Tractor Sizing Is a John Deere 3320 too big for mowing a nice lawn

[meburdick]

I have a 2520 that weighs in the 1800-1900 pound range. I've filled the rears, so add another 700-ish pounds (I believe). I also tend to have my ballast box on, and the loader (no implement) too, when I mow.

The 3320 has a weight of about 2900 pounds. Add the weight of the filled rears, leave off a ballast box / loader while mowing, and you're probably only slightly heavier than my machine.

I see no issues with mowing with that much weight. One thing I am religiously careful about is to NOT drive over the septic tank for any reason. I mow that 100 square foot area by hand every time.

My lawn comes out beautiful. The only time I even see tire tracks is in the early spring if I'm moving firewood on pallets.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I've been using a 3320 with 72' 7-iron since 2008 and two years before that a Lawn Tractor. While the lawn look very good and very flat from a bit of distance it was a bit of a bumpy ride on the lawn tractor. There may have been a slight amount of soil compaction from getting on too early in the spring, but overall, I don't think there has been much deterioration from using the 3320. First three years I rarely took the FEL / BH off so overall weight would have been in 5,000# range.

The lawn is not a golf green and I was prepared to suffer some damage for the sake of other benefits from the larger series tractor.

No regrets from my choice. I liken the 3x20's to a Swiss Army Knife - not necessarily perfect for anything but really great for a lot of things.

 

[meburdick]

... 72' 7-iron ...

<sarcasm>Now THAT'S a big mowing deck!</sarcasm>



Even at what you meant (72"), it's still a big deck. I would imagine it leaves very smoothly cut lawn that looks nice.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

I'm on the other side of the advise given. I feel the 3320 is too heavy for a nice lawn. My lawn is like a fairway and I work very hard to keep it that way. I do not drive my 3320 with r4's and loaded rear on it at all. It makes depressions and compacts the soil. Now with turf tires I may feel different but for my lawn it's a no go. For a field or pasture I would feel fine using it.

Matt

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I agree. If my lawn were a fairway or golf green, I probably would not drive the 3320 on it either. But, on the other hand, I wouldn't call my lawn a field / pasture either.

 

[ORCM]

I have a 2320 thats in the shop, so the dealer gave me a 3520 loaner with a finsh mower. The 3520 has R4's and I had no issues mowing my lawn. Of course it was dry for the most part, and I know from using my 2320 that it will even rut the ground up if there is a really wet spot. I'm thinking of upgrading, but I think I would get the R3 (Turfs).

Another note.. If you use the bigger tractors to mow, you need to core aerate your lawn.

 

[meburdick]

I have a 2320 thats in the shop, so the dealer gave me a 3520 loaner with a finsh mower. The 3520 has R4's and I had no issues mowing my lawn. Of course it was dry for the most part, and I know from using my 2320 that it will even rut the ground up if there is a really wet spot. I'm thinking of upgrading, but I think I would get the R3 (Turfs).

I went with Turfs on my 2520 after debating heavily between those and R4s. My primary reasons for even considering the 4s were around traction in the snow and not wanting to put chains on the 3s. I've had zero issues with the 3s on snow (level land, one low snowfall winter so far) in 2WD because I had them filled and keep the ballast box on.

The 4s will definitely tear up your lawn when the ground is wet at all or if you turn and sort of moderate to tight turn.

Another note.. If you use the bigger tractors to mow, you need to core aerate your lawn.

I'm curious as to why you make this claim. While I understand that something like my 2520 weighs a LOT more than my previous LT (or even a larger GT), it isn't the pure weight that packs the ground. Since my tractor has MUCH wider tires, that weight is distributed over a much larger area. So, the actual "pressure" on the ground may not be higher at all.

 

[jenkinsph]

I think the 3320 is a good size for reworking lawn areas, tilling, smoothing, seeding and rolling. Once the grass is up and mowing is the major job left I would go for a lawn tractor, garden tractor or ztr mower.

If you go with the 3320 and unload the rear tires, remove fel or front weights the turf tires should do an okay job without much damage. I would figure out a way to keep the 345 to use instead imo. Nothing wrong with buying a larger tractor if you want it.

I do alot of lawn repair work, sometimes I have to drive the larger tractors across nice areas to reach the places needing to be fixed. I solved this problem by buying the x749 garden tractor, it does this repair work without the need for the larger heavier tractors in most cases. Just my opinion but I don't think a fel is needed to maintain a nice lawn and while a fel is handy to have the extra ballast needed is detrimental for mowing. Mowing is best done with the lightest configuration you can get.

 

[LD1]

I saw another poster mention it but I would say the BIGGEST factor is going to be size of the lawn. I know that may sound like it doesnt make sense, so let me explain.

If you have a VERY small lawn and/or tons of obsticals to mow around, you are going to be turning, backing up, and driving over same areas multiple times. That will leave a lawn that just doesnt look right and will never look well striped.

OTOH, if it is large and wide open with alot of long runs, it will look much better. Basically, if you are spending more time manuvering than straight out mowing, its going to look bad.

And sure, the tractor is a good bit heavier than a conventional mower, but keep in mind that the added weight is also spread out over much larger tires too. The the imprint might not be much worse than a regular old mower.

 

[ORCM]

I went with Turfs on my 2520 after debating heavily between those and R4s. My primary reasons for even considering the 4s were around traction in the snow and not wanting to put chains on the 3s. I've had zero issues with the 3s on snow (level land, one low snowfall winter so far) in 2WD because I had them filled and keep the ballast box on.

The 4s will definitely tear up your lawn when the ground is wet at all or if you turn and sort of moderate to tight turn.



I'm curious as to why you make this claim. While I understand that something like my 2520 weighs a LOT more than my previous LT (or even a larger GT), it isn't the pure weight that packs the ground. Since my tractor has MUCH wider tires, that weight is distributed over a much larger area. So, the actual "pressure" on the ground may not be higher at all.

I went from a GT to a 2320 with R4's, and there was a huge difference in compaction.