phil1841
New member
The wife and I have recently purchased our retirement home on 30 acres out in the country in North Mississippi. The house and finished shop are on the front of the property situated on a ridge which drops off pretty good on either side. On the back side of the ridge, the majority of our place is flat bottom land chock full of nice hardwoods. We recently took a 10ft long 2x4 (straight as we could find) and measured the slope in a number of places going down the ridge using a digital protractor and found a number of slopes in the 25-27 degree range. All of the areas we checked need to be mowed or perhaps brush hogged. We'll eventually cut some trails in the flat ground for dog (and people) walking and will need to keep those clear during the growing season as well. Additionally, we have probably 2-3 acres of open land which will need a little mowing or brush hogging every once in a while.
We've been thinking about the Ventrac as the best option for us to mow the areas around the house and front of the property. Knowing this will be our home as we get into our "later years" we think it's a good idea get a Ventrac as it appears to be a very safe and secure option for slope mowing. The wife enjoys mowing and is pretty adamant our Hustler ZTR will not work - and she's right about that. So, we're looking at the Ventrac with either the axle extension or dual tire option to use for keeping the area around the house and shop nice and tidy and keep the walking trails mowed.
So, the question for all of you Ventrac guys and gals is what engine would be best for us? At first, my gut reaction was --- tractors need diesel engines - right? But reading thru everything I could find online the last couple of months makes me think the gasoline engines are a good option with more HP and engine torque. Would really appreciate any pro's and con's you may offer on the question. We have a Ventrac dealer about an hour drive from us and planning to go see them in a couple of weeks. Would be great if we could get a unit to test drive on our place, but at a minimum we'll drive one at the dealer.
Thanks in advance to any thoughts you may have to help us decide.
We've been thinking about the Ventrac as the best option for us to mow the areas around the house and front of the property. Knowing this will be our home as we get into our "later years" we think it's a good idea get a Ventrac as it appears to be a very safe and secure option for slope mowing. The wife enjoys mowing and is pretty adamant our Hustler ZTR will not work - and she's right about that. So, we're looking at the Ventrac with either the axle extension or dual tire option to use for keeping the area around the house and shop nice and tidy and keep the walking trails mowed.
So, the question for all of you Ventrac guys and gals is what engine would be best for us? At first, my gut reaction was --- tractors need diesel engines - right? But reading thru everything I could find online the last couple of months makes me think the gasoline engines are a good option with more HP and engine torque. Would really appreciate any pro's and con's you may offer on the question. We have a Ventrac dealer about an hour drive from us and planning to go see them in a couple of weeks. Would be great if we could get a unit to test drive on our place, but at a minimum we'll drive one at the dealer.
Thanks in advance to any thoughts you may have to help us decide.