Let’s talk Zero Turn mowers

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
I know there are some very knowledgeable people in here so give me your thoughts and opinions for a zero turn mower for “residential” use. I use quotes because this mower would be used to mow once or twice a month about an acre and a half of not flat area with some off-camber spots and real close to a small stream bank. The mower would need to be trailered there and back so that may affect width.

So what do you like, not like, must have, nice to have?
 
I have a large hill in my back yard that leads to a pond.
Ive tried, john deere, gravely, scag and exmark.

None can cut it. Going down they cant stop without reverse pinning and destroying the grass. Going sideways even with the most expert operation (i.e not mine - I had a guy who runs one for a living try and same deal) its a crab walking zig zagging nightmare.

Id say the steepness of the stream banks would dictate your decision
 
I honestly cant complain about the craftsman Im using for my acre. It cuts pretty good and cranks when I get on it. We got it cheap at a scratch and dent store. If the grass is really tall, it gets bogged down. But as long as you just ease along itll cut waist high field grass...... It doesnt hold a candle to the Hustler industrial zero turn we have at the farm, but its not supposed to.
 
I have a 72" Ferris with suspension. While the suspension is nice, my favorite part is the floating deck that moves up and down with the front wheels as they follow the terrain. I always swore anything larger than a 52" was too big for my yard and would scalp, but the floating 72" generally does a better job than a fixed 52". And of course the suspension is great for smoothing out the ride and saving your back. I don't see how the pros do it on solid frame mowers day in day out.

@Ron is right, your biggest issue will be the off camber with a zero turn. Once the front end starts drifting downhill, you decrease the weight on the rear tires, which further decreases traction and control. My neighbor has a 24 degree slope with a fence at the bottom, and I can comfortably sidehill it on my mower, but that's pretty darn close to the limit. Maybe another degree or two. In order to do that, I have to back down into the lowest corner, and then zig zag my way up the hill so that the frontend never heads downward. If that happens, im sliding into the fence. The general wisdom is that you shouldn't exceed a 20 degree slope on a zero turn. That's a not a hard and fast rule though, as it has more to do with the weight distribution. For sidehills you want as much weight as possible on the rear, so you have maximum traction on the control wheels, and minimum mass to control out front. @83oldyoda4x4 brings up a good point about the stander probably being a better fit for this application. And honestly if you don't need the speed, a good ol riding mower would probably work just fine. A rider can flop over on ya, but a zero turn won't, because you will lose traction before it gets anywhere close to flipping.

Beyond that, any of the name brand mowers will last forever if you take care of them. I've owned at least a half dozen, and would own any of them again. But Ferris and Simplicity are the only ones with suspension if that's important to you.
 
I have a John Deere that does alright. My neighbor got a Kubota z231 because it was supposed to do real well with steep hills. Make sure it has the 7100 transmission in it.
 
When I lived and worked in Boone, Wright Mowers were the go-to for hills, as they only made stand-up or rear seat models. Fun fact, Wright was making John Deere's chassis for their stand-up models. Save some money and buy yellow. With all that said, none of them are going to be great with turf tires on the rear. Find something a bit more aggressive, and keep the sidewalls short.
 
I've personally have a scag but I've operated most of the others up to 72". I wanted to get the Ventrac with 8 tires for the boys at work but they cut my budget and bought me a couple of Cub Cadet 6 tire, steering wheel operated zero turns. I was pissed until I drove one. We got two of the rear dual tire ones and I've got to say they rock. It was dangerously stable. What I mean is, you took it places you shouldn't just to see if it was remotely unstable. It wasn't. I was worried about the guys that couldn't swim mowing around the ponds but these alleviated all that. I highly recommend checking those out. You can get the residential versions.
 
I run an old Cub Cadet RZT50 that I got from @77GreenMachine For tires I removed the V Grove rears and went with turf savers. That compromise affected my ability to mow the slope I have at the road to some degree. The turf savers are great on the lawn but slip on the slope and require much more finesse and redistributing my weight in the seat and foot position on the deck.

Been looking at new zero turns with Jim Smith who is looking for one. Wanted to go with a Deere 545 series (54") but Deere is really proud of them and the replacement for the 545 hasn't arrived at the John Deere dealer yet. The Ariens at Lowes looks every bit as good as the Deere with comparable frame thickness and overall the apparent same quality at close to $2k less. The Husqvarna sitting next to the Ariens wasn't even in the same class, build wise and was the same price. What he wants is a high end residential mower as he has about 5 acres of grass to mow (a pro series is out of his budget) and a budget of no more than $7K with less being desired. I'm not sure if he has looked at the Cub Cadets. I know he has had less than good luck with one of the lawn tractor versions but the history of it is an unknown (it came with his house).
 
Thanks for the thoughts.

I barely ever buy anything new, so I will be keeping my eyes on the used market.
 
BigClay said:
Thanks for the thoughts.

I barely ever buy anything new, so I will be keeping my eyes on the used market.
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The Ferris I have was $13k new. But that was somebody else's problem. I paid less than 1/4 of that ;)
 
As for used, I would think the same goes as when I worked for Jacobson, several years back. The Golf courses, some school districts & cities, Lease their mowers. Any where from 1 - 3 years. Just like any Fleet dealers, they swap them out, & then put the used ones up for sale or auction. Probably way too many hours on them, but Top quality & up-keep. Toro used to be popular in Charlotte, for used mowers. As others have said, depending on the hills; well do you not hear every year more than 1 Z-turn, and or, Farm tractor, end up in a lake, or turned over. The guys that used to mow the school grass, close to my house, mowed the banks that are STEEP. No slip, but speed was part of it too. Last year a new company took over the mowing, & the tear the banks up, sliding down them. Another mower guy told me they make a Sticky turf tire, that will hold those banks. But they cost more, & wear faster.
 
If you're not riding the hills like this...are you even mowing?

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jcramsey said:
If you're not riding the hills like this...are you even mowing?

View attachment 398420
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I've been this guy many times. Bypassed the seat weight sensor so it wouldn't shut off on da hillz.
Front yard has a section just like that right in front of the curb.
I tried adding water to the back tires to help w/ traction and the CoG, didn't help much.
The worst is when you have to make that turn back uphill. Guaranteed wheel spin.
I just turn downhill, go into the road, do a 180 then goose it and straight up the hill praying for traction.
 
I've been keeping my eye out for a used grasshopper diesel mower with g2 hydrologic control. They have a front deck zero turn where your pretty much sitting on the motor over top the rear axle with mowing deck completely out in front of you. Buddy does commercial landscaping and that's all they use and he has some pretty steep banks at a couple plants. His oldest mower has right over 5000 hrs on it now.
 
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