Mowing Which is better for mowing on hills, ZTR or SCUT?

[Charlesaf3]

I have pretty hilly property to mow - up to 15 degree slopes (I think that's 33% grade?). I'm currently using a b3030 with weighted tires, which works up and down, though no way would I go sidehill.

I'm thinking of moving the b3030 to another property at some point, and wondering what to replace it with. All I'd need is a pure mowing machine, as I still would have the M59 here.

So the question is whether a scut like a bx or a ztr would be better for mowing the slopes? Either would be maneuverable and fast enough I'd assume.

 

[Couple of Achers]

I speaketh from experience. I have been mowing with ztr's for years. And all I can say about slopes is, if you are going to try to mow slopes with a ztr. Then get the one with the lowest center of gravity, widest tires, and heaviest built. I tried to run brand X for a couple of years mowing my ditches. It was worthless. There is no way you could hold it from loosing traction with the up hill tire and down the ditch you would go. Once I upgraded to the Kubota ZD series, I never had another problem holding the slopes. It sticks to the hill side like none other I had used in the past. I am not saying there isn't other ones out there that will also work for you. I am sure there are. But I was amazed at the ability of that thing to hold on the slopes. And I never felt as if I was in any danger of rolling. With it's low center of gravity and wide stance, I literally think it would slide sideways before rolling. Very stable machine.
One thing else to consider before buying a ZTR. How fussy our you with your lawn? ZTR's have a tendency to be a little rough on them while turning. The inner tire can tear up the lawn if you aren't extremely careful.
But for shear speed, nothing can beat a ZTR.

 

[flusher]

I have pretty hilly property to mow - up to 15 degree slopes (I think that's 33% grade?). I'm currently using a b3030 with weighted tires, which works up and down, though no way would I go sidehill.

I'm thinking of moving the b3030 to another property at some point, and wondering what to replace it with. All I'd need is a pure mowing machine, as I still would have the M59 here.

So the question is whether a scut like a bx or a ztr would be better for mowing the slopes? Either would be maneuverable and fast enough I'd assume.

Here's one way to handle your problem--lower the tractor





That's my 1964 MF-135 diesel that I bought in July06 for $3600. The original owner (I'm the 3rd owner), set it up to mow in his olive orchard. Installed shorter front axle spindles and changed the rears to Goodrich SilverTown 18.4x16A 6 ply tires (16" dia rims) to lower the tractor. The rear axle height is about 20" and the track width is 83" (measured to the outside of the rears) so the squat ratio is 4.15. I don't think you'd have a problem mowing your hills with this setup or one similar. I'd check craigslist for a 1950s-60 tractor and make these modifications. Shouldn't be too costly.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Interesting, but the problem isn'[t with current equipment, its that I'm probably going to have to replace the b3030 in its current use. So the question is what to replace it with.

I'm surprised ztrs tear up lawn - I guess its their skid steer like nature? Still, its something I wouldn't expect from a purpose built lawn mower on dry grass.

 

[Couple of Achers]

Interesting, but the problem isn'[t with current equipment, its that I'm probably going to have to replace the b3030 in its current use. So the question is what to replace it with.

I'm surprised ztrs tear up lawn - I guess its their skid steer like nature? Still, its something I wouldn't expect from a purpose built lawn mower on dry grass.

Some are worse than others. The problem is that with a ztr you can just fly. Your speed is really just limited to how rough your lawn is. When you get to the end of your path and want to turn on a dime to come back. Which the ztr is desinged to do. The inner tire pivots in one place and can tear up the lawn a bit. You can avoid a lot of it by swinging out a little wider, or try to keep the inner tire turning backwards at the same speed the outer tire is turning forward, but then you are loosing time like you do with a conventional mower. There is a trade off at some point. Like if the rain is coming and you just want to finish mowing, or it's a nice day and you are enjoying the seat time. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Charlesaf3]

so basically if you turn slowly its fine?

 

[Couple of Achers]

so basically if you turn slowly its fine?

If you slow down and concentrate while turning, with practice it works fine. Lawn condition is also a factor. Wet/dry/thick/thin.

There is also other conditions that is hard to explain unless you have driven them. I'll give it a shot. While trimming around a tree, for example. You don't trim with the mower deck up against the tree. For if you did, your inner rear tire would hit the tree. You trim, so to speak, with center of the inner rear tire up against the tree and hold it as close as you can to the tree while you proceed around it. You don't even care where the mower deck is. Just concentrate on the center of the inner rear tire. That is the pivot point of a ztr. Now, what this does, is since the inner tire is no longer just rolling forward, it is actually rolling forward but being dragged some what sideways at the same time. It will tear all the grass up around the base of the tree. However, to me this is a plus, since you will no longer need to weed whip around those trees. Because over time, it will be down to bare dirt.

You can also try to "step" around the tree with the mower deck up against the tree. By going forward the backing up and swinging the deck up against the tree, and continuing that motion until you get all the way around the tree. But it is not real practical to do so.

I don't know if that makes sense or not. Hopefully so.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Yeah, that makes complete sense. Like using steering brakes on a tractor. Same with the turning issue, I have to make shallow turns with the b3030, sharp turns torque the lawn.

I actually spend most of my mowing time turning. Actual mowing is really fast. I try to avoid truning a lot by going forward then backward, if that makes sense, it ends up being faster.

 

[Steve C]

Some are worse than others. The problem is that with a ztr you can just fly. Your speed is really just limited to how rough your lawn is. When you get to the end of your path and want to turn on a dime to come back. Which the ztr is desinged to do. The inner tire pivots in one place and can tear up the lawn a bit. You can avoid a lot of it by swinging out a little wider, or try to keep the inner tire turning backwards at the same speed the outer tire is turning forward, but then you are loosing time like you do with a conventional mower. There is a trade off at some point. Like if the rain is coming and you just want to finish mowing, or it's a nice day and you are enjoying the seat time. Just something to be aware of.

I often do a "Y" turn in low traction situations to avoiod tearing up the grass with my zero turn. I just vere off to the left a little at the end of the run, back it to the right to get it mostly turned around, and turn it to the left to finish the turn. It only takes a couple of seconds and it is a lot of fun.

 

[Charlesaf3]

I often do a "Y" turn in low traction situations to avoiod tearing up the grass with my zero turn. I just vere off to the left a little at the end of the run, back it to the right to get it mostly turned around, and turn it to the left to finish the turn. It only takes a couple of seconds and it is a lot of fun.

Yep, I know that Y.

How often do you find tearing up the turf to be an issue? And how is your hills experience?