Rear finish mower vs dedicated lawn tractor

[WranglerX]

Depends on property, I was disappointed to learn the tractor I bought is unstable and not practical for exact area I bought it for to do mowing... Tractor has been pretty much a shed queen for last year... Also a 48 or 54 inch mower behind a SCUT is not much of a gain... Instead of a almost $14,000 investment for tractor I should have just spent about $2500 for top of the line Garden Tractor/Lawnmower.... At this point still using a JD L120 (48 inch) with over 600 hours And SCUT sits in shed....

Dale

 

[RSKY]

Let us step back and remind ourselves that the OP has 1.5 acres to mow. That is not that large of an area. I mow an acre with a 60" mower deck and it takes about 25-30 minutes.

A lawn tractor with a 54" deck mowing at 4mph ( just a little faster than a walking pace) should do about 1.96 acres per hour, so it would take the OP about 45 minutes.

You can get a very nice 54" lawn tractor for well under $3K.

A less expensive husqvarna for $2200, which is the way I'd go. You can beat it to heck for 10 years and be money ahead VS just the cost of a RFM. Then buy a larger tractor for the larger chores as planned.

Good advice. It always amuses me when people suggest dropping $10-15000 for a high powered six foot cut ZTR for a 1-2 acre lot. Talk about a waste of money. I actually have a neighbor that did that. He got a sizable inheritance and the first thing he did was buy a large ZTR for his half to three-quarter acre yard. It seems to take him about thirty minutes from getting it out of the garage to washing it off after mowing. Don't think he ever gets it up to full speed. He would have been much better off with a smaller mower.

My father-in-law has a light duty Cub Cadet residential ZTR. It is about fourteen or fifteen years old and he did have to get the blade clutch replaced last year. Other than the one time it has been dependable. Most of the people who recommend not getting a light duty residential unit have never owned one. They do work as well as the Husqvarna type lawn tractors and hold up just as well. For a 1-2 acre yard they are hard to beat. MOST people do not have the extra $$$ to drop on a very expensive mower just to say they have one.

Only solid recommendations I will make is to buy from a dealer and not a big box store. If you do have problems you can get it worked on. I am also fond of Kawasaki engines. Especially since the dealers daughter told me that they worked on that brand a lot less than the Briggs, Kohler, and other engines they sell. So far mine has ran flawlessly. Also, if purchasing a ZTR and several deck sizes are offered make sure you don't get the largest deck offered on that model. According to the same dealer's daughter all the wide decks scalp on all but the smoothest yards.

Good day and good luck to all.

RSKY

 

[tjkubota93]

My neighbor had a lower end zero turn that he used a long time. One of the wheel motors quit. He was very disappointed that it was not serviceable. Had to buy the unit for alot of $. So he sold the fairly new engine he installed and scrapped the machine.

Next go around he made sure what he bought had serviceable pump and motors that were more generic and used on many makes and models. It wasn't a large step up in price.

 

[4570Man]

I don’t think anyone recommend buying a 15k zero turn. Used they’re 1/3 or less that. If we’re talking about perceived waste of money I think a high end lawn tractors with no loader or 3 point hitch capabilitys like the 7xx series is a waste of money. Is a 15k zero turn any less of a waste of money as pavement princess truck or a luxury RV?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Good advice. It always amuses me when people suggest dropping $10-15000 for a high powered six foot cut ZTR for a 1-2 acre lot. Talk about a waste of money. I actually have a neighbor that did that. He got a sizable inheritance and the first thing he did was buy a large ZTR for his half to three-quarter acre yard. It seems to take him about thirty minutes from getting it out of the garage to washing it off after mowing. Don't think he ever gets it up to full speed. He would have been much better off with a smaller mower.

My father-in-law has a light duty Cub Cadet residential ZTR. It is about fourteen or fifteen years old and he did have to get the blade clutch replaced last year. Other than the one time it has been dependable. Most of the people who recommend not getting a light duty residential unit have never owned one. They do work as well as the Husqvarna type lawn tractors and hold up just as well. For a 1-2 acre yard they are hard to beat. MOST people do not have the extra $$$ to drop on a very expensive mower just to say they have one.

Only solid recommendations I will make is to buy from a dealer and not a big box store. If you do have problems you can get it worked on. I am also fond of Kawasaki engines. Especially since the dealers daughter told me that they worked on that brand a lot less than the Briggs, Kohler, and other engines they sell. So far mine has ran flawlessly. Also, if purchasing a ZTR and several deck sizes are offered make sure you don't get the largest deck offered on that model. According to the same dealer's daughter all the wide decks scalp on all but the smoothest yards.

Good day and good luck to all.

RSKY

Agreed.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a tractor with a RFM and a Bush Hog because I have 15 acres including 8 acres of woodland to maintain so I had to have the tractor. I use a smaller (46 cut) lawn tractor as a trimming mower. I have hills, and on the really steep ones I ride the edge of my seat on my lawn tractor. I have filled rear tires on my CUT, and feel comfortable on some pretty steep hills with it if I go SLOW. With your acreage, I think the thing is to decide whether you need a tractor now or if you just need to mow. An acre and a half can easily be mowed with a <$2000 lawn tractor, and hills are not a problem using the edge of the seat method. My lawn is 2.7 acres, a few hills. I race thru what I can with my CUT and RFM, then do the trimming and hills with the lawn tractor. But I could easily use the lawn tractor to do the whole job and in under 3 hours.

