Since the Zero, the Tractor Sits

[Runner]

I used to mow my 2 acre lawn with a lawn tractor (for cutting-in around buildings, trees, etc.) and a compact tractor with rear finish mower (for the open areas) for 17 years. This year, bought at ZTR to take care of the lawn.

I wouldn't give up my tractor for anything because there are just too many other chores. It is used for bush hogging the 4 acre pasture, all kinds of loader work, including pallet forks, snow removal, backhoe, stump grinding, wood chipping, trailer moving, grading, drive maintenance, etc.

I figure that anything that keeps even a few hours off the tractor will only reduce wear and tear and keep it available for "tractor work". I also like the fact that I can leave the tractor configured with, say, the backhoe, if I'm in the middle of a project, and not have to switch back and forth to the finish mower.

 

[big bubba]

keep it. sure am glad i purchased my pre tier4 M in '08 for 34.5k. believe i'll keep it as well, best regards

 

[masseyrider]

I figure that anything that keeps even a few hours off the tractor will only reduce wear and tear and keep it available for "tractor work". I also like the fact that I can leave the tractor configured with, say, the backhoe, if I'm in the middle of a project, and not have to switch back and forth to the finish mower.

My father had a friend who had a 50+ acre hobby farm.
His goal was to have a tractor for each major implement so he would never have to change them.
When Pa traded in 2 TO20 Fergusons (and cash) for a new MF245 Frank liked it so much he did the same deal X2 teh next day because he had like 4-5 of the Fergusons.
When he built his barn he bought a Backhoe for just that job. When he was done he parked it inside and never used it again.
After he died at the estate sale it had 30hrs showing and a layer of bird and chicken poop where ever they could roost.
He had something like 10-12 different tractors.
You can never have too many tractors.

 

[big bubba]

a tribute to the vintage times & machinery, had a later cousin of that model Massey TO35 diesel, & after 28 yrs of ownership, it was time to let go. @ my life stage though, i'll never look back in terms of safety & application over what i now have

 

[kozal01]

Once you get used to a good ZTR you will likely never go back to anything else. However, Id keep the tractor, so many more uses than just mowing and plowing snow.

 

[Mej13579]

Maybe you could sell the MMM and put it toward a storage shed to clear up shop space. A tractor may not be used as much but when you need it you have it there to use. Better to have it and not use it as much , than to need it and not have it.

 

[tmcj]

My Max26XL with MMM is great for mowing the long straight lines of our yard. However anywhere that requires a lot of directional changes is faster with the zturn. There are also a few hilly areas that I'm just not comfortable using the tractor and end up pulling out the zturn for anyway so I typically just use the zturn for everything anymore. But I will run the MMM occasionally just for the sake of running it.

However, I haven't even thought about selling the MMM. It was part of the package deal with the tractor which is all paid for. If it ever came down to having to sell the tractor it would add to the value as well. I have no intentions of selling any of it unless I need to go bigger for some reason. The MMM is one of those tools that I don't use very often but is definitely value added when you want or need it. No different than the backhoe, pallet forks, snow pusher, grader blade, brushhog, etc. They were purchased for a reason and it's much easier to store them then it would be to purchase them again when the need for them arises. Being readily self sufficient with tasks that come up is priceless.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Here, even a subcompact is maybe too heavy to mow with. Clay loam, 1-2” of rainfall per week = not great for heavier equipment

 

[Ricn]

How does a riding mower ride better than a zero turn ???
Certainly hasn't been my experience.

the JD for me is better, not knocking the zero, I just found them rougher riding is all for the two high end ones I tried out. If your grass is like a golf course then both should be fine but at the prices of a zero I'll stick to my JD..

 

[Racer4]

I was mowing my yard with my Wheel Horse 314-8 for probably 17 years, at 2 hours each session. Second gear was too slow for me, 3rd was too fast! I had a cyclone rake for it for leaf duty.

Finally bought a Toro Timecutter HD zero turn in 2018 and cut my mowing time down to 45 minutes. Then bought the bagger kit that fall after selling the Cyclone Rake. That definitely helped speed up fall cleanup.

I used to mow at a local property using the owner’s John Deere SCUT. He had a loader on it, 72” mower, and ballast box full of rocks. Quite the unwieldy piece of equipment for the size of the place and amount of obstacles. I ended up removing the ballast box and loader just to make it more maneuverable. Plus it didn’t tear stuff up so bad. When I bought my Massey GC2410, I decided not to get a mower deck based on experience with the JD SCUT.


since my dad died in 2022, I’ve been hauling my Toro up there every week to mow their lawn. He had a JD X380 to mow with. I don’t even take the snow blower off of it now. I can zip around their lawn and be done in an hour versus 2 on the tractor. And it looks better when I’m done.


I’ll never go back to tractor mowing again.