[familyguy]

Hey....I need a new 36" hydro walk behind

I have yet to solve my mower brand selection. So, here are the choices close to my shop:

Bobcat retail for 5300. Owner of brand is SLOW SLOW SLOW repairing down equipment.

Xmark for 5400 retail. Owner of brand is expensive, rude, and very fast repairing.

Husqavarna for 3700 retail. Owner of brand is fast repairing down equipment, very nice, and very reasonably priced (obvious from the price tag)

Gravely for 5200 retail. Owner is average priced, nice, my brand of choice, BUT far enough away that it is a problem transporting stuff there and back.

SO, my question is... is there something I don't know about Husquavarna stuff? That is the direction I am leaning because they are closest to my shop as well.

Also, this unit will get a max of about 8 hours use each week. Maybe 10. So a lesser piece that I can trust to get fixed fast IF it does go down is why?

Please comment SOON cuz I need to replace my 33" before leaves are really down.

[Matt Kulp]

I can't say much about there Hydro, but I had a belt drive walkbehind and hated it. Very poor design on pulleys, and caused an incredible amount of down time.

One of the reasons they are so cheap is because they are fairly new on the commercial mower market and have a very, very low market share. I have talked to my local dealer on many occasions about the mowers and he can't sell them.

Personally, I would go with the Exmark, even though the dealer may be a jerk. It is a proven machine that has been around, and the name of the game is fast turnover on repairs. JMO

[familyguy]

only 1 person can offer an opinion?

[Mac]

Pretty much all I know is exmark. I began with them and am very satisfied with my dealer and how little maintenance attention they require. All i do is change the oil and they keep on producing.

[Pelican]

My opinion is similar to Matt's, I rented a Husky gear drive when a machine was down and didn't like it at all. It seemed flimsy, didn't track well and was just a bear to run. I don't see a lot of them out in the field around here.

The most popular brands around me are Scag, Exmark and Bobcat.