off
gas tanks leak
the lights dont work
only starts half the time

i will never suggest to buy one ever except to put on a junk trailer to got to the scrap yard

i do however like our old white we had it was kinda like a grasshopper style withthe handlebars, my only complaint was the motor is expensive if it blows up we blew ours up twice

 

No matter which brand you purchase, be sure you get a mower that has a "mulching" feature. You'll be glad you did. There's no grass laying all over the place, especially if you have a dog that goes in and out of the house.

 

I put a mulch kit on my 60" Exmark Lazer 2 years ago. I had never used a real mulch kit of any kind in all these years. I was going to keep it on for chopping sycamore leaves and maybe to help dispose of some oak leaves during the winter. I fully expected to take it off by May due to the grass really starting to get thick and tall. Two years later it is still on...I never took it off. It slows you down a little bit, but you make up for it by not having to come up with crazy mowing patterns to avoid spraying beds, walks and drives. It is also excellent for mowing near vehicles and pedestrians. It does great in our St. Augustine through out the year. It does good in Bahia grass 8 months out of the year. I still have my Hustler 60" side discharging for larger areas and Bahia grass, but I will never take it off the Ex.

Look for special offers. Sometimes they will throw in a no-charge mulch kit. They are worth about $100-$200. They can be put on and taken off in about 15 minutes.