Lawn mower vs tractor

[CrimsonTide]

I just purchased a new home in Alabama after spending 10 years in Nebraska post Air Force. I have 7 acres mostly flat and few tress and obstacles. I am not sure how smooth the terrain is because it has not been cut all season.

I don't have a need for a tractor currently, but do need to mow the grass.

I have a local dealer end of year selling a ZTR Cub Cadet z-Force 60 60" cut 23HP for $3500, new with warranty.

I am having trouble deciding if I should get a lawn mower or a used tractor with a belly mower, maybe even a bush hog to keep up the property.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Thomas]

If the land not to rough you might consider gang mower setup w/good second hand tractor,if your planning to mowe let's say every other week and have the time I would look for comfortable seat w/leg room ZTR may offer this setup.

 

[davitk]

For 3500.00 you're not going to touch a reliable tractor/mower set-up. If you need to mow, go with a lawnmower whether it be a zero turn or a lawn/garden tractor. If you have tractor sized tasks, pony up and spend 4x that for a tractor. IMHO.

 

[LBrown59]

I have the 3 below listed tractors to maintain my place and I only have 2.33 acres.
I'd shure hate to try it with a low end entry level machine like you mention on my properly.
I don't even want to think about tackling 7 acres that way.

I have 7 acres mostly flat and few tress and obstacles. I am not sure how smooth the terrain is because it has not been cut all season.
I don't have a need for a tractor currently, but do need to mow the grass.
I have a local dealer end of year selling a ZTR Cub Cadet z-Force 60 60" cut 23HP for $3500, new with warranty.
I am having trouble deciding if I should get a lawn mower or a used tractor with a belly mower, maybe even a bush hog to keep up the property.

 

[sperry]

I purchased a Lazer Z 60" for just that size lawn few months ago. (30+ hours at this point) I have other mowers but it took too much time with them. Have a dealer drop one off for a try, I think it will be a real eye opener.
Best of luck!

 

[Will_C]

What do you want to do? Do you want to mow all 7 acres regularly? If you do, you really should spend more than $3500 on either a tractor or ZTR mower. You should have at least a 60" cut, and you will be putting 3-5 hours on the machine every time you mow. IMHO, that demands a premium LG tractor, a subcompact, or a commercial ZTR.

Do you want to do other tasks besides mow? Then you need to consider a tractor, whether it would be a garden tractor, sub compact or compact.

Do you want to mow 1 or 2 acres regularly? Then, a cheaper lawn mower will do the job, and you could consider a used comapct or farm tractor with a bush hog for the rest of the acreage.

Hope this helps. It's always easy to spend someone elses money.
Will

 

[redka]

That is a beautiful place!
The terrain issue on a new place that I was unfamiliar with would make me lean toward paying someone to mow it for me the first time. That way you could watch the operation to see if there were any problems, and it would also help you answer your question.
If you are planning to keep the entire 7 acres mowed regularly, as some others have said, a compact tractor from a local tractor dealer with the 3 point hitch 60" mower and turf tires. It will last many years.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Thanks for the responses.

At this point I don't know what I would do with a tractor on the land other than mow. A tractor seems like a lot of money to me to just cut grass. My friend just bought a place 7+ acres mostly wooded and got a kubota said he loves it, but I can't for the life of me think what else I would use it for. Now on the flip side a mower is a high maintenance deice of equipment. Having never owned a tractor I don't know if that is the case.

The Z-Force 60 is a commercial grade mower with higher gauge deck and frame than residential models. Also bigger hydro pump than residential models.

I had 5 acres previously, 3 to mower and used a push mower, a POS riding mower and wheel barrow+shovel(s) to do whatever needed doing.

I would anticipate mowing around 6 acres bi-weekly. And the areas around the house weekly. As we landscape, put in trees, out buildings etc, the mowing area would be slowly reduced.

 

[2manyrocks]

Welcome to the group, and thank you for your service.

John Deere used to publish a little book that had a table in the back that would tell you how many acres per hour you could work with an implement of a given width at a given speed. There comes a point where you can't go any faster or use a wider implement because of terrain, but that little table really helps put things in perspective.

Tractors may be more expensive initially, but how many lawnmowers are still in daily use at 30 years plus old? What's the resale value of a lawnmower versus a tractor? With the way prices are headed, I would consider a good tractor a good investment.

Fuel economy is also becoming more of an issue. My diesel tractor does more work per dollar spent than my lawnmower, but it's not the right tool to cut my lawn. Diesel engines are also built to be stronger than equivalent gas engines and far outlast gas engines.

I think a lot of us end up with a variety of machines either because we like them or because they serve special needs. You can't beat a ZTR to cut a large lawn with obstacles, but you can't beat a small tractor for bushhogging, grading the drive, etc. If you take your time and shop around carefully in the used market, you're money will go further than if you plunk down all your cash at the local tractor dealer for one new machine.

 

[TigerfaninAR]

That is a beautiful place!
The terrain issue on a new place that I was unfamiliar with would make me lean toward paying someone to mow it for me the first time. That way you could watch the operation to see if there were any problems, and it would also help you answer your question.
If you are planning to keep the entire 7 acres mowed regularly, as some others have said, a compact tractor from a local tractor dealer with the 3 point hitch 60" mower and turf tires. It will last many years.

This is what I am doing. We just bought 7 acres and I can tell from walking around it that it is rough, probably from the initial clearing years ago. I'm having it bushhoged this week and then will be able to get a better view of what needs to be done. If too rough for a Zero Turn then don't know whether to spend the money on dirt and rent a tractor to smooth it out then buy a Zero Turn( which I could also use at my current place) or just buy the tractor. No home on the site yet and hauling is also an issue.

 

[Revelation]

Looks like a lovely area to live. JD 320 is what I would get

 

[TigerfaninAR]

What's the limit on a zero turn? Does the ground need to be like you average front yard with little to no bumps or can it be a little rough?

 

[sandman2234]

I live about 3/10 mile from the church I attend, and when they decided to go with a lawn cutting service, I told them to keep me in mind for the field, but that I wasn't interested in mowing the grass around the buildings. I got a call from the guy that mows all of it last week, and he wants to hire me to mow the field. It just takes too long to mow it with a 50" or so zero turn mower. My 65 pto hp JD can mow it about twice as fast as he can, and not break a sweat.
Spending the money for the tractor can hurt, but as long as you have that old cheap worn out riding mower to catch the areas that the tractor doesn't like, you will be way ahead of the game with that much property.
David from jax

TigerfaninArk,
The roughness will depend on how high you can raise the mowing deck without it being a problem. If it is too rough, your not going to want to sit on a zero turn to mow it anyway.
David from jax

 

[Gittyup]

A tractor would be the best investment. And I'd want a big mower for that much cutting. I'd look for a good used JD 455 or Kubota 1850 or similar before I'd lay down $3500 for that ZTR.

 

[EddieWalker]

The zero turn mower is for maintaining a lawn. It's not good for fields or pasture. It is the best tool for the best looking lawn, but you really need to have smooth dirt to take advantage of it's strengths. Cutting tall grass is not one of it's strengths.

I started out my search for a mower after my Craftsman riding mower died on me. I figured another would do the job for the areas that I mow, but after looking around, reading posts and asking questions, I went from a $1,000 budget for another used mower to $3,500 for an entry level zero turn mower ot going all out and buying a top of the line Scag commercial mower for $8,400.

Having that mower has really opened my eyes up to what a high quality mower is capable of. I can mow an acre of grass in just minutes, where before it took an hour on my ridealong. I've increase the area that I'm mowing and the new areas were rough at first. Now, a month later, I have it under control and can just fly by mowing it. It's fun and amazing the difference.

That said, I wouldn't dream of using it on my trails and open areas. I use a finish mower for that and cut it at about four inches compared to an inch and a half for my zero turn mower. I can cut grass that's a foot tall and have it look nice with my finish mower. If I let it get beyond a foot, Then I have to use my rotary cutter. That will cut just about anything I can drive over, but it's not a nice, neat cut. It just cuts it down and gets it under control.

As you can see, there are all sorts of conditions to consider. Having a tractor allows you to eithr rough cut your grass with a rotary cutter. If you want to mow all 7 acres, which is allot of work, you can then use a finish mower and not have to worry about the dirt being perfect, and still get a very nice looking cut. Then you can get a nice ridealong mower for the area around the house and just maintain that small area.

Other uses for the tractor might be putting in a garden? Spreading gravel? Leveling out the dirt or digging a drainage ditch. Picking up fallen trees or branches. The loader bucket is great for everything from moving dirt and gravel to carrying your chainsaw and tools to where you need them. It's awesome for picking stuff up thats really heavy too!!! I use mine as a jack, cherry picker and handy dandy do everything.

Having a tractor is something that you will never regret, but not having one is limiting what you can do, when you can do it, and how much enjoyment you get out of your land.

Eddie

 

[TigerfaninAR]

Thanks. Just the info I needed. Let the tractor shopping begin.