Easy riders

Test-driving the latest mowers

House Doctor | Gary Dymski

May 26, 2005

Nestle into the plush, cushioned seat. Turn the key and rev the powerful engine. Smoothly shift the automatic transmission into drive, and away you go, zipping across ... the lawn.

Welcome to the exciting world of riding lawn mowers.

With purring easy-start engines and low-riding chassis that hug corners and tear up the straightaway, riding mowers have almost as much vroom-vroom appeal as NASCAR. And, like stock-car racing, riders have lots of fans.

That's because a new breed of colorful tractors and speedy, zero-turn-radius carts that literally mow in circles makes the chore of cutting grass seem like a trip to the amusement park.

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Honest. Take it from me. I was in the driver's seat.

I tested three riders - the John Deere L108 and Craftsman DYT4000 tractors with automatic transmissions, both priced at $1,599, and Lawn Boy's Precision Z350 HLX, a zero-turn model that sells for a limited-time price of $3,999. I also took several spins on Toro's Z Master - a $7,400 commercial Z-turn mower - at Carl's Equipment & Supply in Riverhead.

I joined a crowd of homeowners that is growing almost as fast as the grass they hate to mow. Manufacturers are expected to ship more than 1.5 million riders this year - that's 8 percent more than last year and 11 percent more than in 2003, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. And it's estimated that the figure will grow to 2 million by 2006.

The fun factor

Industry experts say more people are sitting down to mow because it's faster and more convenient than pushing. But there's another reason. And Greg Weekes, a manager for John Deere riding equipment, knows what it is. "A riding mower appeals to people who want to have fun."

I can vouch for the fun factor. Just seeing one of these babies in my garage was a kick. And I was positively giddy when it came time to mow. In fact, my family hadn't seen me so bubbly since finding my old Farrah Fawcett poster in near-mint condition in the basement a couple years ago.

Operating a riding mower was like retreating to boyhood - OK, maybe not that far back. After all, when I was a kid in Michigan, I cut the grass with gas-powered push mowers. This was more like being a teenager or in my 20s, when I zipped around in my first car, a 1973 Gran Torino, almost like the one Starsky & Hutch tooled around in.

But unlike the vehicle of my youth, these machines have to do more than just look good while getting me from here to there. They have to mow and mulch my half-acre of grass. I usually accomplish this in about 75 minutes using my trusty gas-powered, self-propelled walk-behind mower, a 6-year-old, 6.5-horsepowered Craftsman.

But it was a different story with each of the riders - not only was my grass cut, my time was cut almost in half. And it didn't feel anything like work.

Going for a spin

First, I tried the Lawn Boy that was delivered to my home on a flatbed by Steve McHenry of Storr Tractor Co. of Ronkonkoma. The Z-turn model was a bit intimidating, and I spun around almost uncontrollably at first, heading right into a patch of ajuga. But I soon mastered the arm-lever controls that turn, drive and stop it. This machine was faster than the tractors I would test ride, and I have to admit, I liked it.

Next came the Deere. This was more my style. Pedals for braking, forward and reverse; a soft-grip steering wheel I could lean on. It was a good fit. I loved the familiarity of the tractor, and while the Z-turn was easier to maneuver around planting beds, trees and fence lines, it took only a turn or two more for the Deere to follow the same paths.

I was just as comfortable with the Craftsman and its 18- inch turning radius and attachments like a grass-catching bin; a front-end scoop for picking up mulch, stones and other material; a lawn striper, and a fertilizer spreader.

I spent so much time on the tractors that I felt like Oliver Wendell Douglas, Eddie Albert's character on "Green Acres."

But I also had a scare.

As I navigated around one planting bed on the slope of my front yard, the rear end of the Lawn Boy slid down the steep hill, and both tractors nearly tipped. In fact, while I was mowing down the slope at a slight diagonal, the back wheels of the Craftsman bounced off the sidewalk and there I was in the street, riding alongside a moving car. Luckily, the driver was oblivious.