Buying Advice Tractor vs zero turn

[dragoneggs]

You could foam the front tires. I think mine added 30 pounds each after I did that.

My front tires are too small to make a difference by filling them with anything but lead. :laughing:

 

[4570Man]

My front tires are too small to make a difference by filling them with anything but lead. :laughing:

Don’t you have a super Z or something big? My Grasshopper just has regular ZT tires on the front.

 

[dragoneggs]

Don’t you have a super Z or something big? My Grasshopper just has regular ZT tires on the front.

No just a little Kubota Z122 42in... I have too many tight spaces and undulations for a wider deck. Could have gone with a 48in but I only have less an acre to mow so not enough to really justify it. Lots of patches rather than a field.

 

[stevem5215]

I side hill cut with a Simplicity XT Citation 61". It's steep enough that my other mowers couldn't cut it up and down even. This cuts it up and down sideways and anyway i want. This machine is heavy enough and the tires are wide enough to make a difference. It's easily as good as the Steiner 420 with a 48" deck for cutting steep.

Steve

 

[tradosaurus]

I got sick of getting stuck in wet yards with the 2 zero turns I owned. A little more aggressive tire only made turning tear up the grass. Sold the last one (Ferris) and went with a John Deere X394 tractor. 4 wheel steer, power steering and hydraulic deck lift & lower. No regrets here. Obviously doesn't spin turn like a ZT but close enough for my needs.
I'm awaiting delivery of a BX2380 with 60 inch belly mower and turfs but the John Deere is not going anywhere. The BX will handle mowing the rougher lot next door to the house property as well as light duty loader stuff that causes my skid steer to leave ruts in the yard.
Worst mowing move I ever made: a Troy Built unit to pull behind a 4 wheeler. Under powered and a crappy cut.

How much rain are you getting? I have a 60" Toro Titan HD 2000 and with the aggressive rear tires I can now mow in slightly damp grass without marking the grass or getting stuck. I have to wait for the grass to dry out a good week is we get more than 2" of rain.
It wouldn't matter what tractor or Zero turn I had I still wouldn't try to mow in a wet yard.

 

[lilranch2001]

My next door neighbor ( an old farmer) bought a Grasshopper with wobler wheels on back.

He kept it almost exactly 7 weeks, traded it in for an eXmark, swore that those wobler wheels were chinese, that they kept trying to dig into the earth to get back home!

 

[tradosaurus]

The only way I would mow with a tractor and finish mower is if I got to the point where I didn't want to deal with the dust and heat AND I thought there might be an issue with ground hornets.

When I moved to the country 3 years ago I bought a new 48" Toro Myride. After about 4 months of mowing and taking 4 hrs to mow 2.5 acres I traded that in for a 60" Toro Titan HD2000. The extra 14" cut reduced my mowing time by about 45 minutes. I also threw away the crappy turf tires in the rear and went with a more aggressive tire tread. I now mark up the ground less and can go through slightly damp ground without spinning the rear tires.

I just wished salesman could give rear world situations before buying high dollar cutting machines.

 

[crashz]

I mow with a 72" rear finish mower and my L2501. I does a decent job, but I still need to hand mow around the house and I can't really get the woods line well or around trees. I mow just about 2 acres. Cut quality is just OK. Last year I used my push mower to mow once (mostly for my back), but I noticed how nice the lawn looked afterward.

One big issue is leaves. I cannot collect leaves with a rear discharge finish mower. I'm surrounded by woods and have a mountain of leaves to collect. Its something I didn't consider before I bought the tractor, otherwise I would have forgone the finish mower and bought a small zero turn with bagger or box store rider with bagger.

 

[tradosaurus]

I mow with a 72" rear finish mower and my L2501. I does a decent job, but I still need to hand mow around the house and I can't really get the woods line well or around trees. I mow just about 2 acres. Cut quality is just OK. Last year I used my push mower to mow once (mostly for my back), but I noticed how nice the lawn looked afterward.

One big issue is leaves. I cannot collect leaves with a rear discharge finish mower. I'm surrounded by woods and have a mountain of leaves to collect. Its something I didn't consider before I bought the tractor, otherwise I would have forgone the finish mower and bought a small zero turn with bagger or box store rider with bagger.

We tried raking and burning leaves but its a lot of work. I have 40 acres of tree with about 4 acres of house and grass and I finally figured out that by switching my zero turn to mulching blades about November and mowing the leaves once they hit that we don't have to rake anymore.
The leaves are ground down to a point that I don't need to rake. I just have to stay on it every time the leaves drop or I will be trying to mulch 4 inches of leaves. :laughing:

 

[JJZ 109]

How much rain are you getting? I have a 60" Toro Titan HD 2000 and with the aggressive rear tires I can now mow in slightly damp grass without marking the grass or getting stuck. I have to wait for the grass to dry out a good week is we get more than 2" of rain.
It wouldn't matter what tractor or Zero turn I had I still wouldn't try to mow in a wet yard.

