My wife and I recently purchased a house on 10 acres. The previous owners operated a snapper riding mower, the old style one, - and a cub cadet 154. We now own these riding mowers, they came with the house. Both of these mowers are in bad shape, and only the snapper currently mows.
My 10 acres is laid out as follows: 5+ acres to mow, 2.5 + acres to brush hog, with the remainder in woods. Out of the 5+ acres, I would say that 10-20% of it is too rough for a zero turn. Over all, the land to mow is very open, but does get tight around some trees and around the house.
I plan to plant a .5 to 1 acre vegetable garden, and plant some rows of grapes. Might have some chickens also - one day
My wife and I work full time and need to get the mowing and ground/garden maintenance done fast. To put things into perspective, my dad mowed a little over 3 acres in a little under 3 hours - he used a John deere x540 with 54" cut deck. he cut as fast as could, but in the rougher areas he slowed way down. His garden tractor would bounce if you went too fast. (thanks Dad, for your help)
I do not know if we will buy new or used, and I am leaning towards a two tractor solutions:
1. new consumer zero turn or used commercial zero turn
2. a small compact tractor for gardening and brush hogging
I would prefer one tractor to do it all, but mid point ptos and belly mowers are expensive options.
questions:
1.) How many tractors do I really need - should I pursue the two tractor solution - or what about a single tractor solution ?
2.) rear finish mower versus belly mower???????
3.) what size pto horse power tractor do I need.
Thank you so much for your comments/ suggestions.
My immediate task is to get the cub 54 to start/mow again - so at least I can sell it.
Thanks again - from eastern Missouri
My 10 acres is laid out as follows: 5+ acres to mow, 2.5 + acres to brush hog, with the remainder in woods. Out of the 5+ acres, I would say that 10-20% of it is too rough for a zero turn. Over all, the land to mow is very open, but does get tight around some trees and around the house.
I plan to plant a .5 to 1 acre vegetable garden, and plant some rows of grapes. Might have some chickens also - one day
My wife and I work full time and need to get the mowing and ground/garden maintenance done fast. To put things into perspective, my dad mowed a little over 3 acres in a little under 3 hours - he used a John deere x540 with 54" cut deck. he cut as fast as could, but in the rougher areas he slowed way down. His garden tractor would bounce if you went too fast. (thanks Dad, for your help)
I do not know if we will buy new or used, and I am leaning towards a two tractor solutions:
1. new consumer zero turn or used commercial zero turn
2. a small compact tractor for gardening and brush hogging
I would prefer one tractor to do it all, but mid point ptos and belly mowers are expensive options.
questions:
1.) How many tractors do I really need - should I pursue the two tractor solution - or what about a single tractor solution ?
2.) rear finish mower versus belly mower???????
3.) what size pto horse power tractor do I need.
Thank you so much for your comments/ suggestions.
My immediate task is to get the cub 54 to start/mow again - so at least I can sell it.
Thanks again - from eastern Missouri
