i've been seeing a lot of posts on various forums about zero turn mowers, my biggest question is why in the world would you want one? ibe been mowing my lawn [ and i use the term loosly here as in its sort of green and i cut it] for almost a half a century ive used everything from a push type reel mower grandpa insisted on having to, a ford tractor with a brush hog, including a trailer load of riding mowers in various sizes from 8 hp to 18 hp, why would you want to buy a zero turn that costs as much as i paid for my mostrecent used pickup instead of a rider that cost a grand and you throw in out behind the barn every 5 years?
- Thread starter ericlb
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Your yard sounds strangely familiar to me. LOL I realize the commercial people genuinely do need them if for nothing else but speed. Dont get me wrong I'd like to have one I'd dang sure use it but I ain't paying the price. I'll stick with the old Crapsman long as it'll hold together.
If you use a good ZTR, you'll throw rocks at the other types. The ZTR will turn in its tracks, enabling you to cut around trees and bushes in one pass. The ZTR is very fast. I don't remember the mph figures, but they will go several mph. They turn the blades up fast enough to cut grass at high speeds.
Disadvantages: They make a lot of noise. Ear protection is needed. They throw a lot of dust and debris in the air, but I'm not sure they are any worse than other types about that. As you said, the good models are pricey, but a home user probably never will have to buy but one.
If you have a small lawn, you don't need a ZTR.
I used a 6 foot finish mower on a tractor, and the ZTR will cut rings around it due to its speed and manuverability. Plus, I don't have to hook up the 3ph.
KEH
I'll put in my 2 cents.
I have always bought the cheapest mower I could get. Just the $800-$1000 cheap riders that did the job. They did a good job for the money, I have no complaints about them. They lasted usually 10 years or so and then I bought a new one.
I went lawnmower shopping this year planning on upgrading a little bit and buying a John Deere 135. They run about $2000. I figured they might last a bit longer, and seemed to have a bit better comfort.
Every person I talked to ask why I wasn't buying a zero turn. They ranted and raved about how good their mower was, how fast they could mow their lawns and how much less weed eating they had to do. I stood my ground and said I'm not paying that much for a mower.
I got to the John Deere dealership and to make a long story short I ended up going home with a zero turn. And I haven't regretted it one minute. I can mow my lawn in less than half the time, and it's actually FUN to mow it. Plus as they all told me, I have half of the weed eating to do.
I would recommend one to anyone that has a yard bigger than 1/2 of an acre or so.
I have always bought the cheapest mower I could get. Just the $800-$1000 cheap riders that did the job. They did a good job for the money, I have no complaints about them. They lasted usually 10 years or so and then I bought a new one.
I went lawnmower shopping this year planning on upgrading a little bit and buying a John Deere 135. They run about $2000. I figured they might last a bit longer, and seemed to have a bit better comfort.
Every person I talked to ask why I wasn't buying a zero turn. They ranted and raved about how good their mower was, how fast they could mow their lawns and how much less weed eating they had to do. I stood my ground and said I'm not paying that much for a mower.
I got to the John Deere dealership and to make a long story short I ended up going home with a zero turn. And I haven't regretted it one minute. I can mow my lawn in less than half the time, and it's actually FUN to mow it. Plus as they all told me, I have half of the weed eating to do.
I would recommend one to anyone that has a yard bigger than 1/2 of an acre or so.
Sooooo. . . how about getting one at consignment auction for next to nothing? It can be done. I got a Dixon commercial model, $6,995.00 new in 1995, at a consignment auction in 2007, for 500 bucks. They started it, it went forward, it went backward, that was good enough for me. It's all relative- the conventional riders were going for $300 to $400 at this large auction, and everybody's looking at me like I'm an idiot for paying $500 for a funny looking mower that nobody had ever heard of. What a great machine!!! This mower will last me the rest of my life. I don't know how long I'm gonna live, but it will last me the rest of my life. Once your go ZTR, you'll never go back.
jlmtractor
Member
cuz when you go to work and use a zero turn to mow lots the same size as yours in less than fourty minutes and when you get home it takes you two hours with a tractor type and you have more handwork..... thats y i choose a zeroturn
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Speaking of expensive zero turn mowers- same line of thinking- a couple days ago we got another Hobby Farms magazine. First 3 pages there's 3 different ads for compact tractors (JD, Montana, Branson). There's scads of brands. If you think zero turn mowers are expensive, price these- along with all the stuff they show them being used with! A $15,000+ toy to carry a small square bale? Anyone here actually doing this?
