Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,615
I've been using the new Ventrac 3000 around the property and just thought I'd provide a review of what I've experienced after use. The Ventrac is replacing my Cub Cadet, and I expect the majority of its time will be spent mowing.
From the standpoint of mowing, the Ventrac is an amazing machine. It is NOT a ZTR in terms of manuverability or speed, but it is much faster at mowing than the Cub Cadet. Most of our landscaping is free form with tight radius curves and compound curves, the Cub Cadet could not follow all the curves causing us to back up a lot which really slows down the mowing. The Ventrac turns in 1/2 the space of a typical garden tractor so it follows the planting beds with ease, speeding up the mowing considerably.
For mowing fields, the Ventrac any the Cub Cadet are pretty much equals. Either machine is well suited for mowing long straight lines back and forth.
For mowing slopes, the Ventrac wins hands down. We have an area that drops down about 15 from the roadway down to a valley with a fairly steep but short slope. The area is over grown with weeds and there was a 30' run that we mowed with the Cub Cadet, the remaining 120' was left unmowed because of a smattering of trees. By the end of each summer weeds would grow 5' or 6' tall. The Cub was able to mow UP & DOWN the slope but only in the area where there were no trees because it was too unstable to turn across the slope. Today I took the Ventrac to the same area, mowed about 80' or 90' of the area, simply turning around the trees, driving across the slope, making 360 degree turns around the trees, etc. I was amazed.
Other observations: The speed and direction controls are duplicated in both a foot pedal and a stalk that is controlled by hand. Both work in unision. I found that in some conditions I used the hand stalk, in others I used the foot control. It was one of things I liked during the test drive but did not realize how useful it was until I actually used the tractor. The Steiner tractors would do everything the Ventrac will do, but it did not have the same controls an I am glad that I chose the Ventrac if only for that one feature.
Compared to mowing with a Cub Cadet, mowing time was cut by 50% in our valley area using the Ventrac because of the added manuverability and ability to more easily adjust speed, yielding a much faster cutting time.
Mowing time in the fields was about equal between the Ventrac and the Cub Cadet. There was no significant advantage to the Ventrac.
Mowing time around the house where most of the landscaping is, was reduced by about 50% using the Ventrac. In fact, I was able to get into areas where the Cub Cadet would not go, so we eliminated the need to use the push mower completely. And the odd thing is, the Cub Cadet is smaller than the Ventrac in overall size, it is just not able to move into and out of areas the the Ventrac got into with its front mounted deck.
It should be noted that the Ventrac has a 52" mowing deck. My Cub Cadet has a 54" mowing deck. I expect the Ventrac to reduce mowing time by about 90 minutes a week.
From the standpoint of mowing, the Ventrac is an amazing machine. It is NOT a ZTR in terms of manuverability or speed, but it is much faster at mowing than the Cub Cadet. Most of our landscaping is free form with tight radius curves and compound curves, the Cub Cadet could not follow all the curves causing us to back up a lot which really slows down the mowing. The Ventrac turns in 1/2 the space of a typical garden tractor so it follows the planting beds with ease, speeding up the mowing considerably.
For mowing fields, the Ventrac any the Cub Cadet are pretty much equals. Either machine is well suited for mowing long straight lines back and forth.
For mowing slopes, the Ventrac wins hands down. We have an area that drops down about 15 from the roadway down to a valley with a fairly steep but short slope. The area is over grown with weeds and there was a 30' run that we mowed with the Cub Cadet, the remaining 120' was left unmowed because of a smattering of trees. By the end of each summer weeds would grow 5' or 6' tall. The Cub was able to mow UP & DOWN the slope but only in the area where there were no trees because it was too unstable to turn across the slope. Today I took the Ventrac to the same area, mowed about 80' or 90' of the area, simply turning around the trees, driving across the slope, making 360 degree turns around the trees, etc. I was amazed.
Other observations: The speed and direction controls are duplicated in both a foot pedal and a stalk that is controlled by hand. Both work in unision. I found that in some conditions I used the hand stalk, in others I used the foot control. It was one of things I liked during the test drive but did not realize how useful it was until I actually used the tractor. The Steiner tractors would do everything the Ventrac will do, but it did not have the same controls an I am glad that I chose the Ventrac if only for that one feature.
Compared to mowing with a Cub Cadet, mowing time was cut by 50% in our valley area using the Ventrac because of the added manuverability and ability to more easily adjust speed, yielding a much faster cutting time.
Mowing time in the fields was about equal between the Ventrac and the Cub Cadet. There was no significant advantage to the Ventrac.
Mowing time around the house where most of the landscaping is, was reduced by about 50% using the Ventrac. In fact, I was able to get into areas where the Cub Cadet would not go, so we eliminated the need to use the push mower completely. And the odd thing is, the Cub Cadet is smaller than the Ventrac in overall size, it is just not able to move into and out of areas the the Ventrac got into with its front mounted deck.
It should be noted that the Ventrac has a 52" mowing deck. My Cub Cadet has a 54" mowing deck. I expect the Ventrac to reduce mowing time by about 90 minutes a week.
