If you find these Hondas fascinating now- just wait until it's time for repairs. Parts pricing have sent many as of late to the great mower heap. The GT series Deere are more modern plus usability and maintenance is easier. Depending on how familiar you are w/ tractors , you may want to have an inspection. In some respects, it is like looking at a used car. A few qualifiers: How do they start and run? Does the deck run w/ minimal vibration and noise? Is the engine and transmission responsive and quiet to operate - both cold and warm? Overall condition/ wear and maintenance items such as belts, tires, blades, oil quality , any oil leaks etc? Is the cutting deck in danger of rusting through or is there debris packed everywhere - especially around the transaxle? Does it steer and handle well? A few things to get you started anyways.

***"Owner says starter turns but doesn't engage."***
For me that would be a big red flag if I was shopping used equipment. It could mean the starter drive was bad, flywheel was bad, or...........battery installed backward (reversed polarity).
If battery installed backward there are sure to be some other consequential damages in the electrical system due to that mistake.

From your questions--i'd suggest buying a new machine of your choice. No use buying something that will cost an arm and a leg just to get it into operating condition!
Us old mechanics, and some younger ones, have the experience that helps us when we buy a used machine, and not much escapes our look-see, before we make a decision!
But a newby will surely get taken to the cleaners if they buy something used, unless it is viewed by a competent mechanic well versed in lawn tractors/ mowers!
That said--if i were in the market for a lawn tractor--i would buy a Craftsman lawn tractor, new, and go from there. Most of the ones i have worked on had a bad belt, or just bad care, and parts are available. Also, i'd avoid the so-called automatic transmission. Which would raise a red flag, if a used machine were for sale.

IMHO you're getting ready to make a very costly mistake. I'm inferring that you're not mechanically inclined enough to make repairs or you wouldn't be asking here. The machines you list are older and if something ain't broke now, wait till tomorrow....

Over the years I've seen hundreds of posts essentially detailing the requirements which in a new machine would be $3-4,000 but goes on to say the budget is a quarter of that. Unless you're very lucky, you're gonna end up paying initial cost of used machine, and repairs, and end up with an old machine. BTW, if you're that lucky, buy a lottery ticket and then hire someone to do your yard work...:-) Also, you'll probably need to keep your push mower around for trimming. Now that's two small engines to keep running and maintained....

for a half acre, assuming that house, driveway, trees, etc. take up half you're only mowing a quarter acre. That's "classic" push mower size. If you get a rider, don't be surprised it it takes you longer to mow due to the turning, reversing, etc. Also, while a "good" ($$) mulching deck and bagger will chop up and compact the leaves, you'll find you're emptying a lot more than you think you should.

'were I you, I'd look into a good mulching push mower and a leaf blower for lawn clean up.

Good luck,

Ev

I agree with exmar this sounds about rite id go with a good mulching push mower, leaf blower, and lets not 4get a nice weedwacker for those areas that are hard to reach with a pusher.

Goodluck with yor purchase and may it last a long time.
Km

Tegat, as said above non running equipment is for the mechanically inclined. It may be a deal, then again are you sure you turn wrenches and DIAGNOSE problems that much better than the previous owner.

$1,000 gets you into the cheapest of the new mowers at the box stores around here......

Thanks for all the comments. I've gone back and forth on this decision so many times and looks like I'll go back and forth maybe another couple more times before deciding. Good thing is I have time to weigh the options.

So the driving factors behind getting a lawn tractor are dealing with leaves in the fall and needing to cut the lawn more often during the growing season.

I do own a regular mower, a leaf blower, and a weedwacker. I've tried many things to deal with these leaves. I've tried raking and bagging, leaf blowing and bagging, leaf blower mulching and bagging, mower mulching and bagging. In the end I, and sometimes my son too, end up being out there for several hours on the weekends cleaning up leaves during the fall.

Things I've ruled out: so-called standalone leaf shredding machines, mowing the lawn twice (once to mulch up everything real small, and another pass to pick them up. I think my poor push behind would get bogged down trying to mulch all those leaves). I've decided to start a compost pile with my mulched leaves so maybe that will help by eliminating the bagging.

I stopped by one of our local dealers the other day. One of the Toro mulching mowers (twin blades) was selling for $1000 I believe it was. Maybe a walk behind mulching mower would do better than what I currently have, not sure how much better though. Mine for the most part just throws the leaves in the bag with very little mulching. I saw the Honda HRX (about $700) where supposedly you can barely open the bagging opening and it will mulch up the leaves until small enough to pass through to the bag. It's not clear to me how effective this would be though and I have a feeling both these mowers would bog down with all those leaves under the deck. Part of my thought process was that instead of buying a quality new push mower, I could add some money to that and get a quality used tractor. Maybe I should look into how much it would cost for a lawn service to do my lawn in the fall. I do mulch the leaves into the lawn early in the season but it's not long after that that is no longer viable.

As for the lawn tractor and the leaves, after some more reading, I concede the point about needing to empty bags just like you would with the push mower. Although, the tractor bags do hold more than the push mower bags. I see some people have opted to mulch the leaves and use a lawn sweeper in tow for pickup. Reason is the sweeper can hold much more and dumped easily.

As far as cutting the grass more often, some have suggested that a push mower might be just as fast if not faster than the tractor. I don't know. A couple of my neighbors (tractor owners) lots are about the same as mine and I start mowing before them and they finish before me. It takes me 1 hr 15 mins walking pace. Doesn't take them more than 45. Actually one of my neighbors does 2 yards in about the time it takes me to do mine. He does have one of those Deeres with the foot pedals so maybe that helps. If I do go this route that may be the way to go.

As for the leaves, one of my neighbor uses a bagger and it goes relative quickly. Although he doesn't have the leaf volume that I do and he goes over it about twice a week. He doesn't allow it to accumulate. My other neighbor goes the old fashioned route (rake, leaf blower, bag). He's got 5 huge trees that are all by his property line in the front so the area he has to cover is small. Plus much of those leaves fall on the road and just get blown into my lawn, increasing my leaf volume considerably.

As far as buying used, if I go that route, maybe I can pay a lawn/garden tractor mechanic for his time to check it out for me. Same as you would for a used car purchase.

You might see if something like a lawn shredder/vac is available for rent in your area. I've attached a link to a "typical" one. Never used one, but have seen them being used in the fall.

Wouldn't recomend buying one to use once a year. Small engines (and large ones) don't like to sit and not be run.

I know that whenever I'm considering buying a "wonderful thing," I now look around to see if it can be rented. My barn is full of "wonderful things" :-)

Good luck,

Ev

Here is a link that might be useful: lawn shredder/vac