I am 69 years old and mow 18 lawns this year with a 44inch toro z turn. I wore the first one out in 6 years and still kept it for back up,I now have 41 hours one my new one and could not do the amount of mowing that I do with a standard mower. I was luckey that my dealer had this oneon sale this spring for $3,ooo . To get 6 years work out of a homeownes machine speaks of the quality of the Toro.Check it out yourself and you will convert.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Well, time is money! I have 2 acres to mow and very little time. Bought a used Dixie from a friend. 60 inch deck and a top speed of near 10 mph. She will flat out mow! Very comfortable and very fast. For $3500 I got a decent deal and will last forever. Plus it was made right here in my home state! I will warn you not all zero turns are equal. Have been seeing a lot of name brands makin them but they are only glorified lawn tractors. Nowhere near as well built or as fast.
Ive all type n brands of mowers and after I used a Zero Turn I'll NEVER use a slow cumbersome hard to turn time consuming awkward tractor mower ever again. They (tractor type mowers) cant pack water to my Husquavarna Zero Turn and I can mow like at least 50% FASTER.
Speed, efficiency, manuverability, far reduced mowing time, ZERO TURN RATIO is why I'd throw rocks at a steering type tractor mower and still get done in like half the time lol
HOWEVER to each his own and its their money n their free choice so if they want a slower harder to get around mower more power to em I say
best wishes yall
John T
Speed, efficiency, manuverability, far reduced mowing time, ZERO TURN RATIO is why I'd throw rocks at a steering type tractor mower and still get done in like half the time lol
HOWEVER to each his own and its their money n their free choice so if they want a slower harder to get around mower more power to em I say
best wishes yall
John T
John M
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nunyafn business
Drive one and youll see why!
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Once you use a zero turn you will never go back and once you use a JD all-wheel steer with power steering you will never go back to a zero turn.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Actually I spent closer to 10 grand on my Dixie Chopper. If you do the math, it'll probably outlast 10 crapsman mowers, and get the job done in less than half the time, your crapsman mower is costing you about double!
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
I covet a zero-turn mower. Aside from the price, the main thing that stops me from buying one is I'm out of space for storage.
I currently mow with a combination of machines: I have a couple acres I do with a flail mower behind my Ford 4000, another acre or so I do with a Craftsman garden tractor, and a little bit I have to hand mow with a garage-sale special. I could do almost all of it with a zero-turn, and I imagine it would cut just as fast as the flail mower. My main problem is I've got a lot of trees, and it takes a lot of time to go around them with the tractors. It's really frustrating cutting with the garden tractor; it has a very wide turn radius, making it hard to mow around trees and impractical to mow in a back-and-forth pattern. On top of that, every couple of years I have to rebuild the mower deck because the rough areas in my yard tear it up.
I currently mow with a combination of machines: I have a couple acres I do with a flail mower behind my Ford 4000, another acre or so I do with a Craftsman garden tractor, and a little bit I have to hand mow with a garage-sale special. I could do almost all of it with a zero-turn, and I imagine it would cut just as fast as the flail mower. My main problem is I've got a lot of trees, and it takes a lot of time to go around them with the tractors. It's really frustrating cutting with the garden tractor; it has a very wide turn radius, making it hard to mow around trees and impractical to mow in a back-and-forth pattern. On top of that, every couple of years I have to rebuild the mower deck because the rough areas in my yard tear it up.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Read that post a second time,I assume the best buy relates to the ZTR.??
Try one and you'll see. We mow commercially and they save soooo much time it's not even funny. Believe me, I've mowed many of these same lawns when I was younger with our two 1450 Cub's and now we mow them with 62" Toro Z's. If you've got a small lawn it's not worth it, but a couple acres or more, oh yeah. If we mowed these 100+ acres a week with tractors, we'd be working Sat and Sun too. It's not only the turning abilities, but the power to mow great and still running 8+ mph. My 2 cents.
sammy the RED
Well-known Member
When you decide to get a zero turn, you should look at the Grasshopper 700 Series outfront mower. 8)
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