New ride-on mowers. The good, the bad, & the ugly?

lookoutas, Feb 25, 6:21am
x1
The problem with a lot of mowers is Kiwi's.
We tend to stretch their limitations.

That's why a Kiwi made King Cat is just the "pork bone muncher" for us.

grangies, Feb 25, 6:27am
Cheers. I've heard they're the bees knees. But are they even still made?

Google seems to turn up dead websites.

lissa25, Feb 25, 6:42am
I don't know that mower, but Kohler have been around for a very long time.

lookoutas, Feb 25, 6:58am

urbanrefugee54, Feb 25, 8:18am
we've got friends that purchased a zero turn usa 'bad boy' mower. they love it & even mow the horse turds into dust.

grangies, Feb 25, 8:27am
x1
Cheers again. But anything related to King Cat has dead internet links.

hyphen, Feb 25, 9:39am
king cat mowers are made by HMF in Vickery street, Te Rapa Hamilton

mrcat1, Feb 25, 5:16pm
Kingcat was made in Katikati until a few years ago when it went broke or closed down and a crowd in Hamilton bought it out, not sure if they are still building them or not, I did think it was Steelfort metal products but it could very well be this HMF, unsure what it stands for though.
If you can get a new Kingcat that would be the one to buy as they used to be all fabricated including the mowing decks and are built NZ tough.

mrcat1, Feb 25, 5:19pm
Kohler engines have been around for ever, very similar to B&S but are used sort of more for industrial type applications. Great engines.

timbo69, Feb 25, 5:46pm
Is it worth buying a ride on for 1500m ? how much does is cost to get a bloke in?

Rideons cost a bit to maintain - especially if abused, allow $500 for fuel and maintenance P.A and a 10year life on the mower and your payin $21 a week for your mower. If you can get you lawn mowed for $40 then your saving yourself $19 a week - up to you?

I mow 1600m with a $1500 Masport self propelled walk behind (I would recommend the Honda for 2k) without the catcher it takes 55minutes - assuming your able to.

Kohler engines are good.

joanie32, Feb 26, 4:30am
Forlong and maisey were building them. Quality turned to shit and they are gone now.

poppy62, Feb 26, 6:07am
Is the Walker mower in that price segment? they're used by a lot of lawn mowing businesses and as preferred choice.

tillsbury, Feb 26, 6:35am
The Kohler engines are excellent bits of kit.

timbo69, Feb 26, 6:45am
They are 20-40k and are in a different league in all aspects. notably they mostly use kohler although some have subaru petrol engines or Kubota and Yanmar diesels I think.

You might get a 15-20 year old one for that money.

grangies, Feb 26, 6:47am
Cheers for all the feedback so far. Will keep an eye on those Craftsman mowers for sure.

Nice to have a motoring thread that doesn't turn into a shit fight.

timbo69, Feb 26, 6:51am
I do think you are right to get the style of mower you are looking at (with deck at front) they are far move maneuverable.

desmodave, Feb 26, 7:06am
No VW's or Chainsaw's mentioned so ya should be safe . Price spare parts for anything you fancy so you know what your in for .

grangies, Feb 26, 7:07am
We haven't got a show in hell getting our lawn done for $40 up here. We're very rural. One of my boys hand mows the 1500m lawns and orchard since our old MTD ride-on died. And we do have the 2500m lamb paddock that need cutting every so often, plus a about another 500-600m unfenced grass "wilderness lol" that has been neglected since the MTD died.

timbo69, Feb 26, 3:54pm
Ah yep, was just a taught. I'm interested to see what people recommend ànd what you buy. I will need a ride on to mow 1 hectare at my new property.

paul861, Feb 26, 7:45pm
I mow 1 hectare +(section,roadfrontage and tanker loop) with a john deere 105 . 42 inch cut, 17hp briggs and stratton. I paid $1700 2nd hand ,it was and still is in good condition. while the 5 speed isn't the best and the turning circle isn't fantastic , does a good job and dosnt use much fuel

next-to-normal, Feb 26, 11:38pm
agree with the john deere, go for an auto twin cylinder,we got both a Manuel and auto the manuel is a bit fast and the auto has more control,the Ive mow the 5 acres here from time to time,it will plough through 2 foot grass slowly

NZTools, Feb 27, 7:49am
Another vote for John deere. Ive had an la 145 for 6 years, and other than 2 belts and 2 sets of blades it has been trouble free. Just fitted it with gator mulching blades, and it shreds anything, including cane toads.

desmodave, May 24, 11:17am
Local JD mower rep called in to show me their mowers but he was to late as i had already purchased the Craftsman . I told him what i paid and was told he couldn't compete with that .