Best Zero Turn for my property

[milkman]

I am looking for a Zero Turn to mow 5 acres of grass on a hilly property. I understand that some ZT mowers are better on hills than others because of a lower CG. I am curious to hear your recommendations?Thanks JiM!

If you were closer, I'd come and mow for you with the new to me toy. I don't see how these would turn over unless you run off a cliff.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/145810-zd21.html

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i bought my ferris used and it had ag/bar tread tires on it....i thought it looked horrible! my buddy, that had just bought a new bota ztr, told me i was crazy for wanting to go back to turfs and that he'd love to switch his to ag......

well, being cheap i didn't and now have gotten used to the ag treads.......i had alway heard how bad ztrs were on hills, especially going across them......well, let me tell ya, i love this thing on hills.........i just add slight amount more on the oposite lever and it honestly has no trouble..........

i can say, however, that i can really see how they would be scary/dangerous on hills with turf tires and i wouldn't want to get on a hillside where i didn't have an escape path (you know, if you go down the hill you roll in to a ravine!).....

and, before you say it- because i did- the ag tread tires don't tear up the ground......i don't know whether mine are worn out or specially made but the bar lugs aren't that deep.........

i'll most certainly put ag/bar tires back on it......

 

[Alan L.]

I have the same Scag mower as Eddie, and mow across a couple of pretty good slopes with no problem.s Seems very stable and not hard to keep going straight ahead even though gravity would want it to go downhill.

 

[milkman]

I'm new to the zero turn crowd, and mowed some steep banks yesterday, discovered that to steer, it works better to use the wheel on the low side to speed up or slow down to turn. If I use the upper wheel to try to turn, it will spin or scoot. Sure is fun learning.

 

[dfeck]

I have a Ferris IS3000 with the 32HP big block engine. I like the Ferris due to the full suspension and quality of the mower. Built like a tank! The tires are set pretty far out. I don't have an issue because I mow on level ground. This has been my 3rd Ferris and really like it. I once used it on my brothers lawn which has a large hill and going up was not an issue it's going down. If you try to slow down the wheels would lock up and you start sliding. I know bar tires would help out with this. I would see if there's a local Ferris dealer that would be willing to let you try one out. My zero turn is 1300lbs and cost me $9400. This was a fairly decent deal because I purchased mid-season last year and he gave me a better deal than purchasing early spring.

Doug

 

[LBrown59]

i bought my ferris used and it had ag/bar tread tires on it....i thought it looked horrible! my buddy, that had just bought a new bota ztr, told me i was crazy for wanting to go back to turfs and that he'd love to switch his to ag......

well, being cheap i didn't and now have gotten used to the ag treads.......i had alway heard how bad ztrs were on hills, especially going across them......well, let me tell ya, i love this thing on hills.........i just add slight amount more on the oposite lever and it honestly has no trouble..........

i can say, however, that i can really see how they would be scary/dangerous on hills with turf tires and i wouldn't want to get on a hillside where i didn't have an escape path (you know, if you go down the hill you roll in to a ravine!).....

and, before you say it- because i did- the ag tread tires don't tear up the ground......i don't know whether mine are worn out or specially made but the bar lugs aren't that deep.........

i'll most certainly put ag/bar tires back on it......

I don't know where the they do myth came from.

 

[wushaw]

Weight and tire size I feel has alot to do with a ZTR ability to hold a hill side. I have two ZTR, a 36" and a 61", the little one has a hard time holding a hill side, spins tires, slides...etc. the big one has no problems, both have turf tires.

 

[MilesToEmpty]

We just sold our Encore Prowler 61" and bought a 61" Scag WildCat.

Its amazing, thing is a tank, will cut anything, and leave it as smooth as a carpet. The whole setup has NO flex in any of the chassis unlike our Encore.

We have a 40degree hill I mow with the Scag, does fine. At the steepest parts i go perpendicular with the hill. No issues.

It does like gas, and alot of it haha.

Oh, we have about 7 acres of grass that I mowed in just a few hours today. It hadent been mowed in a month. 3 acres of it was just bush hogged last week and the clippings were THICK. Some areas the grass was 2ft tall... Did it all great.

 

[pequeajim]

Ok, I am pretty much sold on the Exmark series with an UltraCut deck. I cut my 3.5 acres of grass 1-2 times a week. I would like to bag some of the time, but do not need to always. I live on the side of a small mountain and most of my yard is rolling with the exception of a 70' x 40' hill at 15 degrees, and a 70' x 50' hill in back at 22 degrees. I have lived with an underpowered mower in the past and do not want to repeat my mistake. I have also cut my property very successfully with a Ventrac (sim to a Steiner) 31 HP.

I am down to two choices:

A local guy who has a 2007 Lazer Z AS with a 25 HP engine and 60" ultra cut deck, bagger and trailer. All for less than the price he paid for just the ZTR at the end of 2007. The mower has 5 hours on it and 3 months warranty left. The guy was going to try to break into the lawn care business when his car was broadsided and he severly injured his back. The extremly low hours on the machine are verifiable as he lives 3 miles from me and I recall reading about him in the paper.

The second option is to buy a new Next Lazer Z with either the 29 or 34hp Kawasaki if I feel the 25hp is underpowered. I would be scraping just to buy the mower, no bagger and no trailer. But I have no doubt that it would handle the larger hill going up or down.

I am bringing the 25hp ZTR over here tomorrow to do some cutting with it.

I will be having a local dealer deliver either the 29 or 34HP kaw here later in the week so I can try them also.

Right now my mindset is that if I feel the 25hp with run up and down my larger hill while mowing, it is the better deal as I will get the bagger and trailer for much less than a new (larger) model. If I am unsure, I will end up leaning towards a new model and will have to bag the bagger idea, (sorry, couldn't help that one...)

I would only bag my front yard sometimes, and never the back. So, it will be important that I can get the bagger on and off fairly easily?

Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I really would like the 25hp to work, but am suspecting that it might not be enough in the long haul.

Anything else I should be looking for when i test drive it? Experiences with the Exmark bagger, (version that dumps from the seat with a lever)

 

[Redneck in training]

The mowing deck uses most of the power of the engine. As somebody already posted previously the mass, tire size, tire thread etc. (read traction) of the machine determines how well it will do on slopes. If it has better traction 25 HP might do better than 35 HP.