Choosing A Tractor

Ever since my recent "tractor" purchase, I've been turning into a tractor-nut. When I dive past the a works crew using their tractors to cut grass by the side of the road, I find myself craning my neck to get a better look....

Even before we moved into the new house, we knew we'd need a ride-on lawn-mower (or "tractor") to help manage almost an acre of grass lawn. With little experience in the field of ride-on mowers, I began doing some research. This was a time consuming process, during which the grass was slowly inching upwards.

I began by looking at what Lowes, Home Depot and Sears had to offer. I discovered that the Poulan and Craftsman (Sears) tractors are actually branded versions of the Husqvana tractors. I also looked at John Deere, but somehow missed Cub Cadet and others. I worked through various buying guides to try and determine which tractor was right for me. It was not an easy task with a hundred or so to choose from. To cut a long story short, I now know that there are several main features to consider when selecting a tractor:

• Deck Size
  
• Transmission Type
  
• Engine Type and Horse Power
  
• Supported Attachments
  
• Wheel Size

Other factors to consider are:

• How much grass will you be cutting?.
• What kind of terrain will you be driving on?
• What else might you like to use the tractor for?
• Price.

Tractor selection is confused further by terminology such as "Lawn", "Garden" or "Yard" tractors. For example: on the sears website, Yard tractors are found in the Garden tractors section, and come with a manual that says it's a Lawn tractor and talking to the sales associates just adds to the confusion. One might think these terms can be used interchangeably. However, my research has lead me to be believe that Lawn, Garden, and Yard are categories referring to overall increasing "size" of the tractor. They become "Yard" tractors if they have 23 inch wheels or greater, and a Yard tractor is capable of accepting "ground engaging" attachments, such as a leveler or dozer blade, both of which require a "sleeve hitch" (different kind of hitch to regular attachments).

Anyway, after many hours trying to digest all this, I finally selected the Craftsman Lawn Tractor Model No. 917.288900. This particular tractor is also known as: DYS 4500, Mfr. model# 28890, and Sears item# 07128890000. It has a 48 inch deck, hydrostatic transmission, a 25HP Kohler twin V engine, accepts most non-ground engaging attachments, has 20 inch wheels, and a cup-holder.

In a future post, I'll tell you how I've been getting on with this little tractor.