Shopping For My First Ride On Mower - So Many For Sale But How To Choose A Good One?

Okay - lets recap.

We bought the house, on a large block of land. Loads of space, loads of lawn. Mowed the lawn for the first time, up hill and down dale between the terraces, then said sod this lets get a ride on lawn mower.

Looked online, saw lots of lawn mowers, had no idea what would suit me, found one that I liked at the local mower shop, but needed to find out if it was good value.

Next step : Buying a second hand ride on mower.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Googling second hand ride on lawn mowers, cheap used ride on mowers for sale and similar drew a few results. And yes, I invested quite a few hours stretching into days, but like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow finding a cheap second hand used ride on mower that was affordable and in good condition was a mission, to put it gently.

So back on the road I went. And I can tell you this. Ride on lawn mowers are NOT like cars. That is, there are plenty of new car shops, and plenty of shops that sell used cars. There are NO shops that only sell second hand ride on mowers. Other than ebay, or Gumtree or similar online shopping markets.

Nope, only mower shops that, if you are lucky, happen to have one or two used ride ons for sale, perhaps on consignment.

As I visited each shop, - and believe me, I visited about seven in total, I asked the question "Why aren't there more second had ride on mowers for sale? All I see are machines that are good only for parts, or machines that look nearly worn out?'

Here is the answer that I received. I must admit, it made quite a bit of sense, now I think about it. It seems that ride on mower owners usually research their purchase well before they buy. So the machine they buy is ideal for the job at hand. And since these mowers usually live on larger properties, the turnover is lower on these properties, and the lawnmowers are often never sold unless they are worn out.

All of which is why I couldn't find a good second hand ride on lawnmower - at least not one that would compare with the more modern versions. You see, all of the older models had smaller engines, and a large amount of wear. These machines were usually bought when the Aussie dollar was lower, and items more expensive. So the person wanting to sell their ride on second hand was usually after a price which was about half that of a new machine.

The only machine that I found that was even close to acceptable was about ten years old, and they wanted $900 for it. It had a 10 HP motor, and now towing capacity. The tyres were smaller, and narrower. This meant that I could not get a trailer for the machine - vital for moving mulch, dirt, grave, and lilydale topping around my hilly property. The small wheels meant less torque and narrow tyres would sink into the soft ground in winter. No good.

So back to looking at the new ride on mowers for sale I went.....and look what I found in my next post :)

Picture of my Rover Ride On Lawnmower