Tractor Sizing Looking for tractor suggestions

[jdengineering]

Hi all, I just found this forum and am looking for suggestions. I have been mowing my current yard for about a year now with a gt235 48" deck. The lot consist of about 1/2 acre "main" yard and 2/3 acre "back" yard. Main yard is pretty much level established grass with about 10 small tress. Back yard is a huge hill, close to 1:1 slope, dropping 30-40 feet before leveling out on the bottom. Right now it takes me about 30-45 minutes to mow the main yard and two hours to mow the back yard (every two weeks). Half the time the gt235 is sliding down the hill (not very fun). A neighbor down the road actually rolled a mower down the same hill last year, he's okay by the way.

I am looking to get a new mower sometime this year and would like some suggestions. I have considered everything from a x500 to a 2305. There are some 4-6" washes in the hill side and light landscaping I could use a FEL for, but it is somewhat hard to justify. I actually work for Deere (not Ag and Turf) so I have a pretty big incentive to go new John Deere. What's your thoughts?

 

[Edward. S]

:welcome:! From what I'm reading from you should be getting something like a 2520 or something bigger than a 2305. I think it would be better to mow with better power to reduce slippage in the back.

 

[om21braz]

IMHO, I'd first do some landscaping to remove to tough hillside mowing all together if possible. Then look at mowers. Unless you have other needs for a bigger machine, you may come out better all-around - and cheaper.

 

[Carl in CT]

I agree that some landscaping would be a good idea to eliminate that difficult hill mowing. Some low growing blue star junipers might be good since they will fill in and cover a large area over time but not turn into trees or shrubs that need to be maintained. Still, that's a lot of junipers for 2/3 acre.

Another option is to get a good 48" or larger walk behind mower. When I was landscaping I used John Deere walkers for years with a one wheel sulky. When on flatter ground I could ride on the seat and when a hill came up I could quickly hop off and walk next to the seat, then hop back on without even slowing down. If it was a large hill it took all of 30 seconds to pop the sulky off while I did the hill, the pop it back on and get back to the flatter areas.

The one wheel sulky was smaller and easier to walk next to than the bigger 2 wheel sulkies, you'd probably have to stop and take those off to walk behind the machine which you would probably do anyway on your large hill. It's hard to find the one wheel sulkies now but the two wheel ones are around and the stand on ones are everywhere. I think the one wheel sulkies kind of went away because if you are not careful they can be a little tricky as they do tip slightly from side to side so someone probably fell off one and sued somebody.

Check out the John Deere, Skag, Ferris walk behind mowers with a sulky. There are other good brands too, just look around. There's always plenty of really good used ones out there too for good prices. New ones are not cheap but they are cheaper than a compact tractor and they can do hills no riding mower can do and they do a nice job mowing.

 

[r8nger]

748 loaded tires, possible loader( light work) very efficient when it comes to fuel

 

[Carl in CT]

Far be it from me to discourage anyone from getting equipment that might be overkill (it is fun after all and I'm guilty of it too) but if you are just looking to mow it is hard justify the cost of a compact (CUT) or subcompact (SCUT) tractor, or even a new garden tractor which will start at $6k and quickly go up from there. If the one walker with sulky doesn't appeal to you maybe consider getting two pieces of equipment that are suited for your two very different mowing needs.

Get yourself a nice comfortable riding mower for your flat areas and a new or slightly used walker for the hill. You would not need to spend a lot on a good rider for your small flat lawn, $3-$4 would be more than enough for a nice new lawn tractor that could still pull a cart around or even take a snow blower if necessary. A good used walker would cost under $2k. So for the price of one big mower that still might not handle the hill all that well you can get two machines that are suited for what you need.

I don't own a SCUT or CUT, so I don't know how well they handle hills and I don't know how good of a cut they have compared to a good lawn mower. I have a 1958 Massey Fergusson tractor/loader/backhoe and there's no way I'd take that thing anywhere near your hill but that's not the same as a modern CUT. I'm just saying that if your hill is so steep that someone actually rolled their mower down it I have to question if any sort of rider is the best thing.

 

[megaboz]

My suggestion, would be a riding mower with 4wd. A 2305 or bigger would seem to be overkill for an acre of ground unless you have bigger plans in the future.

 

[beenthere]

I wouldn't go bigger as suggested. The weight to size just isn't there. I mow steep hillside with a 445 and 425 AWS Deere and was amazed how much better the AWS is on that hillside. Sticks like glue with fluid in the rear tires. Also is small enough that riding the high side fender helps with stability (not possible with the suggested 2305 size IMO ).
The lawn tractor you have with weight in the tires will help, and tire chains will also help if traction is a problem. Not good to be sliding out of control down a hill and should be avoided at all costs. When sliding, one wheel is rolling forward and the other backward making control near impossible. So my opinion is small and heavy.

 

[dmay]

A new zero turn mower might give you better traction and allow you to mow at a faster speed. I'd say ask to borrow one for the weekend and give it a try.

 

[om21braz]

A new zero turn mower might give you better traction and allow you to mow at a faster speed. I'd say ask to borrow one for the weekend and give it a try.

Not trying to be a Killjoy, but the con to the zero turn is that when you do lose traction - you also lose the ability to steer.