Zero Turn mower for moderate slopes?

[Jaybr]

The wife mowed around the house yesterday and came to the realization that having separate mower for the yard and the other areas won't be such a bad thing, so she'd like to keep the 54" hustler for the yard and get a bigger mower for the rest of the mowing. She also decided she could live with the seat on the CC.

We were still going to go look at the Wright and a few others, but calling around I could only find one dealer with a Wright in stock, and they are a Kubota dealership that also carries CC and a few other brands including Ventrac. I asked the very helpful salesman how the Wright compared to the CC and he told me nothing compared to the CC on slopes other than the ventrac and it's really slow and very expensive. He also said the owner of the dealership uses a CC 972 with dual wheels at his house with very hilly yard and a pond, and that he use to use a 4 wheel drive Kubota (that he put in the pond several times) but the CC is more stable.

That conversation sealed the deal for me (and the wife) and I'll be picking up a CC Pro Z 972s this afternoon hopefully.

 

[Runner]

The wife mowed around the house yesterday and came to the realization that having separate mower for the yard and the other areas won't be such a bad thing, so she'd like to keep the 54" hustler for the yard and get a bigger mower for the rest of the mowing. She also decided she could live with the seat on the CC.

We were still going to go look at the Wright and a few others, but calling around I could only find one dealer with a Wright in stock, and they are a Kubota dealership that also carries CC and a few other brands including Ventrac. I asked the very helpful salesman how the Wright compared to the CC and he told me nothing compared to the CC on slopes other than the ventrac and it's really slow and very expensive. He also said the owner of the dealership uses a CC 972 with dual wheels at his house with very hilly yard and a pond, and that he use to use a 4 wheel drive Kubota (that he put in the pond several times) but the CC is more stable.

That conversation sealed the deal for me (and the wife) and I'll be picking up a CC Pro Z 972s this afternoon hopefully.

 

[Jaybr]

View attachment IMG_0775.jpeg
Got the June pricing a little early

Mowed all the areas along driveway and pastures that I couldn’t get with tractor this evening with no issues, holds slopes great! Didn’t have time to mow around pond yet but don’t expect any issues.

 

[Rdrcr]

The wife mowed around the house yesterday and came to the realization that having separate mower for the yard and the other areas won't be such a bad thing, so she'd like to keep the 54" hustler for the yard and get a bigger mower for the rest of the mowing. She also decided she could live with the seat on the CC.

We were still going to go look at the Wright and a few others, but calling around I could only find one dealer with a Wright in stock, and they are a Kubota dealership that also carries CC and a few other brands including Ventrac. I asked the very helpful salesman how the Wright compared to the CC and he told me nothing compared to the CC on slopes other than the ventrac and it's really slow and very expensive. He also said the owner of the dealership uses a CC 972 with dual wheels at his house with very hilly yard and a pond, and that he use to use a 4 wheel drive Kubota (that he put in the pond several times) but the CC is more stable.

That conversation sealed the deal for me (and the wife) and I'll be picking up a CC Pro Z 972s this afternoon hopefully.

I demo’d quite a few mowers on my often damp and steep hills on my property (Ventrac was outside of my budget), nothing compared to the commercial, steering wheel equipped CC. I have no complaints and zero regrets with my purchase. But, a diesel option would be hillside mowing nirvana!

Mike

 

[Ronald G]

The seat is the most important thing in a mower, you need to be secure to safely operate it.
As far as my experience a zero turn has no business on a slope a tractor type mower is much more stable as far as sliding down into the ditch.
If the wife doesn't like it then don't question it. Get her what she likes, unless you want to take over all the mowing.
You have quite a lot of choices, go check them all out until she finds what she is comfortable with. Need I mention how fortunate you are.

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
The OP already bought a commercial CC ZTR with 4-wheel steering designed for mowing slopes and hills. They are fantastic mowers.

Mike

 

[ruffdog]

Slopes? Hills?
It’s had to beat a commercial Cub Cadet for both performance and safety.

View attachment 3495742
I have a Cub Pro Z 560 S KW. The 4-wheel steering is fantastic on the steep hills and the suspension seat absorbs the bumps pretty well. Plus, these things are built like tanks!

My only complaint, which is typical for heavy commercial gasoline powered ZTR’s is fuel consumption. I use about a gallon plus per acre.

Mike

^^^^
The OP already bought a commercial CC ZTR with 4-wheel steering designed for mowing slopes and hills. They are fantastic mowers.

Mike

He made a good choice. My dad's neighbor had VERY steep slopes to mow and had dealers demo their products. He ended up with the CC with the steering wheel because of the ease it did the slopes.

 

[Jaybr]

Did some mowing today and the wife used the new CC for the first time. I was on the tractor and she mowed the sides of driveway including ditches, all the slopes I can’t run the tractor on, and the pond bank. She likes the new mower! I was mowing at 4mph in the rough pasture and she was flying by me .

I’ve named this thing “Honey Badger”, thick knee high grass, weeds, steep slopes, it just doesn’t give a ****

 

[nancyk]

Does this CC 972 have dual rear wheels? 4 wheel steering? If 4 wheel steering, is this "on" all the time? I am using a Ferris IS2000z, 2007 model, with taller seatback and canopy, which is fine going up a moderate hill but does not like coming down. A spindle pulley just broke, even though all were replaced 2 years ago, and the shop said they are backed up at least a month, probably more.

