Too much Tractor?

[Bob_Skurka]

Neal, I don't think the smaller the mower the nicer the cut is true at all. Take a look at golf courses, they often mow in 7' and even 10' wide swaths.

For a few acres, and given a reasonable budget, a 60" mower is a pretty good compramise machine. All the tractors mentioned so far will take a 60" deck, some will take larger units. The Steiner 430Max and Ventrac 4200 certainly will take larger than 60", and both will probably fit under the smallest trees and mow around some pretty tight landscaping as well.

Generally I consider mowing an undesirable chore. That is why I want it done fast. But I think many people also want their property to look like a pretty good lawn too. There are lots of ways to achieve one or both of those goals. And in no way am I trying to start an arguement, I'm just trying to point out that some of these smaller units can push some pretty big mowers and give some great quality cuts at the same time.

 

[TBrown]

I'd go back and look at the sub-cuts again. They may not mow as fast as a ztr, but they mow pretty darn quick, and they give a great cut. If 95% of your time will be spent mowing, just take the loader off, and you've pretty much got a huge lawn and garden tractor. A ztr might save you a bit of time, but you'd lose alot of versatility, IMO. A sub-cut will do most everything a larger tractor will do, it just takes smaller bites out of the job.
If you want something a bit larger than one of the subs, take a look at the Kioti CK20, or my personal favorite, the Mahindra 2015HST. I run a 60" Bush Hog rear finish mower behind my 2015, and I can mow 2 acres in about an hour, and that's mowing around alot of trees. A mid-mount would be better, but they're more of a pain to take on and off. The cut is excellent, but the mower is brand new, so the blades are as sharp as they're ever going to be.

I'm not a big proponent of having alot of different machines around. If you've got the time, or you hire most of the maintanance out, it might not be too bad, but if you spin your own wrenches you eventually reach a point where too many is too much. I played that game for years, last summer I had to maintain my truck, my wife's car, our motorcycles, a bobcat, an old Johnny popper, my 78 Jeep CJ that never seems to get past the 95% restored stage, a lawn tractor, two snowblowers, pushmower, chain saw, string trimmer, woodsplitter, and leaf blower. It was ridiculous, it seemed like I always had to go somewhere for a filter or a hose or a cable or something. That's when I decided to get a compact tractor, so I can get rid of some of the other junk and free up some time. I know alot of guys love to work on their equipment, alot of folks on this forum would look at my list and say "well, you're just getting warmed up !" but I'd had enough.

Now I can start restoring that old Garelli moped I had way back in high school. My daughter will be old enough to ride it in a few years..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But I digress. Get a tractor. Its what you want anyways. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[mathteacher]

Get the tractor! When I was first looking at tractors I figured that I would spend about 80% of my time mowing. But as it stands right now, the FEL and BB stays on the tractor most of the time. I guess my tractor sees about 50% of it's use mowing. I am sure that will probably change but in which direction I am not sure. The boss wants a garden and to have a garden you need a tiller. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Buy the tractor and enjoy all that you can do with it that you can't do with a ZTR mower.

Donald B.

 

[BotaGuy]

ok...Another opinion. When I bought my property, it came with a Toro groundsmaster 72 inch golf course style mower, a cab, and a snowblower. What a PITA that machine was, so shortly after...I put it to the curb and got rid of it. It took over 2 hours to mow around the pond, the house, the trees, the paths....etc...about 2.5 acres of our 7 acre property.

I bought a professional 60 inch ZTR with suspension seat. NOw that sucker mowed fast!!! Up to 10 MPH, very maneuverable and a good cut. BUT, it takes concentration and all it reall does is mow. So I bought a small Bobcat to move the snow etc. Loved the machine. But in the end, I really wanted a tractor again, since I had a Kubota B7500 (Similar to the NH TC24 mentioned above). So I decided to trade the Bobcat, and the ZTR in on a "One machine does all" approach and bought a Kubota BX23, tractor, loader, backhoe, and mower. It will take longer to mow now, the ZTR did the 2.5 acres in about 45 minutes...but I get TRACTOR time instead of "Honey Do...." time.

