Well, it’s been awhile since I have posted anything. In the meantime the grass has been growing, and my trustworthy John Deere 750 tractor 
mowing deck finally bit the dust. We have almost 4 acres to deal with, and subtracting the house, barn, outbuildings, etc., we have probably close to 3 acres to mow.
When we moved here in 1985 from a small city lot (in a big city), we had no experience dealing with this amount of mowing. For the 1st couple years we went thru 3 or 4 push mowers
and one “hand-me-down” Sears lawn tractor my dad had given me. The “yard” had a number of obstacles which destroyed 2-3 mowers (bent shaft). Being inexperienced (and idealistic), we expended perhaps up to 15-20 hours/week mowing with equipment designed for a city lot (it seemed like between my wife, older kids and myself that we were mowing constantly). At one point, when the lawn tractor and the mower gave out, I was doing the entire area with a weed eater
(I should’ve been committed for a pyschiatric evaluation at the least!).
Anyway, in 1987, I came to my senses (my wife would dispute the fact that I have ever come to my senses!) and invested in a John Deere 750 tractor with a 3 point hitch rear mounted 60″ mower deck which ran off the PTO). This handled the bulk of the mowing. However, due to my beloved wife’s creation of an obstacle course with her ever-increasing gardens, we also had to hand mow close to an acre. And on top of that is the @#*&# weed-whacking!!!!! The big tractor with rear mount mower is excellent for mowing large, unobstructed areas. However………we do not have large, unobstructed areas except for the rear 1 acre field.
So…over the years, it seems we have been spending 10-20 hours/week fighting a losing battle to keep the grass cut and the weeds under control. So…in my fantasies, I have imagined myself somehow figuring out how to cut down on the amount of back-breaking, grueling labor expended to maintain our acreage. In my fantasy world (for the last 2-3 years) was a zero-turn mower.
Well, last week the JD mower deck finally rusted thru after 23 years of faithful service. What to do, what to do???!!! Truthfully, I do not like operating under pressure, and had not figured on this happening. Anyway I called John Deere and found out it would cost about $2500 for a replacement mower deck. No way did I want to spend this amount of money, especially considering the obstacle course that we have. So I decided to pursue my fantasy of a zero-turn mower……
Stay tuned…..
We both know you secretly think I’m the nutty one, but when it comes to machinery you certainly have more horse sense :) There, how’s that for a compliment?!
Truth be told, both of us had more determination than good sense when it came to work on a large country place!
if you ever wanted a key to some of the frustrations it couldn’t be put better than the two phrases:”I do not like operating under pressure, and had not figured on this happening”.
Murphy figures on things happening ;)
Anyway, I see the mower deck giving out as an opportunity to finally get the machine we should have invested in long ago. Thanks for all your hard work… and also for researching to choose the best deal.