Mowing Comparison

Rich F · Oct 6, 2011

I have a Kubota BX1500 with a 54" mid mount mower.I am cutting between 2.5 & 3 acres.Looking to reduce time as it is taking about 2.5-3 hrs depending on direction of cut.I don't have many trees or obstacles to cut around.
Will a zero turn reduce cutting time in half? I have bumpy ground & am not sure if I will pick up speed with the bumpy ground.
Or is an offset pull behind mower a better option? Or would a larger tractor with a wider deck be the way to go?
I like the functionality of the tractor but also need to reduce mowing time.

Not sure what to do but need to save time mowing.

Gordon Gould · Oct 7, 2011

Seems like the only way to cut your time in half is to go twice as wde at the same speed which requires more power or go twice as fast. If you got that big an area with no obsticals I can't see a zero turn helping much.

If it were me I would only mow one acre. Bush hog the rest once a year. But thats me.

North Country · Oct 7, 2011

If time is critical to you and you're considering buying new equipment, you should also look into having a lawn service mow. You may find that the $/wk you pay them is less than the $/wk you'd spend financing new equipment that does nothing but mow. They may buy the same equipment you do but they'll have 20-30 lawns paying for it where you only have one.

Plus, you'd cut your mowing time by 100% and get 3 *more* hours/week.

RalphVa · Oct 7, 2011

I used to cut about 4 acres of church lawn in NJ with a ZTR in 1.5 hours, with some trees to zip around.

Check into a pull behind mower from the DR folks. Think they have one that can be offset to augment what you have on your underbelly mower.

Ralph

KYDan · Oct 7, 2011

I mow over 10 acres of lawn most of which is a grass runway. Originally, I mowed most of it with my Kubota L2900 with a Landpride 60" finishing mower. My Kubota dealer who is also a John Deere dealer advised me that a zero turn would mow faster. He was right, you can mow, or at least I can, twice as fast with the same size deck. The blade RPM's are much higher on on a zero turn and you can turn it on a dime with no tractor tire cleat marks. I bought the JD 757 with a 25HP Kawasaki engine. If you have rough ground look at the Ferris zero turn as they have suspension. Don't get too big a deck if you have rough ground as it will scalp. It is also better on hillsides, you can mow across pretty steep banks with it. I mow the dam on my lake with it and with my Kubota I had to mow it up and down. I sold my 2900 when I bought my new tractor and I sold the finishing mower with it. I never used it after I got the zero turn. Anything built for a single purpose usually works better than a multitasking unit.