Buying Advice Front mount ZTR

[ddodge68]

Recently my old John Deere garden tractor died. They are telling me $2900 for a short block, plus labor...I'm looking at $3500 to get it back up and running. In the mean time, they gave me a JD 757 to use. Wow...this thing mows circles around my old mower. But it doesn't handle the hills very well at all. All of the got me thinking....a front mount should be more stable, and have better traction. I don't haul it anywhere, so the size is not a concern. So...this being said, I could sure use some advice on front mount commercial mowers. Who makes good ones. Grasshopper is the only one that I'm really familiar with.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[OKnewguy]

Well you got Grasshopper, Walker, Woods (which I think might be a re badged Grasshopper) and JD and maybe Kubota? I am sure there are some others too. I went from a cheapo garden tractor, then to a Gravely mid mount, and then got the Grasshopper. The cheapo garden tractor was very stable on hills, it just got to be and reliable and expensive. So I bought the Gravely, this mower was much better quality, but was **** scary on some of my hills. So after a ton of research a bought my first front mount. You will LOVE it. The stability is great, the ride beats my neighbors Ferris, I then got the Michigan suspension seat Christmas, and now it rides like an old Cadillac. My older brother is building a house on a ten acre lot, and I started watching out for a used Grasshopper for him. We got an older Grasshopper 721D, and even thou it is old and beat up, it is a pleasure to mow with, the lower rpm and hum of the diesel is really less fatiguing then my mower just whining away. I am a little envious now. Anyway, the front mounts really are great, and you will not regret going with one.
Dave

 

[Birdhunter1]

The older Woods mowers were rebadged Grasshoppers, but that marriage was over with several years ago. Having spent alot of time on Toro and Gravely mid mount commercial ZTR's, I bought a Grasshopper purely for the sole reason I always wanted one as I liked their design. I will say that hillside stability and traction is more an issue of tires than machine, but bar treads on a midmount and you have a stable traction hog mower. The Toro (bar tread tires) would go anywhere (except mud), and cut great, rode good. The Gravely (turf tires) cuts ok, rides like a log wagon, built like a tank. My Grasshopper (723K 52" deck) rides great, cuts awesome, traction suck but I have turf tires on it, bar treads will make a world of difference but mine was very lightly used with turfs on it, so I have gave them a chance and I hate them. I have a few hills and have learned how to attack them, but in general I would be happier and better off with bar treads.

If you are in the market I highly recommend Grasshopper, get the powerfold deck (mine doesn't have it, I am 31 in good shape and strength, the deck is a tad heavy to lift manually), get bar tread front tires, I would like a diesel because I have a diesel tank sitting at the house and have to haul gasoline. But I have no complaints on the 23 hp Kohler.

Oh yeah, when looking at Grasshopper front mounts you have 3 frame sizes, 600 series, 700 series, 900 series. The last two numbers of the model indicate hp, 723= 700 series 23 hp, 930= 900 series 30 hp. 900's are the big boys, 72" decks are the norm. 600's are small, 700's are the most popular line and are what you see most.