New to forum looking for help

[Matt74]

Hey Everyone,
We are buying a house that sits on 4.5 acres. Only about 4 acres will need to be mowed. Wondering if a garden tractor, zero turn, or tractor with a finishing mower would best serve our needs. We do not have much of a budget right now (about $4k or so) but could use some real world feedback as to what held up and what didn't

 

[NewfieDan]

We have both a ride on and a sub-compact tractor. Had just the sub-compact but found it too heavy for mowing with the mid mount mower. The weight of the tractor just flattened the grass. Ended up buying a ride on for mowing. Kept the tractor for other chores. Use it for clearing bushes/small trees, plowing snow etc.

I have never used a zero turn mower so I can't comment on them.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Depends on the place more than the acreage. How smooth is it. Is it flat or hilly. Are there many trees and other things to mow around? All thease things factor in.

 

[mddorange]

I have both a CUT and a V-Twin 22HP riding lawn mower. For cutting around buildings and trees in the closer areas, about an acre, it is the ONLY answer. The CUT is great for field cutting, bush hogging, etc.

 

[bcp]

...Only about 4 acres will need to be mowed. ...

I see your problem. You left off the 1/ in front of the 4.

In rural areas they are called "fields," not "lawns."



Bruce

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[Matt74]

Well turns out we lost the house due to title problems. So now we are looking at a house with 7.92 acres. Only about an acre at this time is lawn. Hilly. We are planning to clear another acre and 3/2 for a bigger back yard and a shop. So will need something to mows mostly but could pull a small tiller and aerator.

 

[MH8675309]

4 acres is more grass to cut than you think its. Making your yard look like a golf course when it's 4 acres (or bigger) could be a ball and chain after awhile,, Good luck with the new place.

 

[boggen]

push mower (ya walk behind and push), riding lawn mower, garden tractor, SCUT (sub compact utilty tractor)

difference between garden tractor and scut. is SCUT's you get a FEL (front end loader), and a 3pt hitch on the rear.

garden tractors, you can still get some basic stuff, tiller, snow blade, finishing mower, maybe a snow blower. but anything beyond that requires say a 4 wheeler / atv / utv pull behind attachment with most likely its own engine.

with scut and 3pt hitch, you can get PHD (post hole digger), possibly a backhoe with subframe, rotatory cutter (to cut tall weeds), rear blade, box blade, and many other things for 3pt hitch.

zero turn mower = just mowing nothing else. but possibly faster mowing, (high ground speed / mph) while mowing. different controls = good vs bad.


i would say a SCUT granted higher price. but lets ya reshape the land, deal with driveway, and get other tasks done. garden tractor second, then zero turn mower last choice. for current property ya looking at.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

If you are on a tight budget and only really need to mow look into a lawn tractor with a 52 inch or larger deck. Craftsman has some that are priced really reasonable or get a used one. Try it for a year and see what you think you really need. Sell the tractor if you think you need something else. My guess is if all your doing is mowing an acre or two a decent lawn tractor will work fine. SCUT's will cost you $10k, CUT $15K and up. A good zero turn will be 5k to 10k but will mow circles around anything. You didn't really get too specific what you want to do except take care of a yard. If that is all you want to do and are on a tight budget you will be able to get by fine with a yard tractor. That is what I did for seven years before I bought my MF 1529. I used a small lawn tractor to mow the lawn, trails in my woods and even cut food plots. I did have a Polaris Sportsman to plow snow and pull a disk but I got by really well until I could afford a bigger tractor.

 

[mddorange]

Well turns out we lost the house due to title problems. So now we are looking at a house with 7.92 acres. Only about an acre at this time is lawn. Hilly. We are planning to clear another acre and 3/2 for a bigger back yard and a shop. So will need something to mows mostly but could pull a small tiller and aerator.

You can get a pull behind tiller that has its own motor for a garden/lawn tractor but they cost almost as much as a 5' tiller for a 3pt hitch. If you ever want to clear any of the other hilly land, you better get a SCUT or CUT plus it would give you many more options in the future.

 

[Matt74]

Thanks Everyone. Yes it is hilly and wooded and we have a gravel driveway and all of these are exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks guys. Time to think about it before we get to close on the new place.

 

[Olympus]

The biggest factor to consider is how much is your time worth? Are you a retired empty-nester with lots of free time or you a busy family man with a full time career with a lot going on and little free time?

For a budget of $4k, I think the tractor and finish mower would be the worst option. You'll be looking at an old tractor with high hours and a well used finish mower that may need a lot of repairs and upkeep. Not to mention, the tractor will likely have a geared tranny and not have live PTO, both of which will severely increase your mowing time unless you have a flat yard with no trees or obstacles like a football field. I highly advise against the tractor and finish mower, especially for your budget.

Lawn tractor would likely be your next best option. Faster than the tractor and finish mower, but considerably slower than a ZTR. A lot of people use the lawn tractor and do just fine. You won't be breaking any speed records and you likely won't have a "manicured" cut, but it will cut the grass and do the job. You can get a pretty decent little lawn tractor for your budget.

