60" V/S 72" cut, how big is to big?

[4wheelfurry]

I have two places that I keep up, a 6 acre place and a 3 acre place. I keep them mowed with a tractor (60" mower) and small (42") riding mower, I use the tractor and riding mower on the 6 and for the 3 acs I use just my small riding mower. The larger yard has several trees throuout and my smaller yard has only a few.. My question is what deck would serve me better? Without a doubt I'm going with a ZD 331

Every time I mow my large yard I wish I had a larger deck but when I mow my smaller place the 42" is almost rite for it, a 60" would prob be perfect and I feel a 72" will be a bit to big for a 3 acre yard. Does anyone use a 72" for small yards? I mainly don't want to hinder myself mowing the 3 acres but I also want to maximize my 6 acs yard at the same time...

[grossgary]

if you plan on keeping the property awhile - maybe it would benefit you to prepare the smaller property to use the bigger mower on. that's what i'm doing now, making my property as easy to mow with my 60" mower as possible. cutting down trees, landscaping, etc. it's so nice being able to mow fast and be done with it. that's why i got this big tractor anyway!

another option, depending on the terrain maybe mowing it all with a 72" and having a weed eater, push mower, walk behind, or small rider would be better suited than trying to mow the entire 3 acres with a small mower.

good luck!

[sixdogs]

I found I needed two mowers. I have a belly mount 72" B7800 for mowing around stuff and a pull-type 84" for the big areas. I can and often do mow totally with the six ft.
I found one mower too limiting. The pull-type is hard to cut around things and the belly mount takes longer than I would like. I mow 3 acres.
My vote is keep two; the smaller for the tight areas and eht other for the wide open spaces. You could always sell the small one at a later date if you wanted.
Just my two cents.

[dangerdoc]

if you plan on keeping the property awhile - maybe it would benefit you to prepare the smaller property to use the bigger mower on. that's what i'm doing now, making my property as easy to mow with my 60" mower as possible. cutting down trees, landscaping, etc. it's so nice being able to mow fast and be done with it. that's why i got this big tractor anyway!

another option, depending on the terrain maybe mowing it all with a 72" and having a weed eater, push mower, walk behind, or small rider would be better suited than trying to mow the entire 3 acres with a small mower.

good luck!

My theory is mow everything you can reach with the mower you have and roundup the rest. I haven't used a weed eater in years, except for one spot next to the house where round up has been forbidden by the boss.

[Lockport]

...I feel a 72" will be a bit to big for a 3 acre yard. Does anyone use a 72" for small yards? I mainly don't want to hinder myself mowing the 3 acres but I also want to maximize my 6 acs yard at the same time...

I was driving through Alabama horse country once and passed a huge estate off the highway and they had a grounds keeper cutting their two acre front lawn on a big Massey Compact with at least a 72" and I thought as flat as that is it can't be doing an efficient job over the rolls and immediately something I saw at Northern Tools crossed my mind. A great big array of Gang Mowers! There cheap, fold up for transport, and I think you can get them as wide as you can pull. What is truly attractive of them, however, is that unlike a MMM, thy can follow the countours of the terrain like a lot of groundskeepers each with an old fashioned, non powered, individual push mower.

Here's one! Get outta here! 136" cutting width!

[ka41]

I would stay with the 60". I had the a ZD28 with the 72" and did not like the cut at all. Very unlevel cut. If you had a perfectly level yard it would be ok. I just think the 72" is a bit much for a zero turn for a yard. Football fields, baseball fields, soccer fields, etc would be fine.

[stimpee]

I know it is not a ZTR, but I have a ground contact 72" MMM on my B3030 and it gives what I consider to be an excellent cut. 20% less time to cut than a 60" also, which works well for my normal 3acres grass cutting, and even better for the occasional 5 acres of pasture to mow.

Depends on the obstacles, etc in the small yard I would think.

[MarkLeininger]

You could get a 60" trail mower and pull it offset behind your 60" mower when you do the 6 acres, leave it off when you do the 3 acres. That would give you almost a 10' cutting width. You could also pull it with your lawn tractor, I did that for years before I had a tractor. Here's a swisher that's a little bigger, but same idea:

Swisher Finishing Trailmower — 66in. Cutting Width, 20 HP, Model# T2066 | Trail Mowers | Northern Tool + Equipment

Only problem is it's one more hungry mouth to feed and requires maintenance.

[4wheelfurry]

another option, depending on the terrain maybe mowing it all with a 72" and having a weed eater, push mower, walk behind, or small rider would be better suited than trying to mow the entire 3 acres with a small mower.

I did not meantion terrain but being way down south (Louisiana) both yards are flat, my 6 ace place has one hill going into a holler but it slopes flat. I consider both places flat and quite smoothe.. My original plans were to sell my two 42" riding mowers but I think I have decided to get the 72" cut and keep one small mower at the 3 ace place and IF I need it it will be there. Thanks guys for imput!