SCUT Mowing - Ground Speed?

[Grandad4]

The 60" woods Brushbull has a speed of around 14,000 rpms. My Zero turn is around 18,000. But you also have finish blades on the zero turn. The BH has thicker blades and will cut up to 1.5" diameter. So it is difficult to compare cut quality.

I have found that it is not possible to run full speed on my 42" residential grade Exmark. It will run at 7.5 mph but will beat you to death as there is no suspension. My guess is that a tractor at 3.5-4 mph with a 60-72" deck will take just as long or perhaps a little longer to cut.

A couple of benefits to the tractor in my particular situation is the following; Tractor is a muti-purpose tool if you have the FEL. You don't have to stay on top of all of the grass year round. If you let it get too long you lose the time saving benefit of the ZTR.

On the other hand many ZTR's are cheaper, easier to transport, fit in a garage and have a beautiful finish cut. In a perfect world we would all have both.

To clarify, the BX has a mid-mount finish mower deck, not a brush cutter, so my comparison was SCUT mower deck to ZTR mower deck. Used a 3 pt. separate brush cutter for rough stuff... totally different animal.

 

[dragoneggs]

This was an easy decision for me. I mow about an acre with lots of edges and tight turns. I use a Z turn for mowing and my BX25D for everything else. A MMM would be in the way for anything but mowing on my property and I surely don't want to be taking it on/off. My Z-turn retired my JD garden tractor because of its speed and maneuverability.

Seems to me that your only decision is whether to get a BH or not and keep your Z turn. I love my BH... I maybe don't use it enough to justify the extra dollars spent after 4+ years but I plan to keep it for my lifetime so I don't fret about the ROI. Every time you want to dig a hole for planting, or trench a bit, or pull something out, you will love not having to use a pick/shovel or hassle with a rental. Just depends how much landscaping you have in front of you. Me, I have a lot including re-landscaping. Building/rebuilding terraces is a major part of it.

 

[DK35vince]

Bingo! Blade tip speed is the key. Commercial ZTR's have the fastest tip speeds you can buy. This is why they have superior cut performance, even at higher ground speed.

Yes it makes a BIG difference.
I have several mowers.
Landpride AT 2572 (72" rear finish mower) Blade tip speed 15,500 FPM
First Choice GM 35-84 (84" rear finish mower) Blade tip speed 15,300 FPM
Hustler Super Z commercial grade zero turn (72" VX4 deck ) Blade tip speed 18,530 FPM
I can mow at MUCH higher speeds with my zero turn and still get a good cut.
That plus my zero turn with suspension seat, flex forks and 7-8 PSI tire pressure rides a lot a better than my tractor with r-4"s and 35 PSI front and 15 PSI loaded rear tires mowing at higher speeds.
And the maneuverability difference is massive.
Combine all of the above and the zero turn will out mow my tractor by a HUGE amount.

 

[dakotagun]

Would you care to give your reason why?

My 60” mower is not a drive-over deck, so it takes a little effort to install/remove. And between mowings, there’s other stuff to do where the box blade or FEL or tiller are needed, so keeping the deck installed is not desirable. I had a 54” deck Craftsman garden tractor for the mowing and when that finally died, decided to get the ztr and retire the 2305 from mowing. 54”
ztr is faster (30% or more) and cuts better than the 2305 deck, maybe due to lay of land, slopes or frequent obstacles/trees. I still have the deck for backup, but haven’t installed it last two seasons.
If I didn’t have the ztr, I’d opt for a used garden tractor to mow and keep the 2305 running other specialized chores.

 

[ovrszd]

Sounds like the ground speed difference is directly related to blade speed. It's the only reason I can think of too. Was just curious to hear other's thoughts.

 

[Grandad4]

Just going by what I see around here, properties mowed with a ZTR tend to be finished lawns that are pretty smooth. The places that are former pastures and cornfields and remain fairly rough, like my place, are more typically mowed with some kind of tractor. My neighbors mow their smooth lawns on ZTR's, going twice as fast as I can get over the ruts and divots on my place with the tractor. All the neighbors see is that they are going twice as fast as me, but that's not the whole picture.

A high-end ZTR with either suspension seat or full suspension would make a difference also in how much abuse the operator experiences.

I've learned something from this discussion. Maybe I'm just easily entertained, but mowing my 6 acres regularly with the SCUT over the last 10 years has been enjoyable seat time for me. But if I didn't have the time or inclination for doing it, or did it for a living, I'd be looking for a top grade ZTR as soon as the place got smoothed out some more.

 

[ovrszd]

I agree. Takes me 8 hours to mow everything with my JD2210. By the end of Summer it's wearing a little thin. But generally I don't mind.

In my World, if I only had one machine, it would most definitely be a SCUT/CUT. Wouldn't even consider a ZTR. If I had multiple machines and money, ZTR and SCUT/CUT (depending on task list).

For private use I consider a ZTR a luxury. I feel that way because it only does one task. Hard for me to justify a $10K ZTR that sits 7 months out of the year.

I see more discussion here about ZTR owners debating trading for a SCUT than I do SCUT owners debating trading for a ZTR.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Yes it makes a BIG difference.
I have several mowers.
Landpride AT 2572 (72" rear finish mower) Blade tip speed 15,500 FPM
First Choice GM 35-84 (84" rear finish mower) Blade tip speed 15,300 FPM
Hustler Super Z commercial grade zero turn (72" VX4 deck ) Blade tip speed 18,530 FPM
I can mow at MUCH higher speeds with my zero turn and still get a good cut.
That plus my zero turn with suspension seat, flex forks and 7-8 PSI tire pressure rides a lot a better than my tractor with r-4"s and 35 PSI front and 15 PSI loaded rear tires mowing at higher speeds.
And the maneuverability difference is massive.
Combine all of the above and the zero turn will out mow my tractor by a HUGE amount.

My Land Pride FDR2572 72" 3-point finish mower is 18,130 FPM tip speed. You claim your same model is 15,500 FPM?

https://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/features/310-262f.pdf

 

[DK35vince]

My Land Pride FDR2572 72" 3-point finish mower is 18,130 FPM tip speed. You claim your same model is 15,500 FPM?

https://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/features/310-262f.pdf

That is what I found here for the AT 2572 when I googled it.

Section 6: Specifications & Capacities - Land Pride At 256 Operator's Manual [Page 23]

 

[Rock Crawler]

Isn't that odd. The Land Pride website I linked to above clearly speaks differently to the blade tip speed.