Grasshopper 900D vs 725D

[sawtooth]

Looks like dealer is bringing by a 900D 61/36. The 36 is for a 61” deck with larger deck tires. Not sure what’s that helps but guess I will find out. He’s telling me the new 1.3L Diesel has roughly 30 more torque than the their smaller diesel in my 725D front mount mower. Going to give it a try on the steep hills I have.

 

[sawtooth]

Ok so dealer brought by the new demo 900 today to my farm. I mow roughly 8-10 acres at my place which is a mixed of open areas, 3 pond edges, lots of trees and the area around my house etc. Mixed in all this is a couple very steep hills which both the 725D and 325D just don’t handle that well. Now all I got to say is wow the new 900 series with the 1.3L Diesel is super sweet and climbs like a billy goat. Way more traction than my 2017 725 with 72” deck. So the new 900 is on order now and can’t wait to get it. We currently run 3 Grasshoppers and all of them are super tuff machines but now I can see the 900 series performs even better on the really steep stuff. Great equipment and even better customer support. The extra torque in the really high grass is noticeable as well. Just seems to pull it through without slowing down much. I really
like the new 900D. Just seems to handle the 72” deck way better than my 725D.

 

[Buxus]

I have 2008 930D. I bought it in 2016 with 200 hours on it. Overall I am happy with it, but it is not perfect. I had some issues last year in which I kept burning the belts in the rear in tall grass. It was frustrating to think that a 30 hp diesel was limited by the belts. Ultimately the dealer replaced the clutch and there have been no issues with this anymore.

I have many obstacles to mow under and around, so the front deck is a great advantage.

The biggest negative is on my hills. With any grade, I have to go up backwards. This is common with front deck zero turns. It climbs fine going backwards, but it gets to be a real PITA sometimes. Even slight grades with a bit of dampness and I have to go backwards, and this is with the turf tires. It's even worse with the grass catcher on because then the drive wheels seem to have less weight on them. Going backwards definitely slows down my mowing.

I got a great deal on the mower, and hope to have it for many years. I would buy it again, but I plan to try an F series 4 wheel drive Kubota this summer just to see how it compares. Unfortunately, I already know how the price compares...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The biggest negative is on my hills. With any grade, I have to go up backwards. This is common with front deck zero turns.

It's not common on MY front deck GH's, but mine have 61" deck's, so maybe running a bigger deck is the real problem?

SR

 

[sawtooth]

I have 2008 930D. I bought it in 2016 with 200 hours on it. Overall I am happy with it, but it is not perfect. I had some issues last year in which I kept burning the belts in the rear in tall grass. It was frustrating to think that a 30 hp diesel was limited by the belts. Ultimately the dealer replaced the clutch and there have been no issues with this anymore.

I have many obstacles to mow under and around, so the front deck is a great advantage.

The biggest negative is on my hills. With any grade, I have to go up backwards. This is common with front deck zero turns. It climbs fine going backwards, but it gets to be a real PITA sometimes. Even slight grades with a bit of dampness and I have to go backwards, and this is with the turf tires. It's even worse with the grass catcher on because then the drive wheels seem to have less weight on them. Going backwards definitely slows down my mowing.

I got a great deal on the mower, and hope to have it for many years. I would buy it again, but I plan to try an F series 4 wheel drive Kubota this summer just to see how it compares. Unfortunately, I already know how the price compares...

So this sounds like my 725D with 72” deck. Even on slight hills I have to feather the throttle or it just stops and digs holes. However the new 900D climbs very steep inclines both directions. Regarding the grass catcher so are you thinking the added weight in the rear somehow hurts forward traction? The reason I ask is my 725D has two 50lb weights on the rear and not sure why GH sets the machine up this way. However, the new 900D had no weights on the rear and climbs hills like crazy. I would think more weight on the back would help forward traction but maybe it actually causes a negative effect. Thoughts?

Also what size rear tires do you have? The 900 had much larger tires than the 725. Thanks

 

[Buxus]

So this sounds like my 725D with 72” deck. Even on slight hills I have to feather the throttle or it just stops and digs holes. However the new 900D climbs very steep inclines both directions. Regarding the grass catcher so are you thinking the added weight in the rear somehow hurts forward traction? The reason I ask is my 725D has two 50lb weights on the rear and not sure why GH sets the machine up this way. However, the new 900D had no weights on the rear and climbs hills like crazy. I would think more weight on the back would help forward traction but maybe it actually causes a negative effect. Thoughts?

Also what size rear tires do you have? The 900 had much larger tires than the 725. Thanks

Meant to say in my post above that I have the chevron bar tread tires.

I had a 720 with a 61 inch deck that was marginally better on the same hills, but not much. It too had the chevron tires.

The 930d has a 72 inch deck and much larger tires, but I can't remember the size offhand. The traction with the grass catcher is horrendous. I think what happens is the grass catcher, even when empty, seems to put more weight on the rearmost wheels than the drive wheels. This seems to have the effect of lifting the joint between the tractor and the deck up a hair. Thus, the rear part of the drive wheels is bearing more weight than the front part of the drive wheels. There is less of a footprint for traction, and this is most noticeable going forward on hills. Even on flat ground with the grass catcher if I don't feather the throttle, the wheels spin. Backing up with the grass catcher (I have the largest size) is a ^$%#& because it's impossible to see behind, but I do it on the hills.

Having said this, I bought the grass catcher for leaves in the fall, and it works fantastic for this. It holds a ton of leaves, grinds them nicely, and only infrequently clogs. The only time I have to deal with the grass catcher while actually mowing is for the last few mowings of the season, and then I take it off for the other 46 weeks of the year. Incidentally, I also use the grass catcher in September after I have sprayed an acre of so of the grass with Roundup. I set the blades low (2.5 inches) and use it to vacuum up the dead grass and debris. The result is almost pure soil nicely prepared for reseeding. I am gradually ridding myself of a wire grass infested lawn.

As I said, I love the mower, and I recommend it despite its shortcomings. The diesel seems to keep the blades spinning even in tall grass (now that the belt/clutch situation has been fixed).

 

[sawtooth]

Thank you for your post. Based on this I’m going to ask my dealer to leave the rear weights off just like the demo unit I tried. I feel the ride is also improved due to the machine balance being better as well. But again the traction was SO MUCH improved I just couldn’t believe how much better it actually was. It felt like going from a 2 wheel drive truck to 4 wheel drive. It was just that much better. So any downsides to leaving the rear weights off? Again I’m not sure why they are on there in the first place????

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't have weights on mine and they do just fine on hills... Both have 61" decks and one has the grass catcher option, although I have it off right now.

SR

 

[Buxus]

Thank you for your post. Based on this I’m going to ask my dealer to leave the rear weights off just like the demo unit I tried. I feel the ride is also improved due to the machine balance being better as well. But again the traction was SO MUCH improved I just couldn’t believe how much better it actually was. It felt like going from a 2 wheel drive truck to 4 wheel drive. It was just that much better. So any downsides to leaving the rear weights off? Again I’m not sure why they are on there in the first place????

What does the dealer say the weights are for?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My dealer said the weights were recommended by GH for "counter weights", but HE said he thought I should try it without weights. He said he thought I'd be happy with it without the weights, and I am...

SR