Another new model for Sears this year is the Yard Man 50 inch Zero Turn. This economical is capable of cutting your mowing time over a conventional lawn tractor. It features a Kohler motor and twin hydrostatic transmissions. If you have a relatively flat property and are looking for a cheaper machine to quickly mow your lawn the Yard Man Zero Turn is for you.
Sears Item 07128983000
Listed on Sears.com as: Yard-Man 22 hp 50 inch Zero Turn Yard Tractor
If this is not the right mower for you, go here to see all of my reviews:
My 2011 Reviews. You can find larger and smaller mowers from this list.
Model 28983
Click On Picture To See a Larger Version
Specs:
Read My Review Below These Specs:
Brand: Yard Man
Series: Zero Turn Tractor
Model: 28983
Ca Model: None
Engine HP: 22
Engine Brand: Kohler Courage
Cylinders: 2
Transmission: Twin Hydrostatic
Transmission Control: Dual Lever
Mower Width: 50 inches
Blades: 3
Cutting Positions: 6
Gauge Wheels: 4
Washout port: Yes
Blade Engagement: Electric
Turning Radius: Zero Turn
Front Axle:
Rear Tires: 18 x 8.5
Seat: High Back
Slide Seat Adjust: Yes
Service Minder: No
My Review:
Pros:
This machine is cheap for a 50 inch zero-turn. It is a fairly solid unit and from what I can see will mow your lawn as well as the other “under $3000″ zero turns on the market.
The oscillating front axle is a nice feature. This gives you a smoother ride than the older zero turns and allows better traction for the rear wheels.
This is a relatively light unit so an inexperienced driver will not tear up the lawn quickly.
Cons:
I measure all zero-turns against a the commercial ExMark Laser Z and a Toro Grandstand. The Laser Z is one of the few zero turn’s that mows well, and doesn’t tear up your lawn easily. The Toro Grandstand is one of the few zero turns that can mow on slopes.
Like all residential zero turns this Yard Man is great for trimming and getting the yard mowed much faster than a conventional lawn tractor but you will not like it for mowing hilly areas. The zero-turn’s inherent design makes it unsuitable for hills.
I am not a fan of any of the current residential zero-turns. Husqvarna currently is the only manufacture who has made an effort to develop a good line of zero-turn. The rest of the industry is still just following each other.
It is a twin lever zero-turn. (If you are unfamiliar with driving one of these it will take some practice for you to mow your lawn without leaving “divots” at the turns. Zero-turns do not have differentials like a lawn tractor. You have to keep the rear wheels moving like a differential does. If you let the inside wheel of your turn stop you will pivot on that wheel and dig a hole in your turf.)
It rounded rear tires. With a zero-turn tires that are flat across the treads tear up your lawn the least.
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Needed Accessories:
I will add accessories in a few weeks.
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The 50″ yardman is the worst zero turn I have ever owned, I purchased this mower thru sears and picked it up in March 2011. They call and said it was ready but when I got there it was still boxed up. I helped them un-box the mower. Since then I have only had trouble with the mower. First I was cutting grass and the blade fell off, it cracked the bottom of the mower shoot. Next time one of the pulleys broke off causing the belt to break, I contacted sears/MTD they told me to take it to a MTD dealer, they replaced the pulley free but wouldn’t replace the $40.00 belt. The third time I used it the 4 bolts holding the assembly on came loose and it started vibrating, it messed up the bearings, pulley, and fitting inside the assembly and broke the belt, so I took it back to the MTD dealer, they looked at the mower and called the MTD office and they said they was nothing they could do…..it was caused by using the mower, since then I have replace 2 belts, 3 bearings, 1 assembly, got the bracket welded and I keep tighten the bolts that holds the assemblies on …. a piece of crap. I have already put around $250 in this mower and I will never have an MTD or deal with sears again unless they take care of this problem, but I’m not holding my breath.
@allen, I was pretty easy on this mower last year. By the way, MTD sells this mower in different colors including “Troy-Bilt”
Allen, I don’t want to “pour salt on your open wound” but I have to tell my readers a few facts so this doesn’t happen to them.
1. MTD is notorious for not taking care of warranty issues. For example, there is no authorized repair center within 100 miles of where I live. They are also good at only paying for the broken parts and not paying the labor to repair or “normal wear and tear” parts that fail along with the warranty part. If they do pay for labor it is at a reduced rate and many times you have to pay the difference for the repair shop’s normal rate.
2. Sears only sold the mower one year. MTD makes the snow blowers for Sears so in my opinion they are constantly pushing to get their mowers on the Sears sales floor also. For some reason MTD won’t use Sears for warranty work (probably because Sears wants to do it right the first time) so if you don’t purchase the Sears protection plan, you have to go to the “authorized MTD repair center” for warranty work. If you buy the Sears protection plan (about $8 a month for this mower) Sears eats all warranty work and includes the wear and tear items you mentioned in the repairs. Usually with a problem like yours, they usually just replace the whole deck under the protection plan.
3. The only place I can find this mower this year is at Menard’s and Amazon. Lowes is still selling it as a Troy-Bilt. Sears is dumping all of the other Yardman mowers they sell. They are all on clearance.