L-120 vs Zero Turn - How Smooth?

[JDKu]

I currently mow with a 48", 22 HP, JD L-120, pulling an offset, 60" Finish Cut Swisher mower. Thus, I mow close to 9 feet in a pass, and it takes about 2.5 hours to mow 4 acres.

Two things have me considering a zero turn:
1) I don't know how long the L-120 Tranny can take this load (i.e. finish cut mower and my 250 lb body).
2) I want to plant more trees, and the turning radius on the L-120 leaves much to be desired. My trees are currently limited to straight rows (which explains my current efficiency when mowing). But I would like to step out of line a bit.....

Questions about a zero turn:
1) What I mow is rough. I seldom run the tractor at full speed even though it could cut much faster. Old mole hills and gopher hills abound. But it isn't terrible. I can run a 1986 quad runner (with limited suspension) across it at 20 MPH if I like. Is ride quality of a zero turn related to the size of the wheels i.e. if it has bigger wheels than the L-120, it will ride better? The small caster wheels on the mid-mouts ZT's worry me....

2) I mow about 150 yards of ditch. Going up and down the hills isn't possible, because there is a fence at the top. Is anyone out there mowing ditches with a ZT parallel to the ditch? The good news is that it will only take about 3 passes to mow. The bad news is that I have about 25 yards of ditch that is steep enough, that I have to sit with only one cheek on the seat and lean out as far as I can. I don't know if the tractor would hold the side hill if I didn't lean.

Thank you,
Chris

 

[OKnewguy]

You might have better luck posting in the lawn section, but I'll throw in my 2 cents. I mow around 4 acres, I started out with an old bolens rider mower with a 46" deck. It road well and handled the hills well. I also had a stretch along the road where I would do the "one cheek" thing too. I then bought a gravely z-turn mower. This mower was a big mistake, I thought that since it was a gravely it would be a good heavy duty mower, I was wrong. It turned out to be a decent homeowner mower but was not suited to my rough 4 acres. It's ride was horrible and it's stability on hills was really bad, this machine was not stable enough to cut any of the stretch along the road. So I bought a grasshopper with a front mount deck. This machine is GREAT. Having the front mount stretches the wheelbase and provides a great ride, it is also very heavy duty. It is so stable that I can stop on most of my hills and turn around and do whatever I need to in the middle of the hill (more stable then the gravely ztr, and the bolens rider). So if you do have the space to store a front mount ztr, imho they are some of the most stable platforms around.
Good luck, Dave

 

[Redneck in training]

You might have better luck posting in the lawn section, but I'll throw in my 2 cents. I mow around 4 acres, I started out with an old bolens rider mower with a 46" deck. It road well and handled the hills well. I also had a stretch along the road where I would do the "one cheek" thing too. I then bought a gravely z-turn mower. This mower was a big mistake, I thought that since it was a gravely it would be a good heavy duty mower, I was wrong. It turned out to be a decent homeowner mower but was not suited to my rough 4 acres. It's ride was horrible and it's stability on hills was really bad, this machine was not stable enough to cut any of the stretch along the road. So I bought a grasshopper with a front mount deck. This machine is GREAT. Having the front mount stretches the wheelbase and provides a great ride, it is also very heavy duty. It is so stable that I can stop on most of my hills and turn around and do whatever I need to in the middle of the hill (more stable then the gravely ztr, and the bolens rider). So if you do have the space to store a front mount ztr, imho they are some of the most stable platforms around.
Good luck, Dave

I second that. Not all ZTR are created equal. Front mounted deck with castor wheels on the back (such as Grasshopper 725) are the most stable in all directions. We also have a snow blade. It will push easily about 6 to 8 inches of snow but doesn't have enough traction to push more than that.