Zero Turn traction issues

[dnw64]

haven't read the entire post so please excuse if asked. how much of your mowing area is manageable with normal zero turn use, and how much is the slope an issue of traction?

I would say <5% is a problem.

 

[big bubba]

then you're on the right track, no need for another machine. do stay safe

 

[4570Man]

I would say <5% is a problem.

That’s hardly a hill at all. Even 5 degrees is not much hill. I’d consider 20 degrees a problem for most machines.

 

[dieselscout80]

That痴 hardly a hill at all. Even 5 degrees is not much hill. I壇 consider 20 degrees a problem for most machines.

I think he is saying that less than 5% of his mowing area has a issue with being too steep.

 

[dnw64]

haven't read the entire post so please excuse if asked. how much of your mowing area is manageable with normal zero turn use, and how much is the slope an issue of traction?

I would say <5% is a problem.

I think he is saying that less than 5% of his mowing area has a issue with being too steep.

Yes!

However, even with less than 5% of the area a problem it's still a concern for me. As I mentioned in the OP, my wife is looking to take over the mowing. I am concerned for her safety. I've mowed the lawn twice since I started this thread, and each time there were instances where I felt unsafe. I will not put my wife into that situation.

Still debating what to do. At this point I'm leaning towards different tires first, and if not happy with that, take the loss on the Ferris and buy a conventional "lawn tractor".

 

[LouNY]

Try one of the front deck awd mowers, Toro, Kubota, John Deere.
You will be surprised at how much better they work on slopes.

 

[4570Man]

Try one of the front deck awd mowers, Toro, Kubota, John Deere.
You will be surprised at how much better they work on slopes.

My Grasshopper is more stable and has better traction than my 2wd F series Kubota.

 

[big bubba]

Still debating what to do. At this point I'm leaning towards different tires first, and if not happy with that, take the loss on the Ferris and buy a conventional "lawn tractor". dnw64

hate to see you take a loss on your Ferris.....you might consider foam filling front tires. not sure i'd recommend foam filling your new rear tires, a lot of weight though some members may have experience with that. another possibility would be fluid filling the new rears to see how it would work that would give the option of going back to just pneumatic

not sure if the added weight of filled rears would add stress to the hydraulics. (or void warranty, etc) plus would make for a rougher ride of the Ferris suspension.... others here may have experience with that.....best of luck

 

[Texasmark]

Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing here: You do mean percent grade, not degrees, right? The numbers mentioned in your post convert as follows
30% = 17˚ (degrees)
35% = 19˚
42% = 23˚
52% = 27-28˚



I run those slopes on my Craftsman Garden Tractor regularly. I did have to put chains on the rear tires to do the steeper end of that range reliably. I've been debating getting a zero turn. Are slopes in excess of 40% (22˚) really that much of an issue on a zero turn?

Obviously I didn't pay attention. Either the ZT with studs or the conventional with studs easily do up to 30 degrees, in the directions mentioned. Don't need a lot of money to cut that.

Sideways with the conventional is the easiest and even though the cutting widths are 46 and 61 (ZT), doing that takes about the same time. The conventional doesn't have a bonnet and the ZT does so if I wait till the afternoon when grass is good and dry, the bonnet dictates the ZT and up and down trips. But I can ride "side saddle" on the conventional with my body totally erect. Cannot do that with the ZT, and the weight is really too much, even with studs. So sometimes I put on the broad rim hat, load up on sun blocker and get after it.

 

[dnw64]

.....you might consider foam filling front tires. not sure i'd recommend foam filling your new rear tires, a lot of weight though some members may have experience with that. another possibility would be fluid filling the new rears to see how it would work that would give the option of going back to just pneumatic

not sure if the added weight of filled rears would add stress to the hydraulics. (or void warranty, etc) plus would make for a rougher ride of the Ferris suspension.... others here may have experience with that.....best of luck

Fronts are solid. I've considered filling the rears with beet juice. I don't see adding unsprung weight would add stress to the suspension, but would be interested to learn.

 

[dnw64]

Obviously I didn't pay attention. Either the ZT with studs or the conventional with studs easily do up to 30 degrees, in the directions mentioned. Don't need a lot of money to cut that.

When you say "studs" can you be more specific? We added screw-in studs to one of our forklifts for winter traction (worked great, BTW), from Chinook, the #1200 ones as we use it inside on concrete.

The conventional doesn't have a bonnet and the ZT does so if I wait till the afternoon when grass is good and dry, the bonnet dictates the ZT and up and down trips.

What do you mean by "bonnet" and how does it affect the performance you mention?

 

[Texasmark]

Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the "Dimple Knobby" tires (I posted a couple of pages back) as "studs". The tire pressure of 5 psig is rated to 50 mph....I read somewhere. On my mowing speed, I figure if the tire will supoort "15 psig max to seat bead" when installing, they have proven themselves to tolerate what I listed at 10 psig and a few mph.

On bonnet, rephrase "canopy". Has nothing to do with traction, just helps to determine which mower I will be using on a hot, sunny day. Real comfortable on the ZT for sure.

