Buying Advice Tractor vs zero turn

[JJZ 109]

Our yard is on a hill side that is sometimes wet and in spots, quite steep. Tried a zero turn on it and it couldn't do it. Today we have the Husky AWD center actuating unit and love the darn thing. Never ever been stuck or even spin a tire and it does a nice job mowing as well. Sad that Husqvarna quit building them, what do do, what to do and what to get next??

I always thought an articulating unit would be kind of neat. But for my 2 acres the equipment currently on hand is doing the trick.
I've seen a local village using a Ventrac with cab for sidewalk clearing in winter. Looks like a nice setup from a distance but admittedly I've never seen one up close. I have no idea how they're priced but they seem to have attachments for various tasks.

 

[sixdogs]

I just don't mow wet area's with a finish mower, so any decent mower would work for me, but I can easily say, my Grasshopper 725 has been the best, fastest mower I've ever owned or even used, for mowing grass!

SR

How wide is your cut and does it mow pretty straight in open spaces?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Looking for buying advice based on mowing.

Currently have a tad more than a acre of flat property... I currently have a 42 toro zero turn... And a jd diesel tractor for yard work...

First thing is I知 upgrading to a 60 deck..

Butttt do I sell the tractor and the zero turn and get a sub compact with 60 deck to mow with (keeping out the yard work aspect right now..) or a 60 deck zero turn?

Regardless upgrading from a 42杯o a 60 deck will cut my now time either option..

but now for tough part.. will the zero turn cut nicer than a sub compact with mower deck..

Obviously turn radius is out the window on comparison

Will I hate going from a zero turn (even if it痴 42? to a tractor to mow..

Having both at the same time is really the best option.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

How wide is your cut and does it mow pretty straight in open spaces?

61" and mowing "straight" depends on the operator, personally, I don't have any problem mowing straight...

SR

 

[sixdogs]

61" and mowing "straight" depends on the operator, personally, I don't have any problem mowing straight...

SR

SawyerRob--Do you think you would prefer a 6' Grasshopper over over the 61" or is it just too wide?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

For MY property 61" is about right, because not all of the places I mow are level.

IF I had nice grass and it was level, a wider deck would be nice and then MAYBE I'd even go one size bigger in diesel power, but my 725 easily has plenty of power for the 61", even if the grass get's taller than it should be.

I mow my lanes, orchard ect, not just around my house and buildings.

SR

 

[sixdogs]

For MY property 61" is about right, because not all of the places I mow are level.

IF I had nice grass and it was level, a wider deck would be nice and then MAYBE I'd even go one size bigger in diesel power, but my 725 easily has plenty of power for the 61", even if the grass get's taller than it should be.

I mow my lanes, orchard ect, not just around my house and buildings.

SR

Thank you.

 

[stevem5215]

Here's my reply from one of the other threads. It applies here as well. (since it seems no one reads them all when asking this same question over and over)

A ZTR with a suspension seat is a minimum for a rough pasture cut. A ZTR with a full suspension system like a vehicle has is better yet. Balloon tires on some ZTR's also help but suspension is better. The new easy ride system from Toro is new this year and it adds suspension as an option (cheaper versions are available without of course). All that said, I have four mowers here. I have a Black Craftsman Professional model with a 24hp engine and the cheap Hydro gear K46 tranny that's not very good. But it has foot control and that's really a great feature one i highly recommend. It does a good job of actually cutting grass though. And it has a rear two bag catcher system that actually works very well except in wet grass. Damp ok but wet forget it due to clogs. It's been a good mower and i have it "on loan" to a friend during the summer months as he can barely walk these days so i let him use it and then get it back in the fall so i can suck up the leaves here. As for repairs, I replaced the transmission drive belt once and serviced the K46 tranny with new 5w-50 synthetic fluid (had the typical barely moving hydro problem) and have replaced the valve covers once (they were leaking oil) along with a couple of spark plugs once and a headlight socket and bulb once as they wear due to vibration. A new battery once too of course (still running that battery 8 years later due to keeping it on a tender in the winter months and topping the water up as needed).

