Tractor or zero turn

[edenfarms]

Thats a good point about bugs and comfort. A zero turn will rattle you around badly on rough ground. If the ground is smooth enough and you can mow fast enough not to damage your kidneys and throw up your last meal (some of you know what Im talking about) you might be able to out run the bugs:laughing:. Seriously though, a tractor would be much more comfortable. It depends whats more important - time or comfort. Also the right finish mow should mow comparable to a zero turn or atleast my woods mower did.

 

[daugen]

Matt,
I've come at it from the other angle, starting out with a Gravely 50" rider, which cuts field grass quite nicely, to a 61 Ferris Zeroturn with the full suspension and shock absorbers, which reduced mow time by about 40% or more. ZT's are made to boogey and if your land will allow you some speed safely, you will be amazed how fast you can mow.


And when you are done you are going to be pretty tired and sore if you've been going full blast. Zeroturns remind me of driving a corvette, fun, high performance, but you always have wet underarms when you're done, because you've been working at it. I didn't find the zeroturn relaxing at all. In fact I'm now going "back" in your reality to a compact tractor, which does ok and boy is the ride infiinitely softer with the bigger tires just rolling over the old furrows, instead of shaking me to death on the Gravely, jiggling me on the Ferris, and almost nothing on the tractor. I'm 62 with a bad back so comfort drove my decision. Just keep in mind there are tradeoffs. If you want to boogey, you will expend some energy keeping up with the machine.
And unless you are very careful, ZT's will dig up your lawn on turns in any kind of wet weather with a big heavy machine.

I hope this helps you.If you prioritize speed and performance, a ZT is the way to go. I just sold mine, it plain wore me out. For field work, having a steering wheel seems to be a much better idea. For lawn work, if you stay focused remembering you are mowing at quite a clip, the ZT will really get the job done. But, no steep hills with the ZT and if the grass is wet, you have to be super careful driving a ZT, much more than a tractor or garden tractor.

I personally slid down a wet sand mound behind my church's parking lot, and totally out of control went through our neighbors split rail fence. Lots of splinters, but not a scratch on the mower. Just my pride hurt, and frankly when you lose all traction, it will get your heart pounding, because you are like you were at six years old with one of those saucer sleds, pretty hard to steer.

Your "old" tractor might be slow and inefficient, but it has its virtues for sure.
btw, I'm a retired insurance agent, and volunteer fireman, and have seen a lot of accidents in my time. Including one last fall where my close friend slid on his z turn and flipped into his pond, with the mower coming down on his head. Lucky he lived, with many broken bones. The point of this that just like driving a fast car, things come at you faster, and you can get out of control faster on a zero turn than most other things you can drive, in my opinion.

ever thought of a wing mower, like a Swisher? I don't use it much but my Gravely gives me a 90 inch cut. Just an idea if the land allows it.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm considering a Husqvarna commercial zero turn (PZ6034) with a 60" deck and am hearing that I could cut that to around an hour.

I only looked at the Husvarna zero turn mowes and Lowes, so maybe this doesn't apply, but I found them to be on the low end of the mowers I looked at. I wasn't aware that they had a commercial line, and I'm wondering if they are just calling it that to make them sound more heavy duty then they are. Are you looking at a dealer or a box store?

Before you buy, go look at some real commercial mowers. They are night and day in build from residential mowers.

You might not need commercial, but you sure wont regret it if you bought one. Being out in the country, and mowing that much land, I'm worried that you will regret buying a light duty mower, regardless of what it calls itself.

Eddie

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you have lots of flat open ground, one of those swisher mower behind your tractor style mower would really cover some ground. Just pull a pin and drop it to mow around your trees. I suppose they would work with a ZTR but you would sure have to limit your turning radius but with 2 mowers with 60" cut, man could you cover some ground. I think they are about $1200 new. I have tractors and ZTR and now only use the tractor for the heavy back pasture stuff. The ZTR is really fast, but like everyone is saying, they will beat you and beat you good. Everytime I hit a hidden hole, I swear every vertebrae from my skull to the tail bone compresses. Mine has no suspension so it is a bone rattler but it is fast and really climbs hills great, not so great coming down as not much braking on them and mowing on a side slope is really hard if it has any more than 5 % grade. I think they recommend max of 8% grade or maybe its 8 degrees. Anyway if there is enough slope for you to kind of slip sideways in the seat, then it is nigh impossible to keep the ZTR's on track. I mowed down more than a few of the wifes shrubs and flowers :ashamed:before I realized that you just cant go uphill with one to maneuver around an obstacle.
Summary, if you just need to mow and dont anticipate needing anything else (Front end loaders are really handy but kind of awkward to mow with), get a good diesel commercial grade ZTR preferably with a suspension system and the best seat that you can find and hang on to your hat. They will cost you about the same as a 25 HP tractor with a mower perhaps a few thousand less, but not enough that you will be jumping up and down happy.

