Time to mow an acre. Zero-turn vs Tractor

[John0829]

First of all I HATE mowing! My SIL has a commercial zero turn and loves to mow, so guess who gets to mow the lions share of my property. He is much faster than I could ever be on the JD 1025 or with the rfm, what took me all day to cut he can do in a couple of hours. Well with it to me to pay him to do it but for all that speed the 1025 makes a much nicer looking cut and does not tear up the ground as bad. My place is on a hill and if you stub your toe you pick yourself up at the bottom of it and the zero turn, no matter how careful he is, tends to dig out places where he cuts around posts of the fence line. There is just going to be a bit of wheel slippage no matter how careful that does not happen with the tractor and it is not just him, several zt mowers have been used here for various reasons and they all do it regardless of the operator. So I guess my point is that zero turn do a great job but not perfect, they might be on perfectly flat ground, there is a trade off using either type of machine. I feel it just depends on how valuable your time is verses how good a quality of cut you want. Just my $0.02.

 

[TheMan419]

Just replaced my lawn mower w a zrt. I also have a 5 foot rear mower for my scut. The zrt runs circles around the scut for mowing. Not only in the tight part of the yard but in an open field.

However the zrt sucks and moving dirt, spraying for weeds, helping move hay.... and so on.

 

[stevem5215]

And I'll add to this. If you have a bumpy 4 acres to cut like we do get one with suspension. I've had both and with suspension you can cut full speed at 11mph. It makes a difference.

Steve

 

[chim]

Tried a ZT and didn't like it. Below is personal experience with tractors:

60" MMM w/ 14 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Cub 154 LoBoy, factory MMM)
60" RFM w/ 16 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Ford 1210, Caroni RFM)
60" RFM w/ 21 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Kubota B7500, Landpride side discharge RFM)
72" RFM w/ 32 HP tractor = 25 mins. (Kubota L3200, Landpride rear discharge RFM)
90" RFM w/ 42 HP tractor = 16 mins. (Kubota L4240, Caroni rear discharge RFM)

After mowing I can trim with less than one full charge on the DeWalt 20V string trimmer.

Here's a thread with more info:

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/428991-60-inch-vs-72-mmm-3.html

 

[DK35vince]

Tried a ZT and didn't like it. Below is personal experience with tractors:

60" MMM w/ 14 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Cub 154 LoBoy, factory MMM)
60" RFM w/ 16 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Ford 1210, Caroni RFM)
60" RFM w/ 21 HP tractor = 40 mins. (Kubota B7500, Landpride side discharge RFM)
72" RFM w/ 32 HP tractor = 25 mins. (Kubota L3200, Landpride rear discharge RFM)
90" RFM w/ 42 HP tractor = 16 mins. (Kubota L4240, Caroni rear discharge RFM)

After mowing I can trim with less than one full charge on the DeWalt 20V string trimmer.

Here's a thread with more info:

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/428991-60-inch-vs-72-mmm-3.html

My personal experience mowing our 8 acre lawn.
35 HP tractor with 84" rear discharge RFM = 3 hours 15 min.
35 HP 72" commercial zero turn = 2 hours.

 

[i7win7]

Depends on the mower
Riding The CBR1RR-Powered Honda Mean Mower - Motorcycle.com

 

[Texasmark]

ZT hands down!

 

[tallguy104]

Wow thanks for all the responses folks, much appreciated!

The reason I started this thread was this-

I have been seriously considering a zero-turn for our ~4 acre property, and was going to get a commercial one so it would last. Then when I realised I was spending nearly as much as what it cost for a subcompact tractor, it got me to thinking maybe I should just get one of those and have the flexibility to do a lot of other tasks (occasional earth moving, maybe a using a wood chipper attachment, rotary hoe attachment..) in addition to the main task- regular mowing.

It sounds like some of you are warning against such thinking though...that I need to be clear about what tasks I want to accomplish, and then picking the most appropriate tool(s). And most people have indicated that the ZRT it likely to cut our large open paddock quicker than the same sized tractor. Not to mention once you start buying the various attachments it gets substantially more expensive than just buying the bare tractor anyway, so perhaps it's not fair to think they are both similar money to purchase...

Sound about right?

 

[DK35vince]

Wow thanks for all the responses folks, much appreciated!

The reason I started this thread was this-

I have been seriously considering a zero-turn for our ~4 acre property, and was going to get a commercial one so it would last. Then when I realised I was spending nearly as much as what it cost for a subcompact tractor, it got me to thinking maybe I should just get one of those and have the flexibility to do a lot of other tasks (occasional earth moving, maybe a using a wood chipper attachment, rotary hoe attachment..) in addition to the main task- regular mowing.

It sounds like some of you are warning against such thinking though...that I need to be clear about what tasks I want to accomplish, and then picking the most appropriate tool(s). And most people have indicated that the ZRT it likely to cut our large open paddock quicker than the same sized tractor. Not to mention once you start buying the various attachments it gets substantially more expensive than just buying the bare tractor anyway, so perhaps it's not fair to think they are both similar money to purchase...

Sound about right?

I posted earlier about my commercial zero turn will out mow my tractor by a good bit. True it does.
That being said a zero turn only does one thing = mow.
If I could only have one machine it would have to be the tractor. I use the tractor for to many other things to be without it (snow removal, tilling, disking, loader work, backhoe work, lawn mowing, brush mowing, Etc. Etc. )
The tractor mows fine (did all my lawn mowing with it for years before I got a Z turn)

 

[jonsstihl]

do you enjoy mowing??

for me having a tractor that is more useful and spending 50% more time mowing for 20 weeks of the year in our climate is a fair trade but 50% of 1hr is a bit different than 50% of 4 hrs 52 weeks a year depending how many weeks of growing season you have.

I enjoy mowing and appreciate the time I get to spend on the tractor. but I only mow about an acre around the house.