How to Choose a Lawn / Garden Tractor — Classification

Richard L. Parish, PhD, PE

Many homeowners with larger lawns want to sit down while mowing. They have many choices, ranging from small riding lawnmowers to small farm tractors, with a correspondingly wide range of prices. What type of riding mower or tractor does a homeowner need? This series of articles will discuss many of the features of these machines and provide some guidance on selecting the proper machine for a given purpose.

The first choice is the category of riding mower or tractor needed. These machines fall into a standard classification system that has been established by the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers (ASABE). Although the terminology may be slightly different from one company to another, these general categories are used by most manufacturers and dealers. If you understand this classification system when shopping for a machine, you can speak the same language as the dealers, and can better compare machines of different brands.

Riding lawn mowers: (ASABE: "ride-on lawn mower") are the smallest machines. These little machines are designed to do nothing but mow grass. They are not designed to accommodate other implements. Many mowers in this class have rear engines, but some look like a small tractor with the engine in the front. Most riding lawn mowers are no wider than about 38 inches. The mower deck is not detachable.

Lawn tractors: (ASABE: "lawn ride-on tractor") are the next step up. These machines are somewhat larger and more powerful. They are designed primarily for mowing, but will accommodate a limited number of other implements such as lawn carts, sweepers, and snow blowers. They may have a lift linkage for the implements. Mowing width is typically 36-48 inches. The mower deck may or may not be readily detachable.

Lawn and garden tractors: (ASABE: "lawn and garden ride-on tractors") generally have larger engines, bigger tires, and all implements, including the mower deck, are readily removable from the tractor. They are designed for general purpose lawn and garden work, but their primary purpose is lawn mowing. Tractors in this class must provide a means of lifting an implement, but it may be a manual lift. Implements suitable for use with this class, in addition to center-mounted mower decks, include plows, tillers, cultivators, sweepers, dozer blades, and snow blowers. Mower decks up to 54 inches are usually available.

Garden tractors: (ASABE: "garden ride-on tractors") are designed for general purpose garden work. They generally have larger tires than lawn and garden tractors, and may or may not have more power. They are designed to supply power for garden implements and will handle such tools as a plow, cultivator, rotary tiller, snow thrower, sweeper, or dozer blade. The tractor must have a lift system for implements, but it can be manual. Most tractors in this class are sold with a center-mounted mower deck, but the mowers are optional, not a part of the tractor, and are readily detachable. In this class, the tractor may have bar-tread (tractor) tires or turf tires. Mower deck width may be as much as 60 inches.

Compact utility tractor: (also called a "compact tractor" or a "grounds maintenance tractor") is the final step up and is aimed at homeowners with a small acreage. These tractors usually have water-cooled diesel engines. They may have 4-wheel drive. They may have bar-tread tires (ag or industrial) or turf tires. Mower deck width is generally 48 to 72 inches. Mowers may be center-mounted or rear-mounted. Mowers are optional, and tractors may be sold without mowers. These tractors have a standard power-take-off (PTO) at the rear, and possibly another at the front or center. They have a power lift for implements. They accept a wide range of implements, including small farm implements, front-end loaders, and backhoes. The smaller tractors in this class are sold primarily for lawn mowing; the larger tractors in this class merge into the farm tractor category.

Subcompact tractor: is an additional category between garden tractors and compact utility tractors that is used by some companies. Subcompact tractors are about the size (power and dimensions) of garden tractors, but are built like compact utility tractors with water-cooled diesel engines, PTOs, 3-point hitches, remote hydraulics, and heavy construction.

As you would expect, prices increase as you go from one class to the next.

Copyright LSU AgCenter, used by permission.