What to Look for in Zero Turn Mower

[5030]

IMHO, suspension comfort is related to speed.

Speed to me is time saved, so I went for speed and cut width.

I have sort of figured out the areas to slow down on, but you know, when you hit a rough spot at speed your glad you have all the safety features, a robust deck and a forgiving body. LOL.

Speed kills, always. In the case of a mower, speed kills your kidneys amongst other internal organs. I never get in any hurry, it's cutting grass, not kicking arse...

 

[Yander]

Hydro gear 3100 or greater transmission. Serviceable

 

[5030]

Actually, all HG hydrostats are serviceable whereas Tuff-Torque's aren't (without disassembly). All the higher end HG's will come with spin on filters and remote oil reservoirs and they are pretty easy to service as well. The M60 Tank I traded in was a breeze to change the oil in. I just pulled the cover on the charge pump and let it drain and then replaced the cover and refilled them. Only issue with them is the cost of the filters which are HG proprietary and not cheap and you always want to make sure each drive wheel has it's own hydrostat drive as well. HG is way more up front about servicing them than say Tuff Torque is and you can download the service manuals directly from the HG website too.

 

[DK35vince]

Buy another ride on mower or SCUT with a wider deck and the biggest tires you can get.

ZTRs are fast but tear up grass, you won't be happy with lots of trees. 1.5 acres is small time and if you have a lot of trees you will never really get to full speed to see all the benefits of going to a ZTR. Not worth the expense of a ZTR - even a cheap non-commercial duty one that doesn't last or perform well.

Lots of trees or things to mow around are where a zero turn excels.
I mow 8 acres with probably 100 trees.
My zero turn will out mow my compact tractor with an 84" deck by an hour +

 

[Duds13]

As a Ferris owner, the ride is awesome. They supposedly made improvements to the new deck as well which gives a better cut. I'll deal with a little bit of cut quality issues because the ride is that good. I'm also just mowing my own lawn and not mowing for a living so cut quality isn't as important even though I am a bit picky about my lawn.

 

[Duds13]

For a flip up deck your choices are very limited, Kubota F series or a JD front mount or a Grasshopper front mount. No mid mount will have that feature.

There's also Country Clipper....

 

[WinterDeere]

Personally, I'd rather buy a used eXmark than a new low end unit, prices being equal. A commercial grade unit is going to have smoother hydro drive, a deck built like a tank that will literally last forever, and better ride quality. It'll also be more stable on inclines and will require less maintenance as the years go on.

We are now in our 8th season mowing with our E-series eXmark, doing 3 to 7 acres per week. Still on original spindles, hydro drive, tires, etc. etc. Can't kill these things.

If OP's property was larger, I'd agree. But they only have 1.5 acres, and they state a lot of obstacles and tight quarters, and it's rare to see a commercial ZT sitter in any size other than 60 inch, at least around here.

I'm also a big fan of commercial 60" ZT's, it's what I mow my own yard with. But I have 3x more yard than the OP, and it's been configured around that mower, with no spaces it cannot easily access.

Heed the notes on suspension. I have a Deere 757 ZTrak, which was known as one of the stiffest ZT's on the market, at the time. It's solid, but it absolutely beats the hell out of the rider. I can't even mow on that thing after eating, without getting a stomach cramp.

I see some of my neighbor's wives mowing their lawns. Not happening here, that 757 ZTrak would have my wife's jiggly bits riding in her lap, after a few seasons!

 

[WinterDeere]

Bottom line is, you can 'kill' any mower or tractor if you don't do regular maintenance on it and ZTR's are no exception.

The Kawi 25hp V-Twins run by most of these commercial mowers have a service interval around 400 hours. That's more than almost any homeowner is going to run per year, heck I'm usually around 100 hours for the year on mine, but it's less than half our mowing seasons when they're running 40+ hours per week in a commercial environment. But I suspect many fleet owners only get the things serviced at the end of the season, meaning they might be at 800 - 1000 hours between fluid and filter changes, not to mention spindle greasing and everything else that goes with it.

 

[WinterDeere]

Now as far as BIG Box store brands, take a look and the Bad Boy line. Tractor Supply carries them, but ask about service.

This is a tractor forum. If someone here can't handle service on their own lawnmower, I'm going to ask the moderators to revoke their membership.

 

[nyone]

The my ride thing looks useful. TSC has one in stock here. What makes a decent transmission in these things?

Dont buy a box store ZTR. A low end used commercial until would last you 20+yrs and cut your mowing time in half.

In all reality most of the commercial ones are the same between manufacturers. So you really need to pick what engine and what series of drive motors you want.