So.....it's been a while since I mowed my own yard. Since we sold our house in NY and moved out here, we have been renting and paying to have our lawn mowed. It's been kind of nice not mowing, but we just put a contract in place on a new place out here to buy, so looks like I'll be back to mowing my own lawn again this summer. The new place has a pretty big yard. I'm guessing 1.5-2 acres of the lot is lawn. There is a bit of a hill on part of it too. Nothing too steep but a bit of an incline I'm guessing that covers 20' over a 100 yard stretch. I do know that I don't need a ridiculous commercial zero turn unit. I'm guessing a "Prosumer" type model that is 45-50" will do it. I'd like to spend under $3k if possible but not really sure if that's realistic for what I need? I'm going to have to build either a second garage or large storage building so would prefer to not go nuts on a high end mower that I don't really need. My in-laws have owned a power equipment store for decades, but being they are now 1k+ miles away, I can't really save money on buying through them. They are a Simplicity/Husqvarna dealer. Margins are razor thin on these things anyhow so even though I could get for cost it's not worth it after driving back to NY to pick up. Who's done research on this type of thing that can shorten my learning curve? What brands and type of model should I be thinking of?
I got a cub garden tractor 2 years ago and love it. You can plan on way more than $3K for any quality zero turn mower.
The big dog mowers are a great machine and will do what you want for under the 3k mark. Check them out,
Zero turn = ZERO traction. Under $3000, you aren't going to get much. At least much that will last more than one or two seasons. Prices are ridiculous. I like to mow lawn and mow about 2 1/2 acres at my house. I just bought a compact tractor this year to mow mine but prior to that I've used a John Deere 54" commercial walk behind mower. We get lots of rain here and I have tried several Zero turn mowers over the years and even though I have a relatively flat lawn, I couldn't go with the zero turns. The zero turn rthat was the best that I tried was the one from Dixie Chopper. Of course I am of the "buy once, cry once" school of thought, so I was trying out diesels. So if you're going to be mowing 2 acres, my advice would be to buy a "name brand" and buy at least a 54" deck.
$3000 will get you a commercial grade walk behind. I have a textron 60" walk behind deck mower it does a better job than any rider I have tried.
Matt, I mow about the same size yard (2 acres). I did a lot of research (Lawnsite is a great resource, btw). I ended up with a Gravely Promaster 148Z with a 48" deck/21hp Kawisaki engine due to an awesome price I got on it used. With that being said, dealer support can be a good thing, so start with what's available locally. Commercial doesn't really have anything to do with deck size and everything to do with the engine, hydros, deck (stamped vs fabbed), wheel/tire size, etc. If you're going to be cutting around trees, landscape engine (even mulch/stone beds), be sure to go wider than 48". I learned that the hard way. Get something that sticks out past the tires (54" is usually a good size) or you will be smashing yourself in the face all day long (it's not fun and I will be upgrading when we move). Look at commercial offerings from Exmark, Scag, Hustler, Bobcat, even Gravely. Spend the money once, and be done. Trust me.
Walk behind is the way to go (if it has a velke that is). They can run circles around zero turn if there is any sort of a hill. I mow a cemetery that has a lot of dips and hills and stuff and you can mow a lot more of the banks and stuff to cut down on weedeating.
I bought a Cub Cadet zero turn 50" model about 5 years ago. It has the Kawasaki engine and it has done a great job. They do have their limitations such as working on hills and with wet grass but it was a vast improvement over the traditional lawn tractor i had been using. Cut my mowing time in half because of the manuverabilty.
I've owned both riders and zero turn and I mow about 3 acres. A couple pieces of advice I can give is that unless you absolutely need a zero turn then I would go with the rider. Reason being, pushing the two handles forward for that period time can get tiring on the arms. Riders are definitely more comfortable if you have two or more hours of mowing ahead of you. Second piece of advice is if you decide to go with a zero turn, pay attention to the horsepower of the engine with it. You will need more horsepower with a zero turn because hydraulics require more horsepower to run than a traditional rider. If you have a zero turn with a low horsepower engine, it gets bogged down real easy. The problem being with a lower budget is horsepower is usually what gets sacrificed. It's better to buy A good used mower with more horsepower than a brand-new one with less. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last spring we bought a Big Dog mower with a 52 inch deck for around $900.We used it heavily (me and my brother mowed lawns) all summer and into the fall.So far it has held up great.It has a 24 hp kawasaki engine and unless the grass was really tall (8 inches or more) or wet we could go almost full speed on it and it would do fine.The hydrolics are a bit soft but other than that its fine. As for your hill I dont think it would be much of a problem as long as you just go strait up and down. The key to speed is sharpening blades about every 8 hours of mowing. O and it will definatly cut down on weedeating a lot,especially if you have a lot of landscaping
If the lawn is mostly open, without trees or obstacles, I would definitely avoid the zero turn. IMO you get more for your money with a regular rider. Price difference can be enough to pay for the bagger option or snow blower.
The lawn definitely isn't open. There is a fair amount of trees, landscaping, retaining wall, and a small pond to mow around. Picture of the lot is included below. Would a conventional rider mower do this or should I look to a zero turn?
By the looks, I would say a regular rider would work fine. Landscaping looks to be a done so there is not need for a lot of tight turns. Looks like you also have a decent amount of driveway where being able to have the blower on it also might be nice.
With that size of a yard I would definitely go with a zero turn!! No questions asked. Your cut time will be cut almost in half and once you cut your lawn with a zero turn you wont even want to sit on any sort of regular tractor mower after that. As for brands the best zero turn I have seen for the price is a Ferris. They have full suspension as an option, which is extremely nice if your going to be cutting lawn for and hour or two. Its all personal preference and you do pay a hair more for a Ferris but they are reliable, comfy, and awesome to cut with.
with that size of a lawn I would definatly want a zero turn,trees are a pain to mow/trim around with a tractor mower. And as Ryan ^^said Ferris is an excellent brand,used one a few times and the suspension makes it incredibly smooth.
The advantage of Zero Turns today are not that much, and has been exaggerated. The major benefit of a zero turn is being able to spin around quicker when doing straight back and forth passes across the yard. Regular riders have turning radius of 12" or even down to 6" which has pretty much nullified the benefit around trees unless you have lots of small trees or poles in the yard.
For those with experience using both.........it seems that the zero turns allow you to mow at a higher speed, therefore shortening the job. Is this true?
