Zero Turn or John Deere X749

[FRIZ]

Some of you guys are recommending Zero Turn from Exmark and/or John Deere and/or Kubota? Why? Are they faster and more efficient than John Deere X749 Tractor with 4 wheel drive and 4 wheel steering, which would be great for mowing around the house and pond with all those trees?

Please continue educating me.
Thank you.
Regards,
FRIZ

 

[deereguy]

Z Mower- unless its damp/wet/hilly and any remote chance of possibility getting stuck, then the X749.

 

[FRIZ]

Z Mower- unless its damp/wet/hilly and any remote chance of possibility getting stuck, then the X749.

Thank you,
Regards,
FRIZ

 

[Diamondpilot]

Look at Ferris ZTR's. You will be impressed. The 4 wheel steering JD is a fad tractor. Remember when GM had the 4 wheel steering trucks, they lasted about 1 year for a reason. Maintenance pigs.

Chirs

 

[EddieWalker]

I just went through the Zero Turn education this past summer, and after reading everything I coudl find, looking at what was being used, and visiting with dealers and looking at them first hand, I bought a Scag. None of the other brands impressed me as like the Scag did.

I have a six foot rotary cutter that does a great job of taming the jungle. It will take out small trees and there is not tangle or growth too heavy or thick for it. I sometimes have to slow down to a crawl, but it will always cut what I can drive over. It't not pretty, but it's not supposed to.

I also have a 7ft finish mower that does a very nice job of mowing allot of land fairly quickly. I use it after my rotary cutter. It cleans up the mess and makes it all pretty. It only cuts down to about two inches, but if you had smoother land, it would cut even lower.

For those areas that you really want to look perfect, the Zero Turn is just amazing. I use it once a week and after the second cut, I could really see a huge difference. The first cut left the grass a little brown from never having been cut so short, but it recovered and now it's very impressive. I can mow the same are that I could with my finish mower, but two to three times faster once it's been cut the first time.

Eddie

 

[Gittyup]

Look at Ferris ZTR's. You will be impressed. The 4 wheel steering JD is a fad tractor. Remember when GM had the 4 wheel steering trucks, they lasted about 1 year for a reason. Maintenance pigs.

Chirs

This statement about 4 wheeling steering is just plain wrong. I have a JD425 AWS. It's 15 years old, 850 hours. Only maintenance on the AWS is to grease the 3 zerks on the rear steering system. Works superbly and is actually quite simple: 2 u-joints and a center pivot arm. I've spent a grand total of $75 on repairs on this tractor, and that was for a new ignition module that has nothing to do with the steering. JD has been making them for more than 15 years. That's some long-running fad!

What it really boils down to is a ZTR is faster if your ground is smooth enough to take advantage of it, and you don't have steep terrain to deal with. A ZTR turns tighter. But in practice not by much for most users chores that involve trimming around flower beds, trees, and posts. The X749 gives you a tractor that can do other things besides mow: plow, tow, dig, lift, log splitter, etc. The ZTR is hard pressed to do these things. So if you have tons of smooth grass to cut and that's all you want to do, then a ZTR is a good fit. But, otherwise the tractor is more versatile. To me, the real issues with JD AWS tractors are that you cannot put the JD loader on tractors that have it, and it lowers your ground clearance significantly. But, the x749 AWS is a very fast mower, and still can do other things too. I mow 2 acres with a 54" deck, with 50 or more obstacles to mow around in about 1.5 hours. And I seldom need to trim afterward, just a small amount about once per month in tight corners where no deck mower can ever get at.

I also have a 2002 GMC all-wheel steer. Works just fine. GM made them from 2001 - 2005, I believe. They quit installing them because of cost vs. demand. Few could justify the $3000 price tag. But, I love it for parking and for towing: unbelievable turning radius for a big truck. GM did have some troubles with rear differentials married to the 4ws rear ends. But these problems really weren't related to the 4ws mechanisms.

 

[WH401]

I'd go with the zero turn, as long as there aren't place where you will get stuck frequently or you have steep hills to deal with. For the past couple of months I had been debating whether to just replace my dedicated mowing machine or buy a new tractor, so I could have everything in one. If I got just a new mowing machine it was definately going to be a zero turn, nothing cuts grass faster or nicer IMO. But being that I have 11 acres of land and about a 1/4 mile driveway to maintain, just getting a zero wouldn't let me properly maintain all of the property. Now I already have a IH340 with a FEL but at the moment, it's always down at my grandfathers. I felt I needed to just buy a new tractor with an FEL so I wasn't bothered in having to lug one back and forth. I would have rather had just gotten a new zero to cut the grass with as it's much faster and I'm very paticular about how the grass gets cut, but your needs make you decision. I kinda had to let the particularness go with the 3320 and a rear finish mower. Don't get me wrong, it cuts the grass nice and leaves a great finish, but it just doesn't have the precision of a zero turn as far as moment. So far I am happy that I got the 3320 instead of a zero turn. Though if I find a zero turn thats in good used condition & also pretty cheap, I might jump on it. It also worked out well that I got the 3320 because the 340 just started firing on 2 cylinders instead of all 4, possibly stuck valves or worse. Since it's already down at the moment, were just going to go ahead and seperate the engine from the trans and replace the clutch & etc. It's a big job but atleast my only FEL isn't out of commission.

Also when I was looking at zero turns, the only brand that impressed me was Scag. That's what the county government uses around here as well as a few of my friends. From what I have also heard they are very stable in a side slant on a hill. Go check them out.

 

[wallace]

I have some killer deals on some left over Exmarks and Bobcats

 

[FRIZ]

Thank you all for the education. Please keep it coming.

Regards,
FRIZ

 

[Gittyup]

Keep in mind that the X749 and many others are hydrostatic. So, they too can speed up and slow down instantly. Though, not nearly as fast as a ZTR.

I've read much about ZTR's not working so well on hills. And then I read that some work quite well. And it is true that most commercial operators go that way. But I've also noticed that on steep hills, that I could easily do with my tractor, that the commercial guys are using big walk behinds. It probably depends on the quality and weight of the ZTR and how well distributed the weight is whether it would work for you. The problem I've always had with them is that cutting grass is all they can do for the most part. You can get other attachments for them. But are they effective and how much do they cost compared to less specialized attachments say for a subcut?