 

[jenkinsph]

Anyone have experience mowing the same lawn with a zero turn and a compact tractor?

I currently own a JD 4110 with a 60" deck. It takes me 2.5-3 hours to mow the 3.5 acre (minus driveway, landscaped areas, and buildings, so maybe 3 acres.) part of my property that is lawn. I've been mowing this yard with this tractor for 7 seasons so I doubt there's much efficiency to be gained.

I'm considering a Husqvarna commercial zero turn (PZ6034) with a 60" deck and am hearing that I could cut that to around an hour. The time savings is huge for me, especially mentally as I'm getting a bit burned out on the mowing after 8 years. It would make lunch-time (I work from home) or before-work mowing a possibility as well.

Before anyone says anything about the single-purpose machine, I'd keep the tractor for snow removal, brush cutting on the other 6 acres, driveway maintenance and general yard work. Not having to remove and reinstall the deck would add to the time savings. To be fair I'll have another machine to maintain too so there will be a small adder there.

One acre per hour seems slow to me my Big box rider when running correctly can mow my lawn at that rate. A garden tractor can easily mow over 1 1/2 acres per hour with a small deck. The large zero turns can mow an acre in about 15-20 minutes give or take. To take full advantage of the zero turns I would think your lawn areas need to be very smooth, then you can fly.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have a lot of obstacles to mow around and a wider mower would create as many problems as it would solve. It is very flat around here. In SE Michigan hills are places where they backfill around a house.

The commercial series ZTRs are a total different machine than the stuff sold at the big box. Very comparable to my friends Kubota. I have not looked at SCAG or any of the other commerical units because I'm quite content with the dealer--they are my JD and Stihl dealer as well--and the dealers for the other brands that are reasonably close I'm just not familiar with.

This is the unit I'm looking at. HUSQVARNA PZ6034FX - Zero turn mowers Not cheap by any means but my time is worth it to me if the savings is there.

I am no expert on zero turns but the specs on that Husqvarna look pretty good. Should speed up your mowing considerably.:thumbsup: The two things I would be concerned about would be the electric blade clutch what appears to be flat casters. I prefer the hydraulic pto clutch and rounded shoulders on the caster wheels.

I know everyone says the zero turns are faster than riders and I am not arguing with that. But I will comment that when mowing with my x749 at full speed 8.5 mph seems pretty fast. My lawn is very smooth but there is no way I can do that on most lawns, they are too rough. I mention this because to utilize the higher speeds your lawn will need to be smooth as a pool table.

 

[kycontrols]

Exmark has a good chart on acres per hour

Exmark Lawn Equipment

A big advantage a zero turn has is how you maintain a higher efficiency when changing directions. The more trees and obstacles you have will have a direct impact on how a zero turn compares to a lawn tractor

 

[bcp]

One half acre around the house with a riding mower once a week or so. The rest a couple of times a year with a tractor.

Enjoy watching the wind blow through the tall grass.

What's with these HUGE lawns with all the work?

Bruce
(5 acres, no lawn)

 

[jcdogfish]

Just traded a zero turn and went back to a tractor. I had a Kubota zd 326p and cut 5 to 7 acres. The zero turn is a grass eating machine. On 5 acres it takes me a little over 3 hrs on the tractor. It was 2 on the zero turn. However, there are areas below trees and ditch edges that the finishing mower is much better. And in reverse you can trim pretty close with a finishing mower. The biggest difference is I can walk when I get off the tractor. I also don't need to take a shower before doing anything else. the zero turn blows lots of dust and grass etc on the operator. Unless the lawn is very smooth the zero turn will beat you to death. I have rhumatoid arthritis and it would take days to recover after cutting with the ztr. It is amazing how much better I feel in just a month of not using a ztr. But if you can take the beating, no doubt the ztr is a lot faster. If you go ztr find a good used ztr like i traded in. It had 250 hrs and got 8k on a trade. A lot more machine than the non commercial models.