The tires shown are a pair of Golf Cart tires that looked like they would have good traction but didn't...also shown are the OEM 10" wheels that I later replaced with 8" to get a larger balloon area with the studs I mentioned. They are now among their friends in my pile of "oops" tires that didn't cut it.

 

[dnw64]

Ah, I see!

Thanks. Also good to know those particular tires don't work that great, as they are ones I was impressed by the look of. I think I first saw them on the Ventrac/Steiner machines, but of course those are 4WD.

 

[dnw64]

Oh, and where did you get the 8" wheels from? That seems like a good idea too, for a larger contact patch. I aired down my stock 20x10-10s but it made little to no noticeable difference.

 

[hawkeye08]

Oh, and where did you get the 8" wheels from? That seems like a good idea too, for a larger contact patch. I aired down my stock 20x10-10s but it made little to no noticeable difference.

Texasmark posted this response in other ZT traction thread.

ebay has wheels too for a reasonable price. Type may be 8x7, 4x4 ...4 bolts, on 4" spacing if like my 4 bolt patterns on 3 ZTs I have (Ferris, DR Pro Z, Hustler Fastrak), with 8" tire ID like the rims to fit my 8" tires and the 7 is for tire to wheel mounting width. 7" works fine for the tires I bought when run at 10 psig or higher. Most ebay purchases are guaranteed for 90 days or something of the sort. Some sellers take returns. You don't have to put up with that poor service...........

Wheels for 8": 2) Golf Cart Go Kart Riding Lawn Mower RIM WHEEL 8x7 4/4 Silver Zero Offset
( 271801176126 )

Plug that into the ebay search box at the top of the ebay screen. Cost is $60 with free shipping for the pair. They have other wheels or just buy a tire that fits your current rim....they have other sizes.

 

[Texasmark]

Oh, and where did you get the 8" wheels from? That seems like a good idea too, for a larger contact patch. I aired down my stock 20x10-10s but it made little to no noticeable difference.

Ebay. Post 4x4-8, 4 holes, 4" spacing (seems to be standard on ZT mowers which use the 4 bolts) 8 for 8" tire ID. Ran me about 60 bucks, free shipping for the pair. If you can't find anything get back and I'll look in my purchase history, pull it up and publish it.

Sidewall rigidity, and volume of air to absorb impact. Proven problems encountered in my search.

Lots of stiff sidewall tires out there where the application may require it. In a ZT you can stand squirming (defined as: With the mower sitting at rest, grabbing the ROPS bar and pushing hard crosswise to the direction of the mower and observing how far the mower moves with the tires fixed on the terrain), like you felt the first time you drove on radial tires when you had been running bias ply on your car-truck.....made a quick S turn of the steering wheel at 30 mph or such, car squirmed but tread maintained contact with the road.

 

[MultiMow]

I’ve got the 28hp Kubota diesel in mine. I’d sure hate to feed the 30 hp gasser.

It's not as bad as you'd think. The gas units are lighter, and more responsive under changing loads. Back when all the commercial zero turns were heavy, there was a clear benefit to diesel... but gas still outrun them in productivity.

Nowadays... unless you already stock a load of diesel for your equipment (tractors, etc.), or live in a place where diesel isn't so much more expensive than gas... there's really no reason to buy a diesel, aside from longevity.

Where I live (southwest Virginia), diesel runs about 30-35% more than gas. 93 octane "high test" runs about $3gal, compared to #2 diesel at $4.10 gal. I had a Grasshopper 928D, with the 28hp 1105 Kubota 3cyl. I now have an older eXmark Lazer Z with a 27hp liquid cooled Kawasaki... the heaviest gas model they made. There's NO COMPARISON is bottom line... the gas model is better.

The Grasshopper was a slow dog uphill, and not nearly as responsive in the turns. Even though it burned less gallons, the price to mow 7.5 acres (5.5 acre lawn with two auxiliary lots) is about the same with gas being much cheaper. If I would run cheap 87-octane, the gas unit would be cheaper, AND faster.

Aside from being able to put 5-6,000hrs on a diesel without a rebuild... there's really no point. ESPECIALLY when you consider that a gas unit with equivalent hydros will see hydro life last nearly twice as long. All the added weight of a diesel really stresses the hydros on hills and direction changes.

 

[4570Man]

I probably wouldn’t buy a diesel unit new because the cost is twice as much. Off road diesel cost less than gas here. The gas unit might be more responsive but not ripping up the grass is the more limiting factor.

 

[Texasmark]

I probably wouldn’t buy a diesel unit new because the cost is twice as much. Off road diesel cost less than gas here. The gas unit might be more responsive but not ripping up the grass is the more limiting factor.

lYou don't need a diesel. I have 3 BS and one Honda, all V twins and all of them are meisers with fuel. The 26 BS Vanguard is on a 61" Ferris and it can mow so fast that even with that large of an engine it's economical.

I don't keep track of it mainly because every time I mow something, something is different so there is no set routine. I just know that I am not constantly thinking about fuel. If they were hard on it I'd know it.

 

[DK35vince]

My zero turn with 72" deck and gas 35 HP Kawasaki is a mowing machine.
But miserly on fuel it isn't. ( around 2 gal per hour)