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5 Posts
Hey everyone,
Thanks to all the great contributors and information on this site, I was able to figure out what we needed/wanted to replace our worn out, almost 20 year old, Craftsman riding mower. We only needed something to quickly/easily mow about 5-6 acres of grass. We have a CUT (Ford 1720) with a box blade for moving dirt. It doesn't snow here in south Georgia, so no need for a snow blower. We have access to sprayers, tiller, etc. whenever we need them. We also have access to a big Ford TL100 if we REALLY need more power.
We narrowed our decision down to the Husqvarna YTH24K48, the "Fast Tractor". We really liked the GT52XLS, but $3,299 versus $1,899...was a little over our budget.
Well, I head out to three local dealers to try to bring home a new Fast Tractor, only to find out that none of them had one in stock. To make matters worse, they all wanted list price and said I'd have to pay freight for them to bring one in. So we were looking at $1,899 + $200 freight, plus tax...almost $2,300 out the door.
Time to start calling a few dealers further away. My first call was to a dealer about an hour north of us. Turns out it was the best call I could have made. He said he had the YTH24K48 in stock, ready to go. He also said he had other Husqvarna tractors in stock and that he "WOULD put me on a new tractor". I fire up the pickup and off I go.
When I get to the dealer he tells me that he was two GTH24V52LS left over that he really wants to sell. (From my research, these are last years version of the GT52XLS.) The one on the floor has a sticker with $3,299 on it. I tell him that's over my budget and that we should talk about the 24K48 instead.
He then shocks me and tells me I can have the GTH24V52LS for his cost - $2,500 - plus tax!!!
Let me think about this...Kawasaki instead of Kohler, 52" fab deck instead of 48" stamped, Hydro-Gear instead of Tuff Torq rear-end, etc...all for about $600 more, instead of the list $1,400 more. Yup, done deal...let me go get my checkbook out of the truck!
I didn't like the fact that the one on the floor had almost 90 hours on it (he claimed the key had been left on), and had obviously been used around their yard for test drives. He said no problem, I have one new in the crate out back. I had to wait about an hour while they un-crated and prepped/cleaned the new one, but I didn't really mind.
Here it sits, fresh off the wash rack all ready to come home...ZERO hours on the meter:
![Land vehicle Vehicle Riding mower Mower Lawn mower]()
![Gauge Measuring instrument Auto part Tool Vehicle]()
Oh, and I drove up there without a trailer, since I didn't really know if I would be able to get a good deal. I also figured having to go back home and get a trailer would force me to think about any deal and prevent me from making an impulse purchase. No problem he says, as he brings a trailer around front for me to borrow! Just it bring it back later, he says.
So we hook up the trailer, load up the tractor and off I drive. Once I get home, I give my wife some basic instructions and let her start having some fun. I let her know I'll be back in a few hours since I have to return the borrowed trailer. I get home 2 1/2 hours later to find this:
![Lawn Lawn mower Vehicle Mower Grass]()
She's already mowed the back three acres and was in the process of cleaning "her' new toy!
Oh, and here's a shot of it in the garage, next to the old one it's replacing:
![Land vehicle Vehicle Riding mower Lawn mower Mower]()
What a difference!!!
So far, we LOVE the new tractor. It's powerful, fast, quiet, and hopefully will provide us with years of good service. It has almost 12 hours on it so far, and this weekend I plan to do the initial oil change and service on it.
Oh, I almost forgot....the seat cover question:
I went back to the same dealer last night since our old string trimmer finally died and I needed a replacement. He did me almost as good a deal on a Husqvarna 326LS as he did on the tractor.
While there, I bought the Husqvarna cushioned seat cover for the tractor...this one.
My wife was all excited to see the cover, but that excitement quickly wore off when I took it out of the box and tried to put it on the seat. My question is, has anyone put one of these covers on a tractor seat that has arm rests?
Am I supposed to remove the arms and run the bolts thru the cover? I'm concerned that the cover will eventually tear where the bolts go through.
Any ideas?
And thanks again for the great resource here!!!
Thanks to all the great contributors and information on this site, I was able to figure out what we needed/wanted to replace our worn out, almost 20 year old, Craftsman riding mower. We only needed something to quickly/easily mow about 5-6 acres of grass. We have a CUT (Ford 1720) with a box blade for moving dirt. It doesn't snow here in south Georgia, so no need for a snow blower. We have access to sprayers, tiller, etc. whenever we need them. We also have access to a big Ford TL100 if we REALLY need more power.
We narrowed our decision down to the Husqvarna YTH24K48, the "Fast Tractor". We really liked the GT52XLS, but $3,299 versus $1,899...was a little over our budget.
Well, I head out to three local dealers to try to bring home a new Fast Tractor, only to find out that none of them had one in stock. To make matters worse, they all wanted list price and said I'd have to pay freight for them to bring one in. So we were looking at $1,899 + $200 freight, plus tax...almost $2,300 out the door.
Time to start calling a few dealers further away. My first call was to a dealer about an hour north of us. Turns out it was the best call I could have made. He said he had the YTH24K48 in stock, ready to go. He also said he had other Husqvarna tractors in stock and that he "WOULD put me on a new tractor". I fire up the pickup and off I go.
When I get to the dealer he tells me that he was two GTH24V52LS left over that he really wants to sell. (From my research, these are last years version of the GT52XLS.) The one on the floor has a sticker with $3,299 on it. I tell him that's over my budget and that we should talk about the 24K48 instead.
He then shocks me and tells me I can have the GTH24V52LS for his cost - $2,500 - plus tax!!!
Let me think about this...Kawasaki instead of Kohler, 52" fab deck instead of 48" stamped, Hydro-Gear instead of Tuff Torq rear-end, etc...all for about $600 more, instead of the list $1,400 more. Yup, done deal...let me go get my checkbook out of the truck!
I didn't like the fact that the one on the floor had almost 90 hours on it (he claimed the key had been left on), and had obviously been used around their yard for test drives. He said no problem, I have one new in the crate out back. I had to wait about an hour while they un-crated and prepped/cleaned the new one, but I didn't really mind.
Here it sits, fresh off the wash rack all ready to come home...ZERO hours on the meter:
Oh, and I drove up there without a trailer, since I didn't really know if I would be able to get a good deal. I also figured having to go back home and get a trailer would force me to think about any deal and prevent me from making an impulse purchase. No problem he says, as he brings a trailer around front for me to borrow! Just it bring it back later, he says.
So we hook up the trailer, load up the tractor and off I drive. Once I get home, I give my wife some basic instructions and let her start having some fun. I let her know I'll be back in a few hours since I have to return the borrowed trailer. I get home 2 1/2 hours later to find this:
She's already mowed the back three acres and was in the process of cleaning "her' new toy!
Oh, and here's a shot of it in the garage, next to the old one it's replacing:
What a difference!!!
So far, we LOVE the new tractor. It's powerful, fast, quiet, and hopefully will provide us with years of good service. It has almost 12 hours on it so far, and this weekend I plan to do the initial oil change and service on it.
Oh, I almost forgot....the seat cover question:
I went back to the same dealer last night since our old string trimmer finally died and I needed a replacement. He did me almost as good a deal on a Husqvarna 326LS as he did on the tractor.
While there, I bought the Husqvarna cushioned seat cover for the tractor...this one.
My wife was all excited to see the cover, but that excitement quickly wore off when I took it out of the box and tried to put it on the seat. My question is, has anyone put one of these covers on a tractor seat that has arm rests?
Am I supposed to remove the arms and run the bolts thru the cover? I'm concerned that the cover will eventually tear where the bolts go through.
Any ideas?
And thanks again for the great resource here!!!
