Never get between a man and his mower

Butch

Active member

Equipment
Kubota 2410, RC60-24B, FL1000- kubota hydrolic front snow blade- plug aerator
Sep 10, 2009
630
81
28
74
Rising Sun, MD
Let me just say up front... I warned her.

My next door neighbor of 30+ years decided to get her husband something really nice ( $$$$ ) for Father's Day. Knowing he likes a really nice manicured lawn ..... and he'd been talking about getting a new mower and giving his current one to his son.... she began to explore a new mower. ITS GOING TO BE A SURPRISE! She had no idea where to even start until she noticed her house was surrounded orange Botas.
Two B series, one BX, two zero turns she asked me to give her a little assistance in getting one for her Hubby.

Hubby's current mower is a 3yo 25 HP Big Box Store JD lawn tractor with a 54" cut and that is ALL he uses it for... cutting grass.

Their lot size is 0.8 acre... back out the house foot print, raised flower beds and a large pool... Total grass to cut... maybe a scouch over 1/3 acre. I asked her what her budget was ... Around $8000. I seriously suggested a Kubota zero turn. She settled on a Z421 with a dealer installed remote operated grass chute cover for around flower beds. Took her to my local Bota dealer and bought it for her Hubby... remember this is a surprise.

It was delivered on a Friday afternoon and I did as she asked... removed his JD and hid it and replaced it with the 421.

When he got home from work wifey, potting plants, asked him to get the tractor from the shed. I was peeking around the corner of my shop. It was a double door... when he opened the first door he did not even notice the orange mower... when he unlatched the second door... HE SAW IT!!!

That is when the defecation hit the rotary oscillator !!!!!

First words were, "Where is my lawn mower"? (Wifey) "That IS your mower". (Hubby) "NO! NO! NO! Where is my F...&^% lawn mower". This went on for about 30 minutes... he was HOT and not a happy camper. Fast forward 1 hour. He had never been on a zero turn before and he insisted he was going to back the &^*% thing from the shed... 60" door and a 54" deck. Took him a good 20 minutes to figure out how to start it and keeping it running. After getting it stuck sideways in the door (Did I mention that was a brand new shed maybe a month old.) a few times he managed to wiggle it outside. Wifey was the one who put it back in the shed going forward...
I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants!

Lesson Learned... "Never get between a man and his mower"
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
546
83
USA
I've had a Cub Cadet 60" Tank for about 10 years and my wife refuses to run it because she don't like the control arms, she wanted a steering wheel zero turn so I bought her a Cub RZT with a 36" deck for doing the front and back yard (which she said she'd do) and after 24 years of me mowing I was doubtful.

So I have it delivered, she gets on it and fires it up and mows the lawn.

As of today, I can fill it with fuel, grease it (has grease fittings), check and change the oil and filter (Kohler 20 horse engine) but I cannot engage the blades. It's her's and I cannot use it.

Nice mower. acts like a zero turn but has a steering wheel. I mow 7 acres (counting my rental next door) so any and all help is appreciated and believe me, we are mowing between rain storms at least weekly.

Just so happens my Kubota dealer is also a Cub Cadet dealer and he took the RZT on trade for a BX of all things, so I got it pretty cheap (had 75 hours on it), all serviced with new blades and oil change for a grand. I'm happy, she's happy.

Happy wife, happy life.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,306
4,856
113
Sandpoint, ID
That's funny and sad at the same time, some guys just can't adapt / evolve.

A couple years ago my neighbor wanted to help move snow but his little JD was not up to the task, I said hey not a problem if you want to help just use my L, gave him a quick and dirty run down, all he had to do was drop the blade and push snow to the sides and I would use the bobcat to push it off the rest of the way.
I've never seen a man operating a tractor look so...."off his game" he just couldn't figure it out, it was like he was trying to operate the space shuttle.

He made one pass out and back.... and I'm like where is he at???
I head back up the road and there he is trying to run the loader... it was a sight.
He would roll the bucket all the way back, lower it, would fly forward and the bucket would grab a tiny bit float on top then he would spin out, lift it all the way up and then dump the shovel full out, he repeated this over and over... I was laughing so hard, I just turned around and went the other way. :D
 

thedevilyoulove

Member

Equipment
L3901 HST with LA525 FEL, Land Pride RCF2572, pallet forks, 3 pt carry all
Jan 27, 2016
143
7
18
Woodbine, Maryland
He's gonna get mad an curse because he has to cut his grass with a brand new Kubota. First world problems. :rolleyes:
 