The ZTR will easily be the fastest of the options. They will zip around objects in your yard and spin back around on itself at the ends and save a ton of time. At $4k, you might be able to afford a high hour commercial grade mower that was a trade in and you take your chances on repairs and up keep or you can find a like-new residential grade ZTR with only a few hours that would probably get you by for the next 4 or 5 years before it shoots craps. And those residential grade ZTRs are basically throw-aways.

 

[Olympus]

I just saw you moved up to almost 8 acres with hills. For that kind of acreage and tasks at hand, you need a SCUT and minimum and a CUT ideally. And $4k won't nearly cut it. My advice would be to buy an inexpensive lawn tractor for mowing the yard that you do currently have and leave the rest of the "projects" for later. You'll need to start saving some money in order to purchase an actual tractor if you're wanting to do the work you talk about.

I live on 6 acres acres and 3 acres is yard and the other 3 is woods. When we bought the place, the woods were so thick that you couldn't even walk through them. We had no idea what half of our property even looked like. We saved up and bought a brand new CUT size tractor and used it to clear the woods. It took the better part of 2 years to cut trees down, mow saplings, vines, etc and now we kept any tree over 10" in diameter. We we have a mature "forest" that is clear and open but with lots of big trees. I continually have to use my CUT tractor and brush hog to keep the weeds in the woods knocked down and prevent the vines and saplings from returning. It's a constant job and one that not even a SCUT could have completed, let alone a lawn tractor. For my 6 acres, I bought a 23hp CUT with a front bucket and it's almost exactly the right size for my acreage. Sometimes I wish I would have went just a hair bigger even.

 

[Matt74]

Thanks, that helps a lot. What we are looking at is picking up a JD x320 to mow, aerate the yard, haul small things, and just general stuff for now. Then buying something later on to take care of the rest as we thin out and clear a lil more land.

 

[OldBuzzard1945]

If it's hilly, and you have a number of trees/obstacles to mow around, you might want to take a look at the HUSQVARNA R 322T AWD

HUSQVARNA R 322T AWD - Riders


There is a long running thread on the MTF forum on it, and it's been getting great reviews from the guys that have one.

Seems like the folks here are positive as well.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/husqvarna/309078-husqvarna-322t-awd.html

 

[DrRod]

Having maintained a hobby farm for years, my advice to everyone moving to the country is: no lawn. OK, that might not be practical or desirable, but it is a relentless responsibility and pushes out a lot of other fun projects. If I could re-do my landscape, I would naturalize [i.e. stop mowing] a large part of the yard and just maintain a bit around the house in case I want to play croquet sometime.

Don't know if you have tractor experience, but working hilly ground with a tractor is not for everyone. Running across hills off-camber or turning at the bottom of a hill can be precarious. And even if not actually dangerous it can be intimidating - you sit pretty high on a CUT compared to a lawn tractor or mower. There's a reason the flat lands are fields and the hilly lands are pastures.

 

[DHD]

Thanks, that helps a lot. What we are looking at is picking up a JD x320 to mow, aerate the yard, haul small things, and just general stuff for now. Then buying something later on to take care of the rest as we thin out and clear a lil more land.

If you have a hilly lawn and obstacles to mow around, as OldBuzzard1945 has already suggested, the Husqvarna R322T AWD would be worth a look. It's got two transmissions and plenty of power to negotiate hilly lawns.

It might be risky for you to expect a 2wd garden tractor to have enough traction for your hilly terrain.
I used Wheel Horse 2wd garden tractors on my hilly lawn for over 20 years then finally got Husqvarna
R322T AWD, what a difference.

A 2wd GT can actually be dangerous on a hilly lawn, I've had at least two instances with the Wheel Horse 2wd flipping over backwards on me, just because it lost traction then suddenly gained it again, as I was mowing up hill, causing the front end to flip up and over backwards.
The R322T with AWD has no traction lose issues in those same problem areas. I can even stop and take off in the very steepest areas of my lawn without any hesitation and it even feels more stable and secure in the operators seat of the R322T compared to the Wheel Horse.
I would not attempt mowing my hilly lawn with a 2wd Garden Tractor ever again, after having experienced how much more secure an AWD mower can be.
Some may argue with getting a diff. lock rear end to increase traction. Problem with a diff. lock is once you realize you have a traction lose, you must stop the GT to engage the diff. lock, so if you're on a steep hill it could be risky trying to take off again. With AWD on the R322T it's always engaged, you do not need to stop to engage it.

good luck with your search

Posted 3/19/15..6.54am
Before getting my R322T, I knew I wanted 4wd or awd.
I looked at both Kubota and John Deere, and they have 4wd riding mowers, but are sooo expensive.
The Husqvarna R322T AWD is at least 1/2 to 1/3 less in cost compared to Kubota or John Deere 4wd.
I was planning on mostly just mow grass with what ever I got, because I already own a Kubota B7800 4wd for more serious tasks.

 

[zbruch]

I recently listed my LIKE NEW R322T for sale to help buy a full size tractor to maintain some recently acquired acreage. Will be selling at a great price, PM me with any questions...