When it comes down to it, buying used mowers is as similar a risk as buying a used car. Perhaps you’ll get a solid deal, and perhaps you won’t. If you are seriously in the market, then there are some different places you can gander.
Buying a used model is a good way to go so that you don’t have to pay the cost for “newness” (and, like a new car, new mowers can be pricy). Luckily, I’ve been able to buy some super used equipment at a great cost. The trick; however, is to know what to look for and how to hunt for the best bargains.
Used lawnmowers can be found in newspapers, in junkyards and even on the Internet. If you search the classified ads, you might find some decent deals. My best advice is to spend a little more money for a durable, well-known name, rather than pay $200.00 for a model that will cause you problems down the line. In other words, if you have $700.00 dollars to a $1000.00 dollars to spend, you can easily get a strong, long lasting used model that will perform better than a new, cheaper model at the same cost.
If you really don’t have a lot of money to invest, you might visit you local junkyard. When in a bind, I’ve been able to find a riding mower for as little as $50.00 dollars that ran pretty well. Again, it was old, not pretty and I knew it would cause me some problems down the road, but it helped me as a ‘back-up’ mower when hard times came about. It eventually chewed belts like no other, but if I respected its limits, it did well enough. Used push mowers are a different story and if well maintained, could be found for as little as $10.00 to well over a $100.00 for top-notch brands.
Finally, online forums are booming in hopes that you, the valued consumer will search for used lawnmowers on their site. Buying online is a great way to go, especially if you can find a valued, respected site (with good reviews) that offer shipping, some possible warranties and other goodies for your purchase and trust. Often, sites will list the mower, along with pictures so that you may ‘virtually’ test it.