WOT: I need a new lawn tractor, Didn't one of our members build/design zero turn mowers? Options

[tdgray]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Bought my wife a 50" JD mower Mothers Day 1995 best spent $5,000 ever The box stores dont have the same quality as tractor dealers!

Correct... the big box stores may have the names but they are not "real" JD's and Cub's... they are built by MTD (local company up here). Years ago MTD decided to abandon it's own marketing efforts against the big boys and brand manufacture for them... worked out well for them.

Ifn' you want the real thing go to the dealer.

That being said I have a Home Depot Cub and it is just fine for my 1 acre.

[Katmanken]

Kohler engine is perfect. It was completely rebuilt with an oversize bore and piston, which are available. Rest of the tractor was stripped and restored. New Kohler engines are out there for about $1k if you want one.

Ken

[mrgreenjeans]

Got me one of these fine Cub Cadet 105's. Mine is a 1970 and was built by international harvester- a tractor and farm machinery company. 10 HP Kohler cast iron engine, and that grille around the front and the front axle is cast iron. The rear axles and differential housing is one pice of cast iron.

Chassis is bent from 3/16 steel, and the flimsy stuff like the mower deck and fenders is 1/8 thick. It sits outdoors and starts rain or shine. In fact, 80% are still running.

It's made to accomodate a wide variety of attachable implements. Mine has a 48 inch 3 blade mower deck and the one in the picture looks like a 44 incher. I also have a buldozer blade that is quick attach and it will do grading or snow (with chains on the tires). Has a pin hitch and can tow anything. Mine has the hydrostat but manal trannys are available. It has a combo starter/generator that looks like it will fit a VW beetle and it can drive the tractor uphill. Engine has a drive shaft to the rear axle. It's designed to be fixed with an adjustable wrench and a screwdriver.

Sucker must weigh 800 lbs and that 10 hp can lift the front wheels off the ground if I'm not careful. Parts are available from Attic Moose in Canada

Best $300 I ever spent.

Ken

Ken:

Great little Cub....

Would love to have one of these old guys as they are a tough find in good to excellent condition.

I highly recommend the Cub Cadet lineup with the Kohler engine.
We bought a 23 horsepower model GT 2554 with a 60 inch cut. We have 8.5 acres to cut, some on a river bank. Its the toughest little bugger ever. Does the job in about 8 hours and on about 3 gallons of gas. We use Mobil one 10-30 in the motor and it uses no oil. In five years, zero breakdowns, only belt replacement and normal maintainence. Follow the owners manual schedule.
Would recommend their dealer lineup to anyone.....but get the HD models as they are built for commercial use. Pay a little more up front, but no worries and lost down time for repairs.

[IronHillRestorations]

If you have many steep hills a zero turn might not be a good choice.

ZT's don't have brakes, and the front wheels are just casters, so if it's a little slick and you are on a slope it can be interesting. They are definately faster than a lawn tractor though.

I'll 2nd the Hustler. They have a very cool clam shell collector attachment for the back that dumps from the operator seat, and you can also use it for leaves (why I looked at getting one).

Two years ago I lucked into a very low time, year old, (126 hr) Kubota 27 hp commercial mower for half the retail price, so deals are out there.

[Howie's 914]

I have my own landscape company and use them every day. Stay far far away from Lowe's and Home Depot. With a budget of $5K. You can get a good zmaster. My best suggestion would be to go to toro.com and do a look-up for the local dealer. This will give you commercial dