My Disclosure Policy for Product Reviews On TodaysMower.com
As of December 1, 2009. the Federal Trade Commission is requiring that I disclose any relationship I have between a product manufacturer or service provider when I write about a product or service.
Here are the guidelines I operate under at Todaysmower.com, Toolboxhero.com, and Movingsnow.com:
FTC Disclosures for Testimonials and Endorsements.
I am never paid to do a review. If a manufacture sends me a product to test I am under no obligation to write a review or to give a positive or negative review. I never accept money to review a product or service. I invest my own time to review products. I pay out of my own pocket the cost to produce and post these reviews on my sites.
I do have a few posts on this site where I am paid to write the article. OLFA knives are one example where I tell you about a product and how I am using it. I will always be upfront and tell you if and when I am paid to promote an item.
I don’t pay for products I test. If I do test a product I will be upfront with you and explain how and where I got the product to test. I do pay for products I review for long-term use.
I don’t return the products after I test them. Once I have done adequate testing I will donate them to a select few veterans, veteran homeless shelters, and local charities. Specifically, tools are donated to charities that use the tools, not charities that resell items to make money. The company supplying the product is welcome to come and get it when I am done.
If I create a link to a product in a review, I sometimes get paid a commission if you purchase the product or service. In general, I get a commission from direct sales from companies like ACME Tool, Northern Tool, Amazon, etc., and paid for traffic I send to eBay. In other cases, I don’t get any compensation……. the owners of the companies I know and have a long-standing relationship with. For example, I’ve known Gary at Acrease Mowers for years and have spent hours and hours using and discussing his product. In another example, Eric of Peterson Computer Consulting (hire him) is my son-in-law. You are under no obligation to purchase any product from me. If you ever have a question about this, ask me.
These are good rules and practices in today’s world. I want you to be sure that you can trust me. That my opinions are my own. And they are based on my experience ……… not how much I am paid. It’s important for you as a consumer to understand the relationship between a person reviewing the product and the manufacturer or service provider. If you don’t see a disclosure policy as part of a review of a product, that reviewer may be violating the law or at the very least the Code of Ethics.
My data policy begins with one essential principle – it’s your data, not mine. I only collect the information I need to help you with your purchase. I do not sell or transmit that data to anyone else.
James Howard
Hi, my brother is looking for a zero turn mower. It is required for a township, very rough and lots of fairly steep slopes. The 44″ Zero Turn Massey Ferguson Hydrostatic motors won’t go up the hills anymore. Lasted about 6 years. They cut about 40 acres every two days (well if the machine is running and they have to time). My brother has $10,000 CAD to spend. I was thinking about a Toro 3000 myride? but it is much over $10,000 CAD. We can’t buy the Craftsman Pro for some reason up here. I was thinking about driving down to buy one but Mr. Trump might not let me leave with it!!
Paul
Hi James, Trump wants the American manufactures to bring the manufacturing jobs back here. Of course if the USA introduces tariffs on stuff made in Canada, they will probably do the same.
I don’t have any information of the mowers sold in Canada but I do know the Massey had EZT drives. You will want a machine with ZT-2800, ZT-3200 rear transmissions.
Down here we have the 48″ (122 cm) TITAN® HD 1500 Series Zero Turn Mower (74450). It has the ZT-2800 drives and retails for $6199.
Lathe
Paul
Is there a list of garden tractor dimensions?
For instance, will a 40″ deck fit through a 41″ gate? I want a larger mower but I’d like to know the dimensions.
Paul Sikkema
No, typically the manufactures state the cutting width and some give the dimensions of the tractor itself.
The current 42, 46 and 48 inch decks all have about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch edges on each side of the deck. So a 42 inch deck needs 45 to 46 inches with the discharge chute raised. The exception seems to be the 46 inch CRaftsman and Husqvarna 2 blade decks. The 46 will fit between the wheel wells of a pickup (48 inches)
Francis Boyle
Paul,
I have read reviews and almost bought a mower for several months. I think I have made this more complicated than it needs to be. Can you tell me what you would buy given these points.
Have 80 acres with a riding mower needed for the grass margins of roads, buildings, landscaping, and lots of fence lines. Ground is mostly flat with moderate slopes and very uneven (holes/ dips) and mole mounded.
I have a tractor for the big areas with a pull behind and various attachments.
So I need to mostly mow long distance several hours a week and pull a small trailer to use as my property run about.
budget $2000 to $3000 or so.
42 to 48 inch deck with excellent mulching, no bagging needed
a best but preferably premium engine with greatest longevity, HP, weight combination
a really strong or reinforced small gauge deck.
I am rural, fix things on my own mostly, have a trailer for pick up, not opposed to delivery, just looking for a long running good mulcher with a premium engine
I know you have lots written up here and I have read and read, it is just overwhelming and starting to run together.
Thank you for your time and anticipated response,
Francis
Paul Sikkema
@Francis, My first thought is to suggest a Craftsman 28861 Garden Tractor or Craftsman 25061 Zero-turn. The Garden Tractor will handle the farm lawn well because has larger tires, heavy transmission and is a great value. It also has a reserve in the tank to get you back if run out of gas. The Zero-turn has the heavier transmissions for the price than anyone else so it can handle long ditches without the transmission fading. But both of these have a 54 inch deck.
A 42 or 48 inch deck severely limits you for a good riding mower that will handle your rougher lawn. The only one that really fits is the Husqvarna GT48XLS. I have not written a review on this tractor but I like the transmission with locking differential, large tires, welded deck (heavy duty greaseable spindles) and Briggs Endurance engine. The Briggs Endurance is their best residential engine.
Other alternatives are a good used 48 inch commercial zero-turn. Find something you can get parts for locally and have the drives checked by a mechanic before your buy. ExMark, Grasshopper, and Scag come to mind.
Miles Davis
Paul,
In changing out the fuel filter on my Craftsman 28857, I noticed that the rubber fuel line closest to the carburetor rests on what appears to be the muffler (or other part that becomes hot during operation-obviously,I am not a mechanic). Is this a potential fire hazard? Should I be concerned? your response would be greatly appreciated.
Paul Sikkema
@Miles, Take a close look at it to see if the hose is wearing where it is rubbing. Just the vibration of running the mower would show wear. If it is try moving it out of the way. I would use a zip tie (tie wrap) to hold it out of the way. It only needs a 1/4 to 1/2 inch clearance not to wear.
I wouldn’t be concerned much that it is a fire hazard but I would fix it. In the past I have had fuel lines wear through and start leaking onto a muffler and about all they did was smoke. (Maybe I was lucky 🙂
Miles Davis
Paul,
Thanks a lot. I’m neither a mechanic nor engineer, but it seems placement of a fuel line on a part designed to become hot during operation is a dumb idea. I purchased the tractor in May 2011 and have not noticed any issues with this. But I will give it a close inspection today and try to implement your fix.
Paul Sikkema
@Miles, Common Sense is nothing more than experience and it looks like you are on your way to having “good common sense” Most of the problems you will find with lawn & garden (most mechanical equipment) is being able to tell “what it look’s like” and “what it should look like.”
If it doesn’t look safe, it probably isn’t and having an inexperienced, but inquisitive person looking at a situation is sometimes best. I could easily have imagined you taking your tractor to a repair shop and the “experienced” tech saying. “Don’t worry, we haven’t had one burn up yet!”
Miles Davis
Man, you’re hilarious. Take care.
Miles Davis
Paul,
I have implemented your fix with just a slight variation. If you wish, I will provide two photos if you will tell me how and where to post them. Thanks again.