That is the issue with a tractor when you have a bit of acreage, it is too slow and too rough. My Ferris IS 700Z has 4 wheel springs/over shocks that really smooths the ride. I could add a pneumatic seat and it would be lounge chair comfort.
A couple days ago, I mowed my yard (about 6 acres) and my front pasture (2 acres) in 3 1/2 hours. The pasture was over knee high so I had to go really slow plus all the trees I had to mow around. I can usually mow 3 acres per hour on my yard and it has lots of bushes and trees to mow around. I can mow around the trees so close that I only need to weed eat about twice a year to get the few tuffs of grass that I miss.
A tractor type lawnmower is better if you have wet/muddy area to mow but otherwise, a ZTR mower gets it done much faster than anything else. I will look to put some bar lug tires on mine next year to help with the wet swampy areas in my yard in the spring time.

 

[Code54]

Is a 15k zero turn any less of a waste of money as pavement princess truck or a luxury RV?

Very good point - it is all in what you like and want.....

 

[rangerfredbob]

I go to auctions, so I have much less into my equipment than it would cost new, and that way I can afford to experiment on different ideas. When I bought my 5 acres I only had a 42" riding mower with a 12hp engine, blew the rod on that and scabbed another engine in it for a bit, then that one went out for some reason... went to Craigslist and got two heavier duty riding mowers for $300, one running with a 44" two blade deck, loved that thing then it broke a tooth off the input shaft in the trans... got the other one going that was a 46" deck 19hp with 3 blades, center one only like 13" long with the same size pulley as the bigger outer blades, didn't rough cut for nothing, and it was a variable speed belt drive (some are probably familiar with the MTD setup of the 90's, this one had low range though so it wasn't as bad) which isn't good for constant changes and gets cranky, the variable pulley is like $120 or so as well... Now I got a '97 Craftsman big tire lawn tractor with a 3 speed high low trans, 46" deck, 18hp pressure lubed Kohler for $350, the blades are all the same so rough cutting will be better once I go to high lift blades from the mulching blades that are on it. Also got a couple Snapper 28" riders, into the pair about $150, super maneuverable and do good at rough cutting so they can do the perimeter and around trees better.

Also got a tractor with bucket off craigslist, 26hp with loader and came with a 5' brush hog for $3500, works great for rough cutting tall stupid grass (reed canary), and got a 60" rear finish mower at auction that I have about $200 in now with new belt, blades and spindle bearings. The finish mower does great on anything about a foot or less, sometimes have to slow down or it will plug up but in the spring after things settle down can go in 3rd high or around 5mph

Things can be done on a budget, it does usually take some know how to get it working... nearly everything above needed some work eventually except the new to me Craftsman mower so far...

A couple years ago I was EXTREMELY CLOSE to getting a Cub Cadet zero turn mower with fabricated deck... was fed up with riding mower troubles

 

[casvs]

Please remember that a tractor is designed more or less to do it all. Not better or faster, ect. But it can do it all! Mowers mow , graders grade, diggers dig. But only tractors do it all.

 

[paulfun9]

I go to auctions, so I have much less into my equipment than it would cost new, and that way I can afford to experiment on different ideas. When I bought my 5 acres I only had a 42" riding mower with a 12hp engine, blew the rod on that and scabbed another engine in it for a bit, then that one went out for some reason... went to Craigslist and got two heavier duty riding mowers for $300, one running with a 44" two blade deck, loved that thing then it broke a tooth off the input shaft in the trans... got the other one going that was a 46" deck 19hp with 3 blades, center one only like 13" long with the same size pulley as the bigger outer blades, didn't rough cut for nothing, and it was a variable speed belt drive (some are probably familiar with the MTD setup of the 90's, this one had low range though so it wasn't as bad) which isn't good for constant changes and gets cranky, the variable pulley is like $120 or so as well... Now I got a '97 Craftsman big tire lawn tractor with a 3 speed high low trans, 46" deck, 18hp pressure lubed Kohler for $350, the blades are all the same so rough cutting will be better once I go to high lift blades from the mulching blades that are on it. Also got a couple Snapper 28" riders, into the pair about $150, super maneuverable and do good at rough cutting so they can do the perimeter and around trees better.

Also got a tractor with bucket off craigslist, 26hp with loader and came with a 5' brush hog for $3500, works great for rough cutting tall stupid grass (reed canary), and got a 60" rear finish mower at auction that I have about $200 in now with new belt, blades and spindle bearings. The finish mower does great on anything about a foot or less, sometimes have to slow down or it will plug up but in the spring after things settle down can go in 3rd high or around 5mph

Things can be done on a budget, it does usually take some know how to get it working... nearly everything above needed some work eventually except the new to me Craftsman mower so far...

A couple years ago I was EXTREMELY CLOSE to getting a Cub Cadet zero turn mower with fabricated deck... was fed up with riding mower troubles

I would wonder what it all adds up to with time, fuel to get to and from auctions, time to fix and swap parts not to mention the inconvenience factor?

The thought of your post with the details left out would have me spending on the best NEW mower I could find just to avoid the wasted time and frustration!