Comparison which zero turn mower will cut knee high or taller , grass without leaving half uncut

dannydimitt · Oct 10, 2014

am sick and tired of cutting the 3.5 acres out back with the 42 inch sears garden tractor , because you essentially have to go over it twice because it pushes the grass down instead of cutting it . I know if I were to open up the front of the deck with a torch and have the blades make first contact , instead of the deck it would cut fine , except the blades would also make first contact with ant hills and stobs too , and then the woosy mandrels will break . and the lightweight deck would probably collapse . Whats the use of having 20 plus HP driving the blades when the **** thing just rolls over the high grass . Durn sure don't need all that HP to cut a couple of days growth lawn .

Would like to be able to cut in one pass without resorting to the six ft single blade cutter behind my Kubota 3200 .
Any one got a zero turn that cuts , instead of rolling over ?
Thanks

DK35vince · Oct 10, 2014

My opinion.
If you are leaving it get that deep before cutting no finish mower is going to do a good job.
They are made to cut lawn not knee high fields.
Grass that deep, use your brush mower

dannydimitt · Oct 10, 2014

Lots of trees , gulleys and obstacles that make it a huge task to do it with the tractor , the grass "weeds" are not thick , fairly dry climate , slow growth , not a lot of HP needed to cut the grass , it just needs to cut it and not roll over it . If Kubota made a belly mower with a single blade like the old International Cubs used it would be a lot better than a deck hanging out the rear for maneuvering . If one of these zero turn outfits had a front mower with a single 4 or 5 ft blade , it would be the cats meow .

lostcreekranch · Oct 10, 2014

Think you are trying to use wrong tool for the job. Maybe cut this area more often?

A 42" riding mower is not a tractor with a rotary cutter. ZT's are not a replacement for tractor and R/C but if you cut more often they are much more maneuverable than a riding mower.

Good luck!

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corl · Oct 10, 2014

Look into a flail mower.

EddieWalker · Oct 10, 2014

I don't know about the other brands, I have a Scag and can only speak about that. It has a pedal on that I can raise the deck on it from normal cutting height to about six inches off the ground. When I hit a really thick and tall area that I've neglected for awhile, I just push that pedal and the deck goes up and I can cut it all easily. Then I can go back over it again when the deck down low again and get it the same height as all the other grass.

Eddie

whis · Oct 10, 2014

none of them will, if the grass is taller than the deck length. deck bends grass over and its to long to raise up under deck

SulleyBear · Oct 10, 2014

dannydimitt said:
If one of these zero turn outfits had a front mower with a single 4 or 5 ft blade , it would be the cats meow .

Perhaps for the grass in your area. In mine, this would cut the same as a sharp bladed 3 point hitch "non finish" mower, a.k.a. commonly as Brush Hogs. The grass in our area, when waist deep, even requires multiple cuttings from a brush hog mower unless you don't mind some of it knocked down and simply bent over.

Many of the "professionals" who mow in our area with Zero Turn mowers cut so fast that they are just bending over much of the grass, especially that which the tires run over. two days after they have mowed, the lawns look like they need to be cut again. And they are cutting grass to a 5 inch height and they mow weekly.

I guess the Texas grass must be very different from our area. I just cut 10 acres for a friend with my 60" MMM and I actually cut it all twice, first north to south and then cross cut east to west. The grass was about 15" high, and it required me to mow much slower than normal. End result was nice, but it took 8+ hrs to accomplish.

I don't see how a single 4 or 5 foot blade out front is going to solve your problem, but there are numerous front mounted mowers out there from Toro, Deere and others which are sold by golf courses, etc....Even those will have multiple blades with each one no longer than 24".......

Imagine trying to mow with a deck out in front of you large enough to handle a single 4 or 5 ft blade. Seems like a potentially troublesome task.......The mower would be 5.5 ft deep (front to back)at a minimum.......

dannydimitt · Oct 10, 2014

That's the problem alright ! The front of the deck has to be open high enough above the blade height so that the blades cut the grass before it is bent all the way over . Before the days of osha and lawyers dictating how to buid a mower deck most all mowers , from push to lawn tractors were built to cut grass and weeds and immediately spit it out the side or rear or side without blockage from deflection do dads that slow the discharge and clog up leaving the cut grass under the deck to be cut time and time again .I have opened up the front and discharge opening on old 3.5 HP push mowers that would bog down , clog up and kill the engine ,
and after opening them up you could cut a swath through knee high St Augustine grass at a fast walk without the engine bogging down . a mulcher it was not , but a **** fine mowing machine . The deck and mandrels on this craftsman tractor are simply to light duty to expect it to hold up if I were to open it up .
Have checked out a few zero turns that might be able be opened up and do just fine , but if there was one out there that was built this way already then that would suffice.
As far as cutting the grass more often , the wife and I like to jump in the truck and tote the AS trailer all over north America ( mexico NOT ) and might be meandering around for two months at a time , and the weeds tend to be a bit overgrown when we get back , depending on the rain .