Sometimes the rain doesn't cooperate with my schedule. When the grass starts to get away from you, sometimes it has to be taken care of in less than ideal conditions. With that in mind a tractor suits me better.

 

[3gunr]

I use my bad boy ztr at my house to mow 9 acres but i also use my 6ft big bee rfm to mow 3 acres and several miles of trail at my farm. i enjoy the tractor time more.

 

[lennyzx11]

Bluetooth and wireless ear buds.

3m worktune earmuffs with Bluetooth here. And radio.
I like listening to the radio on short periods but the long ones get an audio book Bluetooth from iPhone.

I’m mowing about 7 acres every 10 days. We have two Dixie choppers.
The earmuffs for me and wife uses earbuds to stream her music.
By myself it takes me about 5 hours start to finish. Counts using a push mower and string trimmer in certain areas.
Two of us gets it done in about 3 hours.

I was laughing to myself when I read that post regarding “try mowing here at 14 mph!”.

Since we had one Dixie Choppers, you know “THE WORLDS FASTEST LAWN MOWER” advertised.
It was inevitable that impromptu circle track mowing/racing would start when I brought the second one home.
Usually with beer and wine spilled all over the cup holders and I end up going back out the next day to clean up the cutting.
All in good fun though. We enjoy the time together.

 

[sixdogs]

I mow about 2.5 acres and, up till this thread, what has worked for me is an older gas Grasshopper 52" front deck mower to mow under my trees and around obstacles or difficult situations. Then I fly through with a rear discharge 7' Woods mower pulled by a Kubota B7800. It's worked so far and it's really all I know about mowing. Zero turns are new to me.

Now I'm thinking of one of two things. 1.---I could find a Grasshopper 6' front deck diesel and mow everything with that. Sell the older gas front deck GH and sell the B7800 and Woods 7' mower.

2--I could find a good Grasshopper diesel regular zero turn to mow the yard and keep the front deck GH to mow under my spruce tree lines. Sell the B7800 and Woods 7' rear mower.

Of course, I could just leave things alone and keep what I have. In either case I wonder about the side discharge GH leaving windrow issues that I would have to deal with. In the spring, my grass is thick.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[4570Man]

Sometimes the rain doesn't cooperate with my schedule. When the grass starts to get away from you, sometimes it has to be taken care of in less than ideal conditions. With that in mind a tractor suits me better.

My ZT will mow anything a belly mower or a finish mower will handle.

 

[two_bit_score]

I mow about 2.5 acres and, up till this thread, what has worked for me is an older gas Grasshopper 52" front deck mower to mow under my trees and around obstacles or difficult situations. Then I fly through with a rear discharge 7' Woods mower pulled by a Kubota B7800. It's worked so far and it's really all I know about mowing. Zero turns are new to me.

Now I'm thinking of one of two things. 1.---I could find a Grasshopper 6' front deck diesel and mow everything with that. Sell the older gas front deck GH and sell the B7800 and Woods 7' mower.

2--I could find a good Grasshopper diesel regular zero turn to mow the yard and keep the front deck GH to mow under my spruce tree lines. Sell the B7800 and Woods 7' rear mower.

Of course, I could just leave things alone and keep what I have. In either case I wonder about the side discharge GH leaving windrow issues that I would have to deal with. In the spring, my grass is thick.

Any thoughts on this?

Grasshopper with the mulching kit. .??

 

[Steppenwolfe]

My ZT will mow anything a belly mower or a finish mower will handle.

And probably then some.

 

[JJZ 109]

My ZT will mow anything a belly mower or a finish mower will handle.

As previously stated, the 2 ZT's that I had would easily get stuck in wet conditions that did not remotely resemble a quagmire or mud. Wet clay is pretty slick and a ZT just wasn't making it for me. I moved on to something that's working out better for my situation.
I'm not here to tell anyone that their equipment is right or wrong, better or worse. Simply stated what worked and did not work for me.

 

[ArlyA]

As previously stated, the 2 ZT's that I had would easily get stuck in wet conditions that did not remotely resemble a quagmire or mud. Wet clay is pretty slick and a ZT just wasn't making it for me. I moved on to something that's working out better for my situation.
I'm not here to tell anyone that their equipment is right or wrong, better or worse. Simply stated what worked and did not work for me.

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??

 

[Sawyer Rob]

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

 

[dalola]

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??

Chevron-style tires are your friend.... A quality commercial ZTR w/chevrons will blow your mind. :shocked: