Zero turn and hills

[TankAbbott70]

Can some of the ZTR pros chime in on whether they think this hill is to steep to mow with a Zero Turn. I am looking at a residential ZTR, like the 50inch Toro timecutter among a few other models. I have 3/4 of an acre so I don't need some commercial monster but would prefer to have ZTR over a tractor. Any insight is much appreciated! Picture of my hill below.

 

[roadhunter]

You should be fine. I don't see that being a problem.

 

[Gary Fowler]

You could mow that up and down or sideways and not have a problem as long as the grass is dry. On wet grass, traction on the light residential mowers might be a problem. I mow 20 and 30 degree slopes with my Craftsman 6000 all the time but I did have to get rid of the turf tires and put on some bar lug (like R1 Tractor tires) tires. Now it goes up hill, down hill, thru mud and water without an issue as long as it doesn't high center, it keeps on chugging. I used to get stuck 2 or 3 times every time I mowed as I would usually get too close to a wet spot and it would start spinning and just slide right down hill into a ditch or pond or just slick over the tire and there I would be, not so with the bar lug tires.

 

[Gary Fowler]

On my Ferris IS700Z the turf tires have enough traction and weight so that they pull up a sharp 20-30 degree slope easily but it weighs (850#)about twice what my Craftsman weighs .

 

[amaxwell]

Can some of the ZTR pros chime in on whether they think this hill is to steep to mow with a Zero Turn. I am looking at a residential ZTR, like the 50inch Toro timecutter among a few other models. I have 3/4 of an acre so I don't need some commercial monster but would prefer to have ZTR over a tractor. Any insight is much appreciated! Picture of my hill below.

View attachment 384850

It's kind of hard to judge from a picture ,but I think you will be fine as long as you mow when the grass is dry. I would urge you to consider a 48" commercial over the residential ,because the pumps and wheel motors are much stronger and the hill will add to the stress on these parts. I agree a that zero turn would be much more stable on the hill , than a tractor type. Toro, Exmark ,Skag ,and Hustler are all good brands to consider as long as you have a good dealer close . I have had a small commercial Exmark for over 13 trouble free years , the 14th year I replaced 2 belts and 2 spindles and this year a coil , but I mow a much larger area than 3/4 of an acre.

 

[IXLR8]

A non issue if the grass is dry, I mow steeper with my JD 727a Z-turn. If the grass is wet, I would go up and down rather than across.

 

[nc redneck]

A O turn will mow that easily. O turns are no comparison to a 4 wheel drive tractor. I run a JD 757 commercial O turn and Kubota BX 2200 weekly. BX will mow hills that JD can not even think about. JD is faster on flat open land.

 

[Bird]

I currently own my second Toro Timecutter. I have the smallest one they make because I needed one that would go through 4' gates. The earlier one was too large for that. So far, I've been very happy with Toro ZTRs, but they definitely have one thing in common; very poor traction on slopes and/or damp grass. I can't really tell from your photo, but I think the other guys were right when they said you'll have no problem when the grass is dry. And you probably would have no problem mowing across the slope when it's damp, but I doubt that you could mow up that hill if the grass should be wet.

 

[J_J]

Can some of the ZTR pros chime in on whether they think this hill is to steep to mow with a Zero Turn. I am looking at a residential ZTR, like the 50inch Toro timecutter among a few other models. I have 3/4 of an acre so I don't need some commercial monster but would prefer to have ZTR over a tractor. Any insight is much appreciated! Picture of my hill below.

View attachment 384850

For 20 years, I cut with Dixie Choppers on hills like that, but usually only when dry.

I had a near fatal accident on one of the same hills, but wet. I made the mistake of turning down hill on a turn, and the machine lost traction, sliding down the wet hill in full reverse. At the bottom of the hill was a 4 ft drop off, and I dove off the Chopper as it went over, but it still fell on top of me.

I also had 25 lbs of extra weight on the front.

On some hills, I could go straight up and down, using bar tires.

Other times I did a 45 degree cut until I had cut the hill.

If the hill is firm you might be able to cut side across the hill, but try and turn up hill wet or dry.

If the hill is not firm, you will probably slide some,

After cutting that hill for a while, you will find the best way.

Some of the Z turns have front brakes.

 

[Texasmark]

I tried bar lug tires on 2 ZTS. What I have now are ATV studded tires on the rear of my new invention and they work much much better. They were a bear for me to install alone as they are narrower than the wheel and tubeless but being narrower gave the sidewall extra lateral stress resistance.

But I don't have them on a ZT. They are on my conventional 46" mower and I like it better as it is much lighter making it less prone to slide, and I can sit on the uphill side of the seat which works great. After 35 years of trying to mow my 1-3 pool bank I finally have something that works. Since it doesn't have independent rear drive or 4wd, I put solid rounded wheelbarrow tires on the front to aid in steering. The narrow hard sidewall tire acts like a 3 rib front tire on a conventional tractor and in tests it really grips for a tight turn. This will help me to maintain steerability on the slopes when I want to turn up hill.

Haven't had the studs or thin fronts on wet grass as yet. Agree with others, even with bar lug tires, especially with the weight of the ZT (my 52" weighs over 900#) that you need to wait till the grass is dry. We had rain here the last 3 days and maybe tomorrow it will be dry enough to find out if my "slope mower" is up to the task.

Mark