Butch

Active member

Equipment
Kubota 2410, RC60-24B, FL1000- kubota hydrolic front snow blade- plug aerator
Sep 10, 2009
630
81
28
74
Rising Sun, MD
Pretty sure that had come up in conversation
 

Muzzy

Member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
B2650HSDC
Feb 13, 2019
274
4
18
WNY
I know what I would be doing with my wife and it's certainly not yelling at her
 

Butch

Active member

Equipment
Kubota 2410, RC60-24B, FL1000- kubota hydrolic front snow blade- plug aerator
Sep 10, 2009
630
81
28
74
Rising Sun, MD
I know what I would be doing with my wife and it's certainly not yelling at her
This whole deal was strange. When she settled on what she wanted she asked me to set it up with the dealership and make an appointment to gitter done. Then she asked me to tag along for technical support. We went in her token Mercedes... I rode shotgun. Second time I have ever sat in a Mercedes and this one was actually moving. Still not impressed. Wait for this... she finished the paperwork and asked if she could see what she bought. Talk about buying sight unseen....
 

Fordtech86

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3200
Aug 7, 2018
4,708
5,478
113
Pineville,LA
Reminds me of a dealer a worked at in 2004, had a couple come in that had started a business, was a rags to riches story (not demeaning them in anyway,happy for them). But anyways they had a pocket full of money and came in and ordered a ford gt when they first built them again. Put the money down,ordered it and waited for it to come in. It shows up and they come in to pick it up. Car is only built with a manual transmission, neither one knew how to drive one. Had to teach them how to drive a $250,000 car in the parking lot, worst part about it is letting them leave in a car that can go about 200 mph and they had an hrs worth of learning how to even get it to move
 

lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
4,807
1,575
113
Mid, South, USA
Reminds me...good friend of mine's daughter was about to turn 16 in 2008. He's a car nut, she is too, well somewhat. He come into some money and decided that he's gonna surprise her with a new Mustang. Says hop in the truck and lets run up to the dealer. He bought a brand new '08 Shelby GT500 for her, and I got to drive it home (about 110 miles) because he was scared that she might see him driving it and that'd give it away. So I drove it to a storage unit that I owned at the time, backed it into the stall, shut the door, he dropped me off and then went home. A couple weeks goes by and I ran into him at the drag strip. Asked him how the daughters' gift went.

Well she loved it. My goodness I was about to sport wood just driving it home at the speed limit. Anyway, that afternoon she drove it home, parked it in the garage, handed him the keys and said "daddy I hate that car".

It still sits in the garage. Has about 4000 miles on it the last time I saw it in March '19. She can't / won't drive a manual transmission. She can, but doesn't like to, says it gives her the creeps.

In '04 a guy walks into the motorcycle dealer I was working at and wants the fastest bike we had in stock. Sure. Show us the money and we'll sell it. Guy had cash, while the salesman and customer were doing paperwork I was doing PDI. After PDI I parked it back on the showroom, headed to lunch. Came back from lunch....I was in my F150 Lightning that I had just bought. Backed into a parking spot, sat there & enjoyed the a/c. I ain't never had a vehicle before that had working a/c so that was NICE. So guy bought the bike and a helmet, goes outside, hops on the WRONG side (right side), fires it up, and it's on the limiter in under a second. Up goes the side stand, kick it in gear. Unfortunately he didn't realize that it had a clutch lever. Bike takes off out from under him, he lays on the ground for a second, then tries to catch the bike. Too late. Sucker ran right into the side of my truck, fell over, destroyed the left front fender of my truck, bumper cover, headlight, fog light, etc, then got the tank, all the left side plastic and a bunch of other stuff on his bike. Mad? Naw. Furious. If the guy wasn't already hurt, I was fixing to hurt him a little more but the guy was so distraught that I ain't sure he knew which end was up or down, thus a butt whoopin wasn't going to learn him anything. LUCKILY he had insured everything, they fixed my truck, fixed the bike, and he promptly sold the bike to a mexican who still owns/rides it.
 
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wisc6000

Member

Equipment
B6000
Nov 20, 2011
67
3
8
Wisconsin under duress
Similar stories as Lug.
I managed a bike shop for 13 years and saw my share of I know whuddumdoin situations.

A nice young couple had 125's and they did well on them. She had a good sense of situational awareness and physical coordination. He on the other hand was a highly educated book smart nerd.

They traded in the little buck n a quarters for 500's. I gave them the rundown and she was good to go and drove away perfectly. Mr. big ego not wanting to be outdone by his wife blew off the instructions, hopped on and fired it up.

A wheelie for about 30 feet, launching it to the moon and then gravity took over. He was all garfed up. I had one of my guys give him a ride home while I rolled it back to the shop for the $1000 in repairs.