I also have a Simplicity ZT 2500 24hp with front suspension only and a 48" fabricated deck with Gator blades and dual ZT 2800 transmissions. That setup was a great deal at only $3000 new (after $400 Simplicity rebate in the springtime). It cuts the grass very well I'd say and especially is better with those Gator blades as it handles heavy/tall grass dispersion better. It works better of course when the grass is dry and not even damp at all. The 24hp Briggs commercial engine is good and I've had that one for about 5 years now with the only issue being a bar that cracked that held the transmission mounting points (there's two of the exact same bars and one cracked). It broke on the 3rd year while under warranty but the bars were on Nationwide back order so i just took it to my favorite welding guy and he welded it up and it's not broken since. And the other replacement finally came and is sitting in a box in my garage (took 3 months to come in). That bar was a simple fix. Just 4 bolts hold it in and pulls out the bottom side. Otherwise that mower has had no issues at all. Runs good and has a EFI system of some type on it. The ride quality of this mower is good and was better than that of the Black Craftsman mower. It was an incremental improvement that was nice when i got it. The ZT2800 transmissions have been better and I've done a couple of services on them since they have drain and fill plugs along with spin on filters. (hence the reason to get these better transmissions) It does about 7mph full throttle across the field when cutting. (level no hills light loads on the mower deck when cutting) Otherwise at full speeds it's bumpy. ZTRs in general are bumpy ride cause you can go so fast. And hence why you buy one with suspension of some kind. It's important.

My third mower is also the newest. A Simplicity ZTR Citation XL 61" fab deck with a 27hp Briggs commercial engine and ZT 3400 transmissions. This one has full suspension front and rear and it'll do 11mph across the field. That's moving let me tell you. And it's easiest on the body without a doubt. I call it the Cadillac ride. It's really great to use. You can cut full throttle and at 61" you are really doing some damage to get done QUICKER. It probably has cut my cutting time in 1/2 to 2 hrs vs 4 hrs with other mower used. Previously i used a Ford 1900 with a 72" deck. That sounds like a great combination doesn't it ? I mean wow a 72" deck would seriously cut down cutting time. Nope not really. It can't cut things that fast. It was a 30hp diesel machine with a rear discharge deck. It left clippings more so than i liked to see on heavy grass and if I tried to cut with it fast it threw me all over the place and cut even worse. Nope, I loved having that tractor but it wasn't a great mowing machine like a ZTR gets you. Even the Black Craftsman cut quality was far better (I put Gator blades on it too). As a result the 1900 was gone last spring and in came the Citation to replace it. And it's been far better for my tastes (and the wife loves it too and saves her back for doing more fun things like tooth brushing the grout on the floor ! lol). So far it's been reliable too. Nothing yet but it's only on it's second year. Unlike the Craftsman that's on it's 12th year!

I also have another machine for cutting but it's just a "backup". I have a Steiner 420 AWD articulating sub compact tractor. It has a 48" mower deck and uses low pressure high flotation tires along with a criss-cross hydro drive system to not tear up the grass in the yard. I mostly use it for loader work (sub compact loader that handles about 700lbs max) and also i use a rotating brush to clear the driveway of snow in the winter. Advantage of it is that I don't use ANY salt on my driveway. It can clear snow down to the pavement and the sun clears the rest of it off. I have the cleanest driveway in the winter months here. It's always bare and dry by 10am. As for summer use, I have used it a couple times to cut the grass but that front mount deck just blows grass all over you i found. It's really annoying so i don't use it much. A mid deck blows stuff too but it's mostly behind you by the time it catches the wind. And at 10mph it never hits you! lol
The Steiner isn't new and is a 1994 model with a Onan 20 Performer engine. It's very reliable. I have had a few problems with it over the years I've had it. MOstly simple things like plug wires and new spark plugs along with a charging problem with the Molex connections they used back in 94' which weren't very long term reliable and corroded due to their unprotected nature in this application (auto type connections weren't used in tractors till later years probably due to this reason) But, mostly it's been reliable for me. I have the hydro system serviced every 5 years or so and use only the STeiner hydro fluid as it's proven to be reliable without issues or questionable fluid life like other manufacturers supplied for this application. I can't really complain at all about it. It wasn't a cheap machine to buy but it's been a good machine. And where else can you have the cleanest driveway in the neighborhood ? Without a lot of work? I can have it cleared in the winter in 15 minutes. 400ft plus turnaround area at top. That's big.

So, all that said. I highly recommend a ZTR. And get a ZTR with suspension. One without it isn't going to save any time cutting and you might as well just buy a Home Depot or Lowe's tractor. As for price, more $$ gets you more machine. It's worth it IMO. Same holds true for regular tractors too. And always buy one step up from what you think you need. Bigger never hurts. Smaller does!

Steve

 

[tradosaurus]

This. I replaced my turf tires with AT101's and it was night and day. No more getting stuck and contrary to what you would think, the mower did less damage to the grass when turning.

Same here. I've made this comment on many occasions. I'm really surprised that the tread tires are not offered as an option on zero turns.

I gave my turf tires (with less than 40 hrs on them) to a friend. Never will go back.

 

[tradosaurus]

I run AT101s on my ZT also. If you try hard enough you can still get one stuck but they make a world of difference over the useless turfs and cause less damage. I have no idea why most mowers come stock with turfs. View attachment 659598

Amen! Another good observation.