What's it like owning a zero turn?

   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #52  
Presently I mow 2 1/2 acres with a B7800 and 6 ft mower and it takes nearly three hours because of the obstacles of trees, etc. It's not a lot of backing and forwarding, just going around trees makes it harder. There is a lot of open ground to go fast on but it's those obstacles that slow me down. My ground is flat as a pancake with a few bumps but I have 0.00% grade.

If I got a 6 ft Deere or similar zero turn, what would I expect in terms of experience and time savings?
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #53  
I don't have a lot of experience with a zero turn but what I do have I found them to be very tedious to operate because of the levers. There is nothing easier than a steering wheel with power steering especially with a front mount mower.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #54  
I have a 52" ZTR and can mow almost 6 acres (measured with Google earth) in 2 -2 1/2 hours depending on how much I stop to pick up rocks or limbs that my dog likes to haul in from the woods and whether it is time to mow the pond levee. Mowing this takes a bit more time due to the straight up and back down on the near 45 degree bank on the lower end. My top speed is 9.8 MPH according to the OEM manual and I have about 100 trees and shrubs to mow around.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #55  
I just did some theoretical calculations and with my mower at full speed, no turning allowance and no overlap allowance, I could mow 6 acres in 1 hour and 12 minutes. Of course we all have overlap and we don't go full speed all the time and we do have to turn a lot but turning with a ZTR is so fast that it is almost no deduction in time for a turn. All these issues add time to the mowing task and YMMV. But I would think that the larger ZTR mowers with the faster speeds do much better than most CUTs in speed alone. I know my B26 has a top speed of about 12 MPH and I cant run it but about half that going across the pasture because it is too rough riding.
I have one small section of pasture that I mow about twice a year to cut the bitter weeds and I can mow it in 1/3 time of using my tractor with 7 foot bush hog due to all the turning and passes needed to get between trees and even after all the turning with the tractor, I am still leaving a lot of area next to trees uncut.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #56  
sixdogs said:
Presently I mow 2 1/2 acres with a B7800 and 6 ft mower and it takes nearly three hours because of the obstacles of trees, etc. It's not a lot of backing and forwarding, just going around trees makes it harder. There is a lot of open ground to go fast on but it's those obstacles that slow me down. My ground is flat as a pancake with a few bumps but I have 0.00% grade.

If I got a 6 ft Deere or similar zero turn, what would I expect in terms of experience and time savings?
Click to expand...

You would think you died and went to heaven. With my 997 JD, you could probably mow that in 30-45 minutes. 1 hour tops, depending on how many trees.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #57  
A lot of poeple who don't have to make a living on their ZTR make zero turns. You'd be out of business in no time doing that on customer lawns though, since it tears the heck out of the turf. Most guys make a 3 pt turn same as on a tractor. The biggest advantage ZTR's have (at least commercial grade models) is in higher BTS's that allow you to mow cleanly at faster ground speeds. The maneuverability around obstacles in another advantage, but not as much as some like to think. There is an advantage, but it is based on comparing a ZTR to an average lawn tractor. You still have to be careful not to make ruts from going around obstacles the same way every time you mow. If you have a good hydro tractor with PS and side by side hydro pedals, you can mow almost as efficiently and quickly. I use both tractors and ZTR's in my business. It just depends on the terrain and conditions as to which one, when.

This chart is a fair indicator of productivity for a ZTR-
Mower Productivity - Exmark | The Efficiency of Our Lawn Mowers
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #58  
While I agree some ZTR's tear up the turf while turning, this is usually either a miss adjustment or design flaw. Mine does that now if I turn too tight, but, there is also an adjustment outlined in the manual to help prevent this.. basically making the inside wheel turn in reverse while turning so as to limit the amount of digging caused by a stationary inside wheel. I have never seen a commercial ZTR rider do a 3-point turn.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #59  
You haven't seen very many then, because most all do it. Go over to Lawnsite and ask about it there. You'll get replies from guys in all parts of the country on it, and the vast majority will tell you- 3 pt turn. There is no adjustment that you can make to the machine itself that I have ever heard of on any brand of machine that eliminates this. The only adjustments are by the operator with the sticks. There are a lot of ways to mitigate the issue as much as possible, but they would take a rather lengthy post to begin to cover them. Any machine that weighs what an average ZTR does, will tear on a zero turn plain and simple. It's just physics.
 
   / What's it like owning a zero turn? #60  
OKie dokie.. So my manual is wrong then? And you havent actually watched a commercial mowing outfit mow? Really?
 
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