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Old 03-19-18, 09:50 AM   #5
natethebrown
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Alabama
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Claudio Miller View Post
That's because I might use it occasionally in my farm house also which is close to 5 acres. It would be rare but it will serve dual purpose
I was going to suggest a robot mower which is roughly $3k, but it sounds like you need more versatility. I would definitely go with a good Zero-Turn mower for roughly an acre. Here is my rationale:

1) I have about 0.4 acre of mow-able area. I have a John Deer Hydrostatic Riding lawn mower. It takes me about 35-40 minutes to mow everything with another 20 minutes to trim with a string trimmer. When the grass is growing the fastest, I mow once a week. Assuming my mowing season goes from Mid-April to Mid-September, that gives me about 24 weeks of mowing.
- Burn maybe 1 gallon of gasoline per mow = $2.5 per week or $60 per year.
- Change the oil once a season = $10 per year.
- Sharpen blades once a season = free.
- Replace blades once every 3 years or so = $60 per 3 years or $20 per year.
- Replace belts once every 5 years = $80 per 5 years or $16 per year.
- Replace flat tires once every 8 years - $160 per 8 years or $20 per year.

This totals between $126 and $96 per year. I don't have to mow every week (like I assumed) and one could get lucky and have tires or belts last much longer than I assumed.

2) The mowing services around her charge between $40 - $100 per visit. Since my yard is pretty large in comparison to the average, I am guessing the total cost would be about $60 per visit.
- Assuming 24 weeks of mowing = $1440 per year
- Assuming bi-weekly mowing = $720 per year

If I had a good zero-turn mower I could mow my lawn in 25-30 minutes, instead of 35-40 minutes. For your yard, it could save you upwards of 20 minutes per mow!

Here is the breakdown of total savings:
- Weekly mowing and maybe 10 hours annually for maintenance = $1314/yr or $38/hr savings.
- Bi-Weekly mowing and maybe 10 hours annually for maintenance = $624/yr or $28/hr savings.

So is sleeping in worth between $38/hr and $28/hr (possibly a little more in your case due to the large yard)?
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Claudio Miller (03-23-18)