Buying Advice Need Advice On How To & What To Mow This With

[MetroHick]

New member. First post. Hoping I'm in the right forum. If not, my apologies, let me know and I'll move thread.

Moved back to the family property in 2003 and built our dream home. Beautiful views, but that comes at a price. Hills!!! Almost the entire property is sloped. What I should have is a compact tractor. I don't need one though. I'm done with improvements for the most part and just really need a mower. plus, I don't like the cut quality of a full tractor and they are too big for a lot of what I mow.

Just after moving here, I bought a 2003 John Deere 145. That worked really well, but all I was mowing was the top of the property that is relatively flat. As soon as I was done with the house (2008), I started mowing the entire 2 acres. That's when my John Deere started breaking regularly. It's just too much work for a lawn tractor. In addition to breaking down, it's extremely difficult to mow in the winter. The wheels slip and it won't climb the hill. I can side-hill, but that adds a degree of danger I'm not comfortable with all the time. Especially in the winter.

After 7 years, the repairs to the tractor were more than it was worth, so I returned to John Deere, showed them what I was mowing and they were amazed that it lasted as long as it did. The tractors they were recommending were $10k plus. I wasn't willing to spend that to mow a field and I'm still not. I bought the newer, more powerful D160 thinking that the old one lasted 11 years and if all I have to do is invest a few thousand every 11 years, so be it.

D160 runs great, handles great and mows much better than my old 145. I solved the problem of slipping by adding some Terra Grip tire chains. Worked AWESOME. I was in heaven. About 2 months ago, I noticed that it was getting really slow climbing the hills and my first thought was the tranny is shot because of the Terra Grips. I removed them for summer mowing and it has gotten worse with every mow until it just stopped climbing all together. Pedal to the metal and it just sits there.

Took it to John Deere, they said it wasn't the tranny and charged me $580 to replace the belt and all the pulleys. Thought I had dodged a bullet. First mow .... same problem. Has to be the tranny. I've looked around and found that I can rebuild the K46 for a reasonable amount of money. Through this site, I found the upgrade kit. Rather than mess with it, what I'd prefer is to get something a bit more suitable for what I'm mowing.

There's a picture below of the biggest part. Not the toughest, but the largest hill I have to mow. It's pretty steep. I have the seat switch jumped so that I can lean when side hilling. In 14 years, I've never even come close to tipping, though, it is always a possibility. What I'd like is some recommendations and/or validation to some of the tractors I'm considering.

I know a Zero Turn won't work because of the hills, but I'm curious if the ZTR's with steering wheels will work???? Below are some of the tractor's I'm considering:

Z-FORCE SX 48 KW - CubCadet - Z-Force(R) SX 48 KW

PRO Z 148S EFI - CubCadet - PRO Z 148S EFI

TimeCutter SWX5050 - https://www.torodealer.com/en-US/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=TimeCutter-SWX5050-74798(Toro)

I've heard bad things about Cub Cadet reliability. The pro Z is at the very top of my price range. I just mow. I'm not spending $7k on just a mower. I've considered a standing model, but those can get expensive as well. Plus ... you can't hold a beer while mowing on a standing model.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mcfarmall]

A piece of equipment that can handle your terrain and give the exquisite cut quality that you demand will cost some $$$$. Either pony it up or settle for a less than country club look.

 

[Gary Fowler]

A mower that will handle that terrain day in and day out is going to cost you over $6000. A mower similar to my Ferris IS700Z zero turn with Hydrogear 3400 drive motors is the least you will get by with on that property. I have hills that I mow sideways and it will mow true as long as the wheels maintain traction without sliding. Most zero turns don't recommend sideway hill mowing over 8 % grade but with my Ferris I can mow a 20 degree slope easily and regularly mow my pond dam in places that are 45 degrees for short distances.

Any mower you get whether tractor type or zero turn needs to have a commercial grade hydrodrive unit of at minimum a 3400 series. Anything less and you will be replacing them frequently. A blown cheapy transaxle will cost $1500 to replace (no fixing them) and at every couple of years, that adds up to a good commercial unit pretty fast.
It is just as the old mechanic says: You can pay me now or pay me later. As you have discovered from John Deere, a good heavy duty 5series lawn tractor is going to be around $8K.

 

[BigBoyToys]

Unfortunately ZTs have issues on steeper slopes. Plenty of articles in the forums...http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/general-lawn-garden/212016-zero-turn-mowers-hills.html
The best solution is a ZT with a front deck...however those are costly. You might want to look at a used SCUT with 4WD with an underbelly deck.
The ZTs are fast and do an awesome job...unfortunately I don't have any significant hills to deal with so I can't speak first hand to that.

 

[Grandad4]

Using equipment designed for generally level terrain on hillside property is an obvious mismatch with consequences for reliability, productivity and safety. There are options regarding equipment suitable for such work, generally they involve greater expense, but would last longer, perform the work more safely, and might even take less time. I expect most would advise you to choose the proper equipment, but it's your place, your dough, your time and your hiney riding on whatever you own.

 

[dodge man]

This isn't what you want to hear, but you need a small 4 wheel drive tractor, usually called a SCUT. A very high quality mower would also work, such as a Kubota F series, but they are really big buck. I'd say the links you posted aren't any better than what you have. Look for a small used tractor with a mid mount mower, you can get them with a 60" deck. I think you might also surprise your self on how often you would use an end loader.

I went through the same thing, beating up a cheaper riding mower, than beating up a better riding mower, than I bought a small tractor. I have zero regrets and it's worth every penny.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I've used a rear finish mower hooked to a tractor for over 24 years. In that time frame I have spent very little money on repairs to either the tractor or mower. Started out with a grey market Yanmar YM 1700, upgraded to a New Holland 1720, and now run a utility sized tractor with a 6 foot mower. With that much area I would recommend a CUT and RFM. Your slopes are no more severe than what I have been mowing.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Double post

 

[MetroHick]

Great feedback so far. Most of you are right. not saying anything I don't know. Here's a couple points of clarification:

1) If I were to buy a SCUT, I'd still need to keep my John Deere and repair it to mow the top of the property. Too tight. Landscaped to allow 48" mower max. Too many obstacles to mow with anything much bigger than a ZTR or rider.

2) 48" deck is about as big as I'd want. Anything larger will scalp uneven parts. You can get 48" decks with SCUTs, but the turning radius is pretty poor on those machines.

3) Father-in-law lives 3 miles away. Has a SCUT that he rarely uses. I'm welcome to it. I've mowed with it. Scalps too badly. Too big. Leaves way too much trimming to be done.

SCUT will cost me $12k to $18k new. I'd use about 15% of that machines ability and still need to own a garden tractor. SCUT is out of the question. Not just because of cost, but it just won't work well with my property.

I JUST want to mow. I have no problem buying a commercial mower, but I need something that will work on that hill. Looks to me like that, maybe even, the high end residential mowers might be out. They have dual 2800 trans and ... I guess that won't handle it?

Any thoughts on the Cub Cadet PRO Z 148S? I'll go check that forum too.

 

[ericm979]

I can't recommend a mower but I have to ask what kind of grass that is and if you water it. It's far nicer than my lawn.