Zero Turn Advice

[homey53]

We (wife and I) are about to close on a home that sits on 4.75 acres, of which 3 acres are currently being mowed. I have been maintaining the property for the last 2 years. I have been mowing the 3 acres with a John Deere LX 277 with a 17 HP Kawasaki engine and a 48 inch. On average, it's a 3 hour mow with the JD. If I sweep up the clippings, add another hour. Now that I'm going to own it shortly, I think I want to go to a Zero Turn mower. In the future, I may clear some of the land that isn't currently being mowed. If I do that, I may be mowing up to 4 acres per week. With a budget of $5,000 to $6,000, suggestions on Make and Model would be much appreciated. I'm pretty new here, so forgive me if this has been done several times. Thanks

 

[RalphVa]

I'd get a good Honda walk-behind, self-propelled for about $900 and mow only about 1/2 acre around the house. Then get a $1-2,000 bushhog for your L and hog the other 2 1/2 acres about once/yr or once every 2 years. Bushhog or walk-behind mow any trails you need to get around.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

Maybe better: get a 30" walk-behind Toro. That's what a neighbor got to do his extensive trails to replace his Simplicity tractor that wore out and is no longer made.

Ralph

 

[homey53]

I'd get a good Honda walk-behind, self-propelled for about $900 and mow only about 1/2 acre around the house. Then get a $1-2,000 bushhog for your L and hog the other 2 1/2 acres about once/yr or once every 2 years. Bushhog or walk-behind mow any trails you need to get around.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph. I may consider doing that.

 

[4570Man]

My vote is for the ZTR. If it's easy mowing I can cut 3 acres in around an hour with a ZTR. I was mowing 4.5 aces. It wasn't easy mowing. It was very rough, had every possible obstacle plus some in the way, and was higher grass. I could cut it in about 2.5 hours.

 

[JerryK]

Trouble with a zero turn is that once you get used to one it's hard to ever go back to just a lawn tractor...

 

[Gary Fowler]

I like my Ferris IS700Z which has a 23 HP Kawasaki FS691V engine with a 52" deck and will mow at close to 10 MPH if the ground conditions permit it. With it's 22"x10x11 tires, it helps smooth the ride in addition to the coil spring over shock dampeners. It fits in on the high side of your budget and well worth the price.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I mow about 6 acres that has over 100 trees, shrubs and flower beds and it takes me about 2.5 hours. My property has 2 hills on it, Uphill and Downhill and it will climb a hill that is really hard to walk up.

Yesterday I got in a mowing mode and mowed half my yard that was left from a previous days mowing due to being too wet and weeds growing faster than grass, then I went on to mow three of my neighbors for a total of about 8 acres in about 4 hours total time.

 

[Gary Fowler]

What you need to look for in zero turns is a chain hung deck ( I prefer a manually adjusted one like the Ferris, rather than an electric motor to adjust), a fabricated deck rather than a thin pressed steel one, a commercial or at least near commercial duty engine like the FS or FX series Kawasaki rather than the FR (residential) and a heavy duty 3400 or higher transaxle. I don't know what the equivalent number system is on other mowers like John Deere for instance. The 3400 series is about the best you will get in the $6000 range of your budget. Any transaxle that you get should be serviceable meaning it has oil filters and requires oil/filter change around 100 hours of operation. Any hydro drive that you cant service the oil is not going to last as well as one that can be serviced. Also any serviceable hydro drive can be overhauled easily unlike the cheap K46 and others that you basically just throw away if they stop working.

Also an air ride seat is almost a requirement on other mowers that don't have any kind of suspension system on them like the Ferris and Simplicity (same mower). Any air ride seat is going to add about $1000 to the price of any mower it is put on. An air ride seat on a Ferris mower would have to be almost like riding on a cloud.

 

[kbuicker]

I agree with Gary, an air ride seat is a must! ... I think a good bet would be to check on a Hustler mower.. you can get a helluva mower with a larger deck (larger than the 48" you're using now) with a Kawasaki or Kohler motor for your budget. They have a great reputation.