If I was going to invest in multi purpose yard tractor, who has

get one with the mower on the front instead of the middle

you will hate those other in no time, so shitty to reach corners and you're always driving over the grass you're about to cut

>>1234933

Also when you back up over your child they have a couple more feet for you to stop when you start wondering what that bump was all about

>>1234918
I got a Craftsman tractor type mower for free (wouldn't start; I was paid to haul it to the dump) with a 20hp Kholer engine. After a little TLC it's been running flawlessly for 6 years. The motor has 1,800 hours on it with regular maintenance all done in my garage. Every year I drag a 48" plug aerator over ~20 acres of lawns in my neighborhood and it's beefy enough to run two 21" mulching blades through thick crab grass. I have no complaints with it at all. They have all sorts of attachments for it including snow plows and frontload scoops, not to mention the massive amount of shit you can tow with it.

>>1234970
Long standing name and affordable.

John Deere or kubota. They are going to have the best long term parts support. Oh course they will also cost you the most too

El cheapo at home Depot, warranty for 1 year and ride it out til day 351, return and repeat.
Chances are you won't make it to 351, but ohh well. I don't know how they make money on those things, with all the returns.

>>1234977
Too much hassle. Some people arent cheap scumbags and buy things worth owning.

>>1234977
>return and repeat.

also, when your roommate, parents, grandparents (they have lots of money), wife, gf, or children are not around look for money in their rooms.

this board is full of lifehacker tips.

>>1234972
Cant even buy a used John deer thats 10 years old for less than 3k. I could buy a car for what people want for a John Deer.

>>1235412
I bought my JD lawn tractor back in 1989. have only changed batteries, belts, filters and oil. starts right up and mows the lawn every single time.

>>1235412

You will find that the majority of tractors, tiny to massive, all will hold ridiculous values

>>1235412
If it's just a mower you want you can find them fairly cheap. If you want an actual compact tractor with a loader and all kinds of attachments you're gonna pay. Those fucking things are $30k new, you could buy a decent used full sized utility tractor for that or even less

>>1234918
Question is too vague. What exactly do you want to do with it?
Mow?
Aerate?
Plow snow?
Dig holes?
Move dirt?
My thought is you sound like you don't have lots of money and would be better off getting a sub - $2000 lawn tractor and do any other stuff the old fashioned way.

>>1236095
Push snow, move heavy things, cut the grass.

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2MB, 3264x2448px

>>1236201
For a diy-er with at least a little happening between the ears, your best deal will be Craigslist. You can get a very good riding mower/basic tractor used for ~$1500 or even into the $200-500 range if you're willing to put in some work. Name brands like Craftsman, Kubota, Cub Cadet, and JD will help with parts availablilty and attachments. Pull-behind attachments for the big brands have the same mounting so that's nice.

They retain their resale value so well because they're designed to last forever under shit conditions. (Cub cadet excluded, from my experience)

One thing to note, front loaders and snow plows on almost all "lawn tractor" type most are manually operated. For the real deal, augers, ploughs, and front loaders that are worth a damn you're looking at a much larger tractor with either hydraulics or (expensive) drive shaft attachments.

For my 4-acre plot I've been pretty happy with one of these and do quite a lot of shit with it.

new (5 years) john deeres get terrible ratings, any insight why?

>>1236695
Made in China. They are more less no different than any other brand only with the added cost of the name.

>>1236745
nope, they are made in Tennessee. rumor is some of the really low end ones are made by MTD but no proof

>>1236771
There are MTD plants in TN. And no, they don't make John Deer.

>>1236790
i would think the rebranded ones are made overseas. the JD branded mowers you see at places like Home Depot are quite a bit different then what the JD dealers sell.

build your own from hardwood that you can pass down for generations

>>1237127
Got to wonder why they need 10 different models on sale at the same time.

Buy a old Cub Cadet from the 70s- early 90s , the Super Cub cadets were the last good ones, tons of company's still make parts for the old Cubs, they are unstoppable, tons of attachemnt and has a driveshaft and automotive style clutch on the 3 speed models