Knowing what you know now, which mower would you buy?

[RalphVa]

Another walk behind Honda. If you need to ride on it, you've got too much yard to mow.

Ralph

 

[stuckmotor]

My little Snapper Rear Engine Rider was getting a bad cut, that resembled yours, and the blade stalled often while mulching leaves. I finally found out how to tighten the belt and the Snapper now chops leaves like a champ. I'll have to wait for the grass to grow to find out how it mows.
If a slipping belt could be your problem, it might be easy and cheap to solve.

 

[Richard001]

Another JC Penny tractor. It's now about 40 years old. It's on it's third transmission and the engine was rebuilt about 5 years ago.

Richard

OH wait, I guess JC doesn't sell tractors any more, but if they did.

 

[npalen]

When I first glanced at the thread title I thought it read "Mowing what you mow now, what mower would you buy?

 

[hawkeye08]

I have the Ferris is700, cuts nice, like the suspension.. if I had the budget, I would have bought the is2100 or better. It has even better suspension. I might add a suspension seat (or the rubber washers added above).. we have clay soil and the earthworms come up and leave mounds that don't flatten (some with heavy roller, but still a bit rough)..

 

[fidowanttobe]

I pull a 84" finish mower and I love it. I can fly right along as long as I don't wait too long as everyone has said. Another engine doesn't interest me although I would like a small ZTR to "open up" the lawn rather than a push mower. Yes, a large 3 point mower behind you takes some room to swing, still I would never give up my 7 footer.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have the Ferris is700, cuts nice, like the suspension.. if I had the budget, I would have bought the is2100 or better. It has even better suspension. I might add a suspension seat (or the rubber washers added above).. we have clay soil and the earthworms come up and leave mounds that don't flatten (some with heavy roller, but still a bit rough)..

Wonder if they make an older pre-emissions 30hp diesel & 72 deck with a nice suspension? I壇 put that on my list of possible replacements if the ZD331 becomes unreliable....

 

[EddieWalker]

Looking at your picture and how tall you let your grass get between mowing tells me that you are wasting your time trying to maintain that much area with a riding mower. I agree with everyone that has already mentioned that you need a finish mower. I have a 7 foot finish mower that I use for around my pond and walking trails. I cut the grass about 3 inches tall with it so I can still see snakes while walking, but long enough that it looks good after cutting it. Around my house, I use a zero turn, and I keep it short.

I think you need to decide on how much really nice grass you want around your house, and mow that small area on a regular basis. Then do the rest of your land with the finish mower so it looks good, but doesn't have to be cut all the time. For me, it's zero turn ever other week and finish mower or bush hog every other month. Sometimes more often if the weather has the grass growing faster, or we are entertaining.

 

[Graybeard315]

I have owned Kubota diesel zero turn and ferris zero turn mowers.If you have bumpy ground go with the ferris as it has the independent suspension.The Kubota beat the h-ll out of me.

My Ferris ISX800 rides considerably better than the comparable HP/Deck size Bobcat I traded in.

 

[rademamj1]

Wow this thread on zero turn mowers is interesting. I have 6 acres flat open field, and mowed the 1st summer with Kioti Tractor and 60" rotary cutter. Grass height was 18" tall. Cutting time was about 6 hours total, leaving ruts and damage to the field from the cutter trailing tire.

Then i found a highly used Gravely Proturn 460, this is a 60inch commercial zero turn with 33hp Kawasaki engine. At full power, this machine cuts the 6 acres in about 70 minutes work with a grass height of 8 inches. No damage to the field anywhere.