Rear finish mower vs dedicated lawn tractor

[Professor Marvel]

I'm trying to decide what the best direction to go with the next mower would be. My current mowers deck just fell apart so I need to decide what to do soon. I was trying to wait till next season before I replaced it but we all now plans don't always work out.

Currently I have about an 1.5 acres of grass to mow. Which at least half is hills but nothing extremely steep. My wife and I plan to clear out about another 1-2 acres to expand the yard and put in a small garden.

My question is what would be better a tractor with a rfm or just buying a lawn tractor? I would love a zt but don't know how well it would do on the hills I have. I'm purchasing a tractor at some point anyways for other tasks but wasnt quite ready to purchase just yet. But maybe if a rfm would work better I should just go ahead and get the tractor with rfm and have everything all in one package. What would you do in my situation?

these are supposed to be great on hills
Ventrac 4 Series Compact Tractors

 

[John0829]

Just for the record in spite of all the folks raving about ZT's and they are nice mowers but I will put my JD 1025R with 60' drive over deck up there with any of them for the cut quality. It takes only seconds to put on or remove the deck so that is no issue. Yeah I am a bit slower mowing but I am not being bounced around and the cut is second to NONE. In fact I will go further to state it is better IMHO. My SIL has a commercial ZT (I forget the brand), second one he has owned and the cut from the 1025R is clearly better to me than either of them.

I have everything arranged so I can get around with no problems, use the string trimmer to get the edges and push mower for a few choice spots next to the house. I then have a nice comfortable ride with beverage of choice as needed/wanted. Plus I use less fuel.

 

[4570Man]

Cut quality is a moot point. A ZTR with good deck will do as good as anything. You’d have to get a microscope out to tell the difference. Blades will make a huge difference anyway and very few homeowners keep mower blades in perfect condition. Your little wheel sub compact tractor isn’t going to ride much different than a ZTR at equal speed. If ride is that important get a Ferris mower and a Grammer air seat.

 

[CADplans]

I have never owned a GT that can mow as much grass as this RFM on a gallon of fuel,,

I have owned Cub Cadets, Gravely's,, Kohler powered, Onan powered, gear drive. hydro drive,,
the machine in the pic mows the same area with a third less fuel than any other machine I have used,,,

 

[Code54]

After using a zero turn, I would never go back to a lawn tractor. Neighbor widow lady has about half acre lot with about have of it covered in building and stashed material. Just after her husband died, me and another neighbor went over to mow her yard using her lawn tractor with 54" deck. It took me the better part of an hour to mow with it and it nearly beat me to death going over her rough lawn. I mowed it with my 52" deck zero turn in just over 15 minutes and my Ferris suspension system really smoothed things out. The neighbor that was with me also has a zero turn and tried the tractor mower for about 2 minutes and climbed off. If you have a lot of trees, flower beds, shrubs and other yard art obstacles, a tractor type mower is just a PIA to use, you spend about half the time just making circles to get the sides you missed.

Dont make the mistake of getting a low budget box store zero turn, they wont last and worse still, wont hold on hills. Also if you have steep slopes or slightly wet areas, get bar lug tires on the mowers drive wheels.

Great advice and I agree 100%. A true commercial quality machine will cut faster and better hands down. I run a Ferris stander and the cut is a LOT better than my Kubota BX (it is not bad at all) and does very good on hills with slightly more aggressive tires.

 

[John0829]

Cut quality is a moot point. A ZTR with good deck will do as good as anything. You’d have to get a microscope out to tell the difference. Blades will make a huge difference anyway and very few homeowners keep mower blades in perfect condition. Your little wheel sub compact tractor isn’t going to ride much different than a ZTR at equal speed. If ride is that important get a Ferris mower and a Grammer air seat.

Ride is always important, anyone will take a smooth easy ride over a rough one. Your less worn out from the experience. Also beg to differ on the ride, yes the small tires on the 1025R are a rougher ride than the big fat tires on my full size utility tractor using the RFM, Hog or flail but the small tires on the scut are still smoother than the ride of the ZT's I have been on. And no, none of them had air ride seats, but then I don't know any people who will drop the extra cash on a mower for air ride unless it is a someone using it to make their living.

 

[Code54]

Try a stander - it is far easier to cut rough ground standing than sitting and on ours the platform has a suspension system that takes the hit out of rough ground. I notice cutting on the stander is easier than sitting on a machine. It sounds weird but you legs add to the suspension and your back never is bend or bouncing in a bent position.

 

[DK35vince]

Ride is always important, anyone will take a smooth easy ride over a rough one. Your less worn out from the experience. Also beg to differ on the ride, yes the small tires on the 1025R are a rougher ride than the big fat tires on my full size utility tractor using the RFM, Hog or flail but the small tires on the scut are still smoother than the ride of the ZT's I have been on. And no, none of them had air ride seats, but then I don't know any people who will drop the extra cash on a mower for air ride unless it is a someone using it to make their living.

My zero turn (Hustler Super Z) with suspension seat ,flex forks and 8 PSI tire pressure rides better than my 35 HP compact tractor with suspension seat.

 

[MossRoad]

My zero turn (Hustler Super Z) with suspension seat ,flex forks and 8 PSI tire pressure rides better than my 35 HP compact tractor with suspension seat.

How much would a brand new unit like that cost today? Just curious, as I've not priced ZTs in a long, long time.

 

[4570Man]

How much would a brand new unit like that cost today? Just curious, as I've not priced ZTs in a long, long time.

About 12k depending on what kind of deal you work out. But that’s the Cadillac of gasoline lawnmowers.