 

[daugen]

Matt,
good luck with your new mower. I bolted a lift hook on the front of my Ferris which I used for towing as well as lifting for service. And I got that thing stuck at least half a dozen times in the fields in two years. I got pretty good at pulling the mower out with the truck and my long yellow tow rope.

Just remember to pull the levers or whatever disconnects your hydro pumps if you have to pull your mower more than a foot or two. Because you will get it stuck if you drive it into any kind of standing water, which can happen if the water is hidden. And once those tires get mud filled, you aren't going anywhere, except to fling more mud on your machine, so shut it down early. Not like rocking your car out of the snow, those tires aren't going to self clean.

Now what are you going to do with all that free time on your hands?
Drew

 

[rsewill]

Did you get the Husqvarna? If your ride is too rough you can buy an inflatable cushion; seat and back. I have one I bought for $100.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just be careful with those washings. Some mower decks channel water right into the spindle bearings which is really bad if you do it while the deck is hot as the cooled bearing really sucks in the water. A friend of mine said his JD mower specifically warns against washing them. Better to use a leaf blower to blow off the grass and debris from top of the deck. If it gets mudddy and needs a wash down, let it cool completely first then take the leaf blower to it as soon as you get it washed to remove and water from the deck then grease the spindle bearings to drive out any water that might have gotten in.
I think you will find that leaf blower removes the trash better than washing anyway.

 

[jenkinsph]

Just be careful with those washings. Some mower decks channel water right into the spindle bearings which is really bad if you do it while the deck is hot as the cooled bearing really sucks in the water. A friend of mine said his JD mower specifically warns against washing them. Better to use a leaf blower to blow off the grass and debris from top of the deck. If it gets mudddy and needs a wash down, let it cool completely first then take the leaf blower to it as soon as you get it washed to remove and water from the deck then grease the spindle bearings to drive out any water that might have gotten in.
I think you will find that leaf blower removes the trash better than washing anyway.

I agree with Gary on this, I rarely use water to clean my mower decks but my backpack blower is used after every mowing.

 

[jcdogfish]

+10 on water on the deck. If you do make sure it is cool. Blow it off with air, no problems.

 

[daugen]

I had a big job renovating my Gravely 8199G garden tractor deck which is made of two layers of steel, the deck and a reinforcing plate. The prior owner must have loved his hose, because the water got in between the metal, and I had to take the entire deck apart and get all the corrosion out hidden inside.

I always use a powerful electric blower on my equipment when I'm done to get the dust and grass off, and try to avoid the hose. The problem comes when you come in covered in mud. No blower is going to work on that. I learned something here; particularly when I use my powerwasher, to give the zerks a shot when I'm all done to force out any water that might have got in. Great idea. And after blowing off all the water I can find, I always run the blades to try to fling off any water inside. But maybe I should be greasing it first, then turn on the blades. Learned all about hot bearings and water when putting my boat/trailer in the water. Bearing Buddies help, but mower spindles don't have them. I'd worry more about the newer sealed non greasable spindles. WHat happens when you suck water into one of those? How do you get it out?.... I like zerks, the more the merrier.

If I had a lot of non greasable bearings on my unit, I sure would be strict about letting it cool off before getting it wet.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

A few years ago, I bought myself an air compressor for a fathers' day present. Best investment I've put into the garage. I use that after mowing and it keeps the tractor and mower clear of the crud that would otherwise collect.

 

[goatman 1]

I was going to add my $2.00 worth: if price is no object, the Bobcat Toolcat with the 90" mower is wonderful. Mows fast, rides great, air conditioned cab so no bugs and dirt( I have mowed after church in my suit{is that a sin?}, mower is out front so you can see what you are destroying, has four wheel drive and steering, and the dump box eliminates the need for a Gator, has the front loader, easy hookup and detatch, has mostly eliminated my need for the tractor. Makes work seem like fun.

 

[daugen]

This is the spot I just could not get comfortable with on the tractor. Where the large septic system ends and then goes steeply up the hill, I find that even with using the Gravely tractor, my front tires slip a bit. Not the backs though and I just took a little wider turns, sometimes unintentionally but no fighting gravity. I'm mowing with a 40 inch Gravely wing mower attached, and all that weight down low really seems to plant me on the hill.