 

[boatmoter]

Mowing season is here and we're in the new place with 15~ acres of grass. I'm using my Yanmar with a woods RD990 for most of it, but there are areas that are too tight, and the the sides of the long driveway that has somewhat of a ditch. There are also some sloped areas and a lot of pond bank that I'm just not comfortable running the big tractor on. We have a homeowner model Hustler, but purchased it to mow about an acre, and it's undersized for what we need here. Doing a lot of online research, I decided on a Cub Cadet Pro Z 972S, or 960S as they seem to be really good a holding slopes. Here's where the challenge comes in: My wife does most of the mowing around the house, which gets mowed more often than the pastures. Since she does a lot of the mowing, she gets a little say in the mower choice. Went over to the dealer Friday and looked over the Cub Cadet and she took it for a spin in the parking lot and she doesn't like the seat, feels too big to her. I suggested that I could get a cushion or something but she doesn't like that idea either. I know a seat may sound trivial, but in this case it's not. So now I'm shopping again for a mower (ZTR) and would like suggestions.

There are 3 dealers relatively close to me that I have good experiences with and between them they carry:
Cub Cadet
Toro
Grasshopper
Dixie Chopper
Hustler
Kubota
Wright

That's not to say that I won't consider another brand, but I'm comfortable with those dealers

I would do a compact tractor with a 3 point & pto. run a 6ft sickle bar along with a 60" belly mower at the same time. that would give you a 11 ft cut and the sickle bar is great for slopes by water. get done in a faster time to get to watch more star trek on TV and a cold brew

 

[CH4Ohio]

Does this CC 972 have dual rear wheels? 4 wheel steering? If 4 wheel steering, is this "on" all the time? I am using a Ferris IS2000z, 2007 model, with taller seatback and canopy, which is fine going up a moderate hill but does not like coming down. A spindle pulley just broke, even though all were replaced 2 years ago, and the shop said they are backed up at least a month, probably more.

I can't speak to whether this particular unit has dual rear wheels, but as far as 4-wheel steering . . . All of the S models with steering wheel essentially have 4-wheel steering since the steering wheel points the front wheels and also provides the inputs to the pumps in the rear that drive the rear wheels. It is "on" all the time.

Instead of having casters on front that just get pushed around or tend to drift downhill, the front wheels are linked directly to the steering wheel and stay coordinated and controlled.

I believe all the PRO models above the 100 series have power steering as well. Very nice feature.

 

[2manyrocks]

Does this CC 972 have dual rear wheels? 4 wheel steering? If 4 wheel steering, is this "on" all the time? I am using a Ferris IS2000z, 2007 model, with taller seatback and canopy, which is fine going up a moderate hill but does not like coming down. A spindle pulley just broke, even though all were replaced 2 years ago, and the shop said they are backed up at least a month, probably more.

The OP posted a picture in post 23. Has front wheel steering, rear wheel drive, and single rear wheels.

Cub Cadet makes a Pro Z 972 model with dual rear wheels and front wheel steering. Commercial Zero-Turn Mowers

 

[CoyPatton]

If you look closely at manufacturer slope specs, many ZTR gas engines are only 15 degree rated, some 20 degrees because of oil lubrication.

And most lawn mowers have a low oil level sensor that will shut off the mower when it fails to pickup oil. I have no issue with this, but it can happen in times when you want power to get out of a spot. If steep slopes, my go to has bern 1) to modify the slope to more manageable angle. 2)do a bunch of landscape work to deal with the area, 3) if nota huge area, weed eat it usually every other or 3rd mowing.

 

[gullagej]

I totally agree with Hey Dude! My ZT is horrible on damp and/ or sloped surfaces. I have dragged mine out of my wife’s gardens around the lawn more than I like. It’s always digging up grass when I get onto a side hill, usually from the uphill wheel. I’m now in the market for a new lawn tractor so I can sell my Exmark.
You might be fishing yourself out of your pond if you’re not careful. Good luck!

 

[2manyrocks]

You might try bar tread tires or using tire chains for improved traction, but mowing slopes when they are wet is asking for trouble.

 

[Jaybr]

Does this CC 972 have dual rear wheels? 4 wheel steering? If 4 wheel steering, is this "on" all the time? I am using a Ferris IS2000z, 2007 model, with taller seatback and canopy, which is fine going up a moderate hill but does not like coming down. A spindle pulley just broke, even though all were replaced 2 years ago, and the shop said they are backed up at least a month, probably more.

These folks have already answered your question pretty well, but yes it has 4 wheel steering all the time. The larger S model commercial mowers also have power steering, and the 972 SD model is dual rear wheel. The S is rated for 20* slopes and the SD 25*, I think most standard stick model ZTRs are rated at 15* slopes. If you go with the dual rear wheels. they don't just slap a second set of wheels on, the wheel mowers are beefier to handle the extra leverage the wider stance puts on the wheel bearings.

I would do a compact tractor with a 3 point & pto. run a 6ft sickle bar along with a 60" belly mower at the same time. that would give you a 11 ft cut and the sickle bar is great for slopes by water. get done in a faster time to get to watch more star trek on TV and a cold brew

I already have a Yanmar YT359c with a Woods 90" rear mower. My pastures are very rough and I usually mow at 3-4 mph on the tractor, the ZTR is much faster than that. the biggest benefit of the tractor is the air conditioned cab and the ability to mow very tall stuff.

 

[ruffdog]

The self leveling air ride seat is very cool. Watch it in action.

 

[Jaybr]

My seat doesn't have the leveling, but it is air ride. I assume that is part of the L in SDL. My dealer had an SD and it was $20k.

Also, if you didn't see it in my earlier post, they are offering 20% off commercial mowers in June.

 

[Runner]

The self leveling air ride seat is very cool. Watch it in action.

I want one.

 

[drumminj]

I want one.

I was thinking the same thing