The ZTR is fast, and at first fun, but all it does is mow.....

 

[Bob_Skurka]

BotaGuy . . . I think you pretty much took the discussion back to the beginning where it started. It went off course with the dedicated mower machine simply because I was asked about it. But I tend to agree with you that a tractor is a great tool and better overall choice than a dedicated mowing machine like a ZTR. That said, even the smallest Ventrac (the model I own) is capable of a lot more than mowing, but not nearly as capable as a tractor for most tractoring type jobs.

My choices would be a Ventrac 4200, a Steiner 430 Max or a NH TC24 or Kubota B2610 size tractor. I'd look for a 72" deck or reel mower for the Ventrac or Steiner, or a 60" for the NH or Kubtota size unit. In each case, I'd get the FEL. And in each case, that would be a good start. The Ventrac & Steiner will mow faster and better than any traditional tractor. The traditional tractor will be a litte more cost effective and will use non-proprietary implements that will also be a bit cheaper. Both the Ventrac & Steiner have optional 3pt hitches, so that would allow standard implements to be used as well as front mount units. Another excellent choice would be a Power Trac 422 or 425 tractor . . . especially since he doesn't already have implements. Those are pretty amazing units, but I doubt they would mow as well as the Steiner or Ventrac . . . the PT should easily mow as fast as the Steiner or Ventrac but with a cut quality that equals the traditional tractor. In any case, the front mount mower units are superior mowers than mid or rear mount mowers.

 

[Moon]

I'd buy the tractor. Like others have said you'll find more uses for it than you can imagine right now. The tractor can get you by until / if later on you want to buy a dedicated mower type machine.

I have a tractor, and a ZTR. If I had bought the ZTR first, I don't think the wife would have seen the need for the tractor. But getting the tractor first, she understands how many other chores it does around our property. I mowed our 4 acres with my tractor pulling a 72" RFM and it did fine. But now I can have the tractor for bush hogging & box blading, and the ZTR for mowing.
ZTR's make mowing more fun. It makes a more manicured look of my yard / tomato field. And I save a little time.

Hope this helps,
Moon of Ohio

 

[crown]

Get the tractor. I own 6 acres mow about 3 and brush hog 3, most of my tractor time is mowing, but it is sure nice having the tractor around when the white stuff starts falling and if I only had a mowing machine I would have pay someone to do the brush hogging.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Yea, I agree get a tractor. The Ventrac 4200 with a 72" mower deck, FEL and a 3pt hitch would be an ideal unit.

You'd mow much faster, and you'd mow with a larger deck than a BX or TC and you'd get the advantages of a tractor if you want to do other things too.

 

[BigMike]

Poppa,

I hear you brother. I cringe everytime I see a post about "bulldozing 3 acres of trees". Especially when they have to mow that 3 acres, but we live in a different world. On my land, the grass is sparse and the cows and antelope make sure that it will never need mowing. The land is dotted with juniper bushes, not trees, the tallest being in the 15' range. Of course, that is why I bought the land, I am into astronomy (big time), and trees tend to block the view. I intend on planting some western cedars, which can grow to 50', when I can make sure they get enought water, but those will be well place to help shade the house from the western sun. And ,within an hour, I can be fishing for trout in a small lake, surrounded by the tall pine trees. I suspect you can do the same, Poppa. I do like that sunshine 350 days a year.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

BigMike, my inlaws are in Albuquerque and I have friends in Amarillo, my wife used to live in El Paso. I think the only trees I ever see when I visit that part of the country are the ones that were planted by people who moved there from the East. Outside of the city limits of Amarillo I don't there is a native grown tree for a couple hundred miles!!! Albuquerque has a lot in the city, and then up in the mountains, but there are certainly a lot of stretches of highway where most of the view is scrub.

I will agree with you that the weather down there is nice. But me, I have so many trees that I can ship some your way if you can pay the postage.