Would a zero turn be faster than a B2601?

[Bob 123]

When i cut my neighbors yard dry with the B2601 it bogs it down to the point where i have to lift the deck up some and yes i cut it low but when i use his little 46" cut craftsman it cuts it like a dream! at the same height.

Now his yard is thick taller grass so it makes me wonder what a ZT would do it seems like the kubota MMM has a hard time getting the grass out of the deck.

I know it's not a fair comparison 60" deck vs 46" but has anyone else noticed that a kubota MMM has trouble getting all the grass out? I even mow with the deflector thing up it seems to help.

 

[number two]

What a HOT topic!
I'm surprised to see so many members that seldom post to chime in here.
Carry on!

 

[shooterdon]

I use my tractor as a tractor and that means having to remove the mmm. And that is a PITA. I had a mmm for the JD855 and never used it.

Maintaining two machines is not a big deal. The ZT will cut your machine hours in half. So you will be doing less maintenance.

And on fuel consumption, you can use twice the fuel per hour with a ZT and break even over a tractor that takes twice as long to do the same job. Plus diesel is more expensive than gas.

 

[lman]

I pull my 12' batwing finish mower while my wife trims with the 60" Country Clipper zt. We can do the 4 acres in about an hour.

 

[Typhoon]

I have extensive experience using both. Barring mowing a flat, square football field without any obstacles, a modern properly sized zero turn mower will outright destroy a tractor in efficiency/speed mowing grass. Just my .02.

 

[4570Man]

I almost immediately took the ROPS off my zero turn, the very low center of gravity and front deck makes it extremely hard to tip, so I see NO need to have it hitting the limbs as I mow around my orchard tree's!

I don't need it or miss it one bit.

SR

My Grasshopper came with a sunshade mounted on the canopy when I got it. It very quickly became an appreciated asset. And since it’s 1/4 diamond plate vs a plastic canopy it makes a good limb plow vs fighting with them by hand. I do agree that the chance of rollover is very near zero and if you aren’t going to mount a sunshade on the rops you might as well remove it.

 

[Fxfymn413]

Do the obvious and get your dealer to drop a ZT off for you to try. We did and found that while it was a bit faster the cut was not significantly better than what I was getting with my pull behind. I also found that neither the DW or I liked using it since it required more attention to control than a tractor does. For me cutting grass is a couple of hours of no cell phones, etc. that I enjoy and frankly if it is a mindless exercise that suits me perfectly.

I cut about 3 acres and most of it is wide open and does not require a lot of turns around obstacles. Keeping the ZT straight on the long straight runs we have was an issue for us, but in fairness if we bought the machine I'm sure we would have mastered it.

We bought the BX since it could do things like power 3 pt. tools which a ZT could not do. It also fits in my dump trailer, which the L4060 does not, so it is easy to move around to do small jobs at other properties we own.

 

[Rdrcr]

My biggest complaint regarding my Kawasaki powered ZTR is fuel consumption. It drinks fuel. But, realistically it’s a non-issue since it takes a lot less time to mow. Ultimately, I’d really like a Diesel engine in my ZTR.

Mike

 

[RoyJackson]

My biggest complaint regarding my Kawasaki powered ZTR is fuel consumption. It drinks fuel. But, realistically it’s a non-issue since it takes a lot less time to mow. Ultimately, I’d really like a Diesel engine in my ZTR.

Mike

So would I, but they're quite pricy

 

[Jac65]

All things being equal, a zero turn will be much faster and cut as well or (much) better than and any tractor solution you can find.