One Tractor To Do It All?

[2manyrocks]

I'd keep the Ferris mower, but add a tractor. You could mow the bigger part of your land with the tractor, but still use the Ferris for mowing the tighter spaces. That to me would be a win, win.

 

[EddieWalker]

.. I can still average better than 2 acres per hour. On the more-open spaces, it’s easily 3-4 acres per hour. And those torquey little zero-turns at 11 mph feel like a rally car when zigging and zagging around obstacles, pure racing enjoyment.

That's very impressive!!!! With all my obstacles, I'm lucky to mow an acre in an hour. And I'll never get anywhere close to 11 mph while mowing. That's just amazing.

Obviously in your case, the zero turn is the ideal machine for the job.

 

[WinterDeere]

That's very impressive!!!! With all my obstacles, I'm lucky to mow an acre in an hour. And I'll never get anywhere close to 11 mph while mowing. That's just amazing.

The guy who owned this property before me really did a good job of landscaping it in a way that optimized mowing time. I've added a lot more gardens, etc., but have continued to follow his lead when planning their layout.

11 mph is the top speed of my mower, in fact I think it's more like 10.6 mph, or something like that. I'm able to keep those levers full-forward against the hard stops for 150 - 500 feet at a time, before the quick K-turn and then blasting back the other direction, as I stripe off the whole property. I don't bother spinning around each tree anymore, as it only wastes a lot of time and turfs up the grass, instead I just hourglass around them, shaving it close on two sides, but leaving a small un-mowed area fore and aft of the tree. No worries, I change my striping orientation 90 degrees each time I mow, so I'll be shaving those un-mowed patches close the next time, and this causes a lot less inside tire turf damage than rounding the tree.

 

[JRH02]

It sure depends what 'all' means. I can't use the Kubota for what the 410j does and vv. And if I had to mow, I'd move.

 

[dodge man]

I do everything with my tractor but I’m mowing about two acres. I’m going to agree JD is priced high but not more so Kubota. If I were buying new right now I’d probably look at Kioti.

 

[RayIN]

A one tractor solution might be this one, but not for only 6 acres: Log into Facebook
"

Carraro TRX 9400 4wd tractor, 4 cyl Detroit turbodiesel with 500hrs​

$19,850 · In stock"

 

[Runner]

I am on 6 acres, hilly, rough and quite a few trees. I have always divided the property up into "pasture" and "lawn" areas (though I don't have any livestock). 600ft of gravel drive to maintain and move snow off of, lots of wood chipping and loader work. I used a 60" rotary cutter to mow the 4 acre "pasture" areas a couple of times per year and a 72" RFM (rear finish mower) for the 2 acres of lawn around the house.

The original goal was to have a compact tractor to "do it all" so I bought the JD 2520 with the aforementioned rotary cutter and RFM, but it never really worked out that way. I always needed a lawn tractor to "cut in" around the buildings and trees, which wound up taking more time than actually mowing with the tractor.

A year ago, after becoming frustrated with the whole process, I bought a ZTR to mow the 2 acres of lawn and this has worked out well (except for the rough ride).

That being said, if I were in your situation (assuming you actually want to finish-mow all 6 acres) I would use the ZTR for trimming around the house and tight areas and get a CUT with a big RFM to cover the rest of the area. You can make really good time with CUT and RFM in wide-open areas without getting beaten up buy the bumps. I think this also makes sense because you probably need the tractor for other tasks such as drive maintenance.

If you want to cut down on your mowing time, you might consider letting some of the property grow and just cut it a couple of times/year with a rotary cutter. The good thing about buying the tractor and keeping the ZTR is you can keep your options open if you find you like one way better than the other.

Another good reason to keep the ZTR is for a back up mower in case the tractor is down for some reason.

 

[WinterDeere]

I’m surprised to hear some say they go faster in wide open areas on a CUT versus a ZTR. I zoom around my yard at 10.6 mph on my ZTR with no trouble, but I feel like I’m going to break something or be launched clean out of the seat if I ever exceed 4 mph on the CUT on many parts of my lawn.

ZTR’s do jostle you around a bit, but they’re light and build to take that sort of abuse, 2000 hours at a time. Mowing at that speed on a CUT with loaded tires (got loader?) is a much more violent endeavor.

 

[Runner]

I’m surprised to hear some say they go faster in wide open areas on a CUT versus a ZTR.

At least regarding my post, I didn't say I could go faster, just that I could make really good time without getting beaten up by bumps. My tractor does ride much better than the ZTR.

 

[Notforhire]

Looking at the original post I see that the ZTR he has is a Ferris, w/suspension and suspension seat.
His mower rides much different than one with a rigid frame. You don't get beaten by the bumps.
My "lawn" is reclaimed pasture and I have back issues .

Mowing with my L47 is much harder on my back than using a Ferris ZTR.
I haven't priced a MMM attachment lately, but I suspect it would cost more than his current Ferris would bring, if he sold it.
The JD 5055e I had didn't ride too bad while bush hogging, but it had MUCH larger wheels and a longer wheelbase.

I would recommend keeping the Ferris and getting a tractor/loader for everything else. It works for me.