Buying Advice 1.5 acre DIYer

[Gary Fowler]

For those of you who sold your zero turns to opt for just a tractor, you obviously have none or few obstacles (trees, shrubs, rocks etc) to mow around. I watched my BIL mow a small patch of his yard with his tractor type lawnmower and it seemed he was mowing the same area a dozen times in an effort to mow up close to several trees and shrubs. It took him 45 minutes to mow an area I could have mowed with my ZTR in 15 minutes or less.
If you have the budget, I would suggest getting a small CUT for your landscaping activities AND a ZTR mower for mowing. Be prepared to spend in the neighborhood of $7K for a good commercial entry level mower. I wouldn't get anything less than that. Also that is not an additional $7K outlay compared to tractor with belly mower. I believe them (belly mowers) to cost around $4K or more so you are really just outlaying an additional $3K to get a more useful mower which will completely free up your tractor to do other chores while the wife is mowing the yard (HA HA, like that might happen-NOT WITH MY WIFE)

If you don't have trees or such to mow around, then a tractor with belly mower will work fine. If your wife is like mine, you will soon have many things to mow around even if you don't have any now. Then you will be spending lot of time on the tractor to mow, and then a few hours with a weed eater to get the grass close to the trees that you just cant get with a tractor. Sure, there is some grass around objects that cant be mowed even with a ZTR but I find that I can let it go for many mowing cycles before I need to weed eat around them.

 

[paulfun9]

My JD755 came equipped with a drive over deck. I used it for all my projects for many years here at home. After switching to the 3 point finish mower we purchased for the new Kioti DK40 I promise one thing- I will never again buy a belly mower for a tractor unless it is a designated lawn mower and the mower will never be taken off.

At first they seem wonderfull and everything works right but as time goes on you realize they become harder and harder to take off (especially the mid PTO shaft ). In fact it is much quicker to hook up the trail mower and I don't have to drag it out of the way to get at other attachments which due to a full garage are stored behind the tractors parking space. The rear mount actually takes up about the same amount of floor space when not in use as the belly mower did, you see they can also be a bear to drive over when you have attachments on and depending on the surface they sometimes actually move as you try to drive on to them so just leaving them sit isn't an option.
As far as cutting time the trail mower with rear discharge it is much faster and it can handle a lot taller grass than a side discharge as well it dosnt leave windrows forcing me to rake each time. I can also cut closer to things simply by backing towards them which at first I thought would slow me down but in hind sight it is actually faster than the amount of swipes required to get everything cut with the belly mower.
Maint on a belly mower is a pain unless you take the added steps to remove the deck before hand so if you leave the mower on all summer like some folks that must be considered as compared to walking up to the machine and simply greasing and checking the belts and oil level without having to do anything more than turning the pto shaft to get at the grease fittings.

My suggestions based on my experience with the JD and the 2 years that I also had a dedicated lawn mower would be that a ZERO turn in addition to the tractor would be best and if your yard isn't too tight to maneuver with a trail mower it is the second best with the mid mount being last.

Good luck with your decisions.

 

[jives]

I did all those tasks you listed, plus more, on my 7 ac property (2 - 3 ac mowed) with a couple of 25 year old Wheel Horse garden tractors, 48" deck, dirt/snow plow blade, home made drags, several trailers, and tiller. I brush-hogged, leveled about 1.5 ac with the dirt blade and homemade drag, pull a homemade ripper/harrow to re-do the gravel driveway, pulled 1000 lb in a trailer, snow plow the 150' driveway, you name it. Most of this was a one-shot or one time per year deal. What I really need is a faster mower. So, how much are you really going to mow? That is where you will spend your time and effort. How much money are you willing to spend? As for me, I have a budget of about $1000. I thought about purchasing an old, but reasonably low hour, Exmark 60" deck walkbehind with sulky. Opted not. I'm having the engine rebuilt on my old Deutz-Allis 1920 (Simplicity Sunstar clone) with a 60" deck. With turning brakes it has a turning radius of about 24". Should be able to lower my mowing time by about 50% simply due to mowing faster and the bigger deck.

In your shoes? If money was an object I'd get a used commercial grade zero turn. Around here a Ferris or Scag or Exmark with 1000 hours can be had for about $4K. The 3-wheeled beasts about $2-4K. Keep the JD 212 for the landscape work. Or a high end new residential zero turn for the same amount. Money no object? Add in a used SCUT for about $6K more. Money even less an object? Get both new.

Jeff

 

[Tractorrr]

It seems like you are already leaning towards the subcompact so this is probably a good way to go especially if you were to buy the other 1.5 acre lot. I think the subcompact should be good for lawn mowing. The zero turn could cut a little quicker and get around trees and obstacles faster (the SCUT can probably do the same just takes longer) but I wouldn't think that would be much of a reason to have both which seems like overkill for 1.5 - 3 acres.

When you use the SCUT for non lawn mowing purposes I think you will be happy you got.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I have read in several T-B-N posts that new John Deere mid mount mowers (MMMs) for sub-compact tractors are drive-on, drive-off. This is one convenient feature in which John Deere brand apparently leads kubota and other brands.

Mahindra has drive over decks.