kthompson
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
- Messages
- 3,509
- Location
- South Carolina
- Tractor
- Kubotas B2710, M6800, L6060 cab, Volvo EC excavator, 2 ZTRs and various implements.
Hmm.. I'm not sure i see a direct corelation between tranny type and turf damage??
cut faster?I'll race ya.. you in your hst.. and me in my gear... target field 10ac open grass.. pasture.. can you beat 2 hours?
soundguy
Think this was answered by Altex. I can run my HST as fast as I want to (normally as fast as it will in the range I select) then when ready to turn let up on the HST keeping blade speed up but slowed for turn. Make turn and back wide open. Creep over drains or such again without ever touching clutch and back to full speed. Same type with reverse in area you must drive into and back out or such. Have used geared trans for same and there is no way you can turn without damaging the turf as fast as you can mow straight or near straight lines. As Altex points out the more turns and trees and such the more the HST beats the gear.
Now as great as the HST over gear, can cut my two acres with plenty of trees and shrubs in 3/4's the time with my ztr. Both ztr and rfm are same brands but for same reason HST is faster with less turf damage than gear ZTR makes tighter turns and has a 20 inch narrower deck. 52 inch compared to 72 rfm.
For any damp or wet hilly land, keep ZTR off of it. Bad combo with there use of rear wheels for pulling and steering.
My mowers are not Dixie Choppers but they show some of their ztrs at 9 acres an hour, guess your rig is slow at 2 hours for 10 acres. Just kidding. Know that is using full deck width and wide open. Not real world. Mine are Bushog and they don't show full speed or full cut width in their brochures which to me is more like real world. Ten acres in 2 hours is moving unless you are pulling one really wide deck. Please don't now tell me you have a fold up finishing mower.