5 ACRES AN HOUR? BULL ROAR!!!!

[JDgreen227]

Got a sale flyer from the local Exmark dealer today, had a huge headline on it that read, quote: "Mow like a pro, up to 5.0 acres an hour!!!" (based on 80% efficiency on a 60" Lazer Z E-series mower)

Honestly...at the rated top speed, one could mow over 5 acres an hour going in a straight line with no turns and a perfectly smooth lawn....BUT...who really has a lawn that doesn't require turns and is perfectly smooth and level? Anybody who thinks in real life they will even approach 2 acres of mowing an hour is really gullible....so why do manufacturers even advertise such crap? All these claims do is make me think they are full of s**t and I will go out of my way NOT to buy one of their products.

Now, if the sale flyer told me they had a high customer satisfaction rate and were considered reliable INSTEAD of bragging about 5 acres of cutting an hour...I would be considering their products as I am looking to buy a ZT. Go figure.

 

[smstonypoint]

The formula for effective capacity (acres/hour) = [width (ft) * speed (mph)/8.25] * efficiency factor. The efficiency factor allows for turning, overlap, etc.

Based on the values provided by Exmark, mowing 5 acres/hour would require a speed of 10.3125 mph. That would be one bumpy ride on my lawn, and I wouldn't expect much in the way of a quality cut.

Steve

 

[Ken45101]

I got the same flyer yesterday, LOL.

I can already mow 5 ac/hr....with a 15' batwing bushog

 

[bcp]

Got a sale flyer from the local Exmark dealer today, had a huge headline on it that read, quote: "Mow like a pro, up to 5.0 acres an hour!!!" (based on 80% efficiency on a 60" Lazer Z E-series mower)

Tell the dealer you will buy it after a demonstration that it will mow your 5 acres in an hour.



Bruce

 

[8N Ren]

Tell the dealer you will buy it after a demonstration that it will mow your 5 acres in an hour.



Bruce

Good post right here.

I bet they test it on a perfectly flat laser graded site with really short grass.

 

[JDgreen227]

Tell the dealer you will buy it after a demonstration that it will mow your 5 acres in an hour.



GOOD ONE....:laughing: I mow 4.5 acres and only one of those is reasonably straight with few trees, and that acre takes me 40 minutes with a Deere 4210 and a 60" MMM....

 

[dgeesaman]

Good post right here.

I bet they test it on a perfectly flat laser graded site with really short grass.

Probably a turf farm, but I doubt they test for acres/hour at all.

The formula is known, and as long as they confirm the mower will make a useful cut at top speed, then they don't test it I'm sure.

David

 

[newbury]

Do the math - like smstonypoint wrote
5 foot cut at 80% efficiency = 4 ft swath
Acre/4 ft swath = one 10,890 foot long swath (about 2 miles)
Traveling at about 1 mile/hr you cover 1 swath in about 2 hours.

If you can go 10 miles per hour you'll get er' done.

 

[JimRB]

Where I live they have these places called golf courses. The green areas look pretty smooth and unobstructed except for the occasional pond or sand pile. I do not know what equipment they use to mow but it looks like you could go fast. My neighbor goes pretty fast on his Exmark. A lot faster than I can cut with my 3 point hitch mowers.

 

[JDgreen227]

Do the math - like smstonypoint wrote
5 foot cut at 80% efficiency = 4 ft swath
Acre/4 ft swath = one 10,890 foot long swath (about 2 miles)
Traveling at about 1 mile/hr you cover 1 swath in about 2 hours.

If you can go 10 miles per hour you'll get er' done.

I did the math before starting the thread...and thought their claim was pure BS for the vast majority of consumers...honestly...because of all the rain we have had recently that one acre I mentioned earlier has grass a foot tall...it will take me 3 to 4 hours to cut it down and chop it up going over and over it. And I real doubts ANY zero turn could do better at cutting than a tractor with a good MMM. I said it in the beginning I thought their claim was deceptive advertising and pure BS.

And BTW, I have two neighbors who have ZT's but what good is a ZT for anything but mowing? The neighbors both have garden tractors that are used for moving things and clearing snow. ZT's are worthless for many tasks a real tractor will handle. Maybe Exmark should change their advertising to read "absolutely worthless at clearing 5 tons of snow an hour...."