04ctd

been looking at Mowers, waiting to find a deal.

is a two blade that much better?

friend says a 3 blade setup beats it self too death,

too much strain on the belts / pulleys

and its hard for it cut the grass properly because it has a hard time getting the clippings from the far blade out the chute.

opinions?

volly818

I have a 48" deck with 3 blades and have had it for two years now. I have never had a problem with vibration as it is nice and smooth to run. I am still running the original belt and it shows no more than normal wear with 2 years on it. And as far as not cutting grass properly I think my 3 blade mows better the my old 2 blade.

04ctd

what brand you riding?

consumer reports said Troy Bilt better than John Deere.

john deere finances at 11%

Home depot finances at 21%

sears is 25.15% variable

looks like it would be cheaper to buy a more expensive mower at John Deere & save money on interest, and have a better product.

DaveB.inVa

We've got a John Deere LT235 (I think thats the model #) its got 3 blades and is pretty awesome. We've had it since 1999 and its on its second belt. It is seriously the best lawnmower we have ever had. We mow about 3 acres just with it and it has performed flawlessly since we got it. The only things ever to go wrong was the wiring harness for the headlights was routed next to the cylinder head and melted. No problem, just lengthened it and rerouted it (besides the fact we never use the lights anyway). The other problem was the front bumper made of hard plastic. I bumped into a tree cracking it and later it fell off and was mowed up. Underneath that though is a decent piece of frame that works just fine, no problem with that.

Willy91

We've got an exmark zero turn with three blades and we've never had any problems with belt where or it not cutting right.

Flashpoint

I have a Sears 46 with three blades .Total junk has the Kohlar motor and its great but mower deck is junk.Also a Husky which is junk. Case mid 70s club cadet with a 50inch and it has three blades and it works great. I would say after owning at least a dozen mowers the two blade models are the best. Spend a little more change if you can and stay away from retail store mowers. there throw away and only last a few years. How much grass are you planing on mowing? Reason i ask is my 22 Hp drinks the gas takes 10bucks to mow half my yard. The 18hp is fuel effiecent.

koogala

John Deere w/ ANY amount of blades is the ONLY way to go. Have ridden MTD's, Sears, Etc. JD is like riding a puff of air compared to the others. I will never buy anything else again. Other mowers will wear you out; like riding
a buckboard wagon on the Oregon trail. You can ride a Deere all day long & get off feeling pretty good. Mines a 235, 48" cut, 3 blade for $4600 in 2003.

John Halter

A lot will depend on your yard size and how long you want to keep this mower . I have a Gravely that is over 30 years old and will probably still cut another 30 . John Deere is a highly over rated mower in my book and some of them are just MTD's . Weight of a lawn mower has a lot to do with strength and how long it will last . In my opinion pay a little more now or keep paying every 5 years or so depending on the work load and maintenance . I mow 5 acres every week and it is some of the roughest and hilliest grass you will see . I go through blades by the pile but the belt on my Gravely is only it's second one that I can remember . The deck has a gear box and a drive shaft coming off the engine so the belt does not need to twist and that equals longer belt life . MTD makes a lot of different brands and they are painted to match but most parts interchange except hoods and fenders . If I had a small lawn and not a lot of cash and it was flat I guess a lesser built mower would work for years . It truly amazes me how when I was younger most push mowers were 3 horse and riders were 5 horse and they did a good job and now I have seen push mowers that are 5 horse and up and riders that are 20 horse with little 40 inch decks on them . I had a Farmal Cub that we had a 5 ft. belly mower on that had and amazing 11 and a half horse and it did a good job . If money is tight I would hit the auctions , I have seen one and two year old mowers that cost over 5000 new go for under a 1000 dollars . Deals like that happen in the fall around here in Ohio when people are thinking more about snow . Some of the 10 and 20 year old mowers will out last this new junk on the market you will find in the home stores . A older John Deere or Cub Cadet is a lot better machine that what you can buy now and that goes for most models . The old sears units made in the 70's were work horses and many are still running today . Me I have been thinking hard on some fence and a few beef and getting some more hammock time for my self and let them mow it for a while .

BC847

I've a Cub Cadet with a three balde 50" deck and it works just fine.

06dually

I also have this model, although I bought mine in 2000. I used the crap out of this thing and has never let me down.

Buckshotmckee

How big of a lot are you planning on mowing? I have a L111 JD with the 42'in deck and it's been great! I've had it for a year now and it's been in the shop twice. Once for a noisy belt pulley, and 2ndly for some sort of valve/compression adjustment (bulletin). I saw the cub cadet @ home depot a month or so ago and the only thing I like on the cadet was the deck cleaning device that's built in.

Dieseldude4x4

I had a Honda (36 inch two blade), of all things, that I ground up everything from stumps to lawn mower heads in my neighboors yard, oh and grass too. Had that thing ten years and never pulled the spark plug out of it. I cut five acres of grass some of it as high as the mower itself. Finally after 10 years, is spit out a quill shaft bearing one day mainly because I cut through a puddle of water. Went to get some parts for it and it took six weeks to get them. While I was waiting, I bought a John Deere LT235 hydrostatic drive (48 inch three blade V twin). I really like it but it's no Honda. It cuts very well and is more comfortable and user friendly (one pedal to go forward and one pedal to go backwards) but was almost three times the cost of the Honda. I doubt it will last as long. By the way on the Honda, when the parts came in, I gave the parts and the mower to my son and he is still using and abusing it just like I did and it never misses a beat. As much as I hate to buy foreign stuff, I would buy another one if this JD fails me before long. The Honda blades were very expensive, about $42 a set until I found them at Agri Va for about $4.99 a piece. Takes two different blades too. The JD takes all three the same blades. They are not cheap from JD and I haven't been to Agri to see what they want yet.
Bottom line is I guess it's all up to what you want and how much you want to spend. I could have bought about five MTD's, Sears, or whatever for what I paid for this JD. My neighboor has an old Craftsman that she is harder on than I am on mine. She just started it this afternoon and came over for some air in the one tire and it runs like a top. She has had it for about eight years no or so and it still runs every time. As big a fan of John Deere as I am, I still believe they are over rated as stated above but hey, it's green and says John Deere on it.
Good luck deciding.

koogala

I remember those. It was the 1st rider my dad bought in around 1972. 10 hp. Red and white. Solid steel. 42" cut 2 blade w/ gearboxes for each blade. The gears finally wore out about 2000 & they quit making parts for that mower
Sears mowers of that time were very good.

bmoeller

The problem with the 2-blade 42" blades, they bend easier. Never had any issues with any 3-blade 42" decks.

BigBlue

We've got a 42" I believe John Deere with 2 blades and the thing has been a nightmare. 2 years old and it broke a valve spring and dropped a valve. Not covered under warranty for some weird reason (claimed we hit a rock ). It eats belts about once every 3 months. I'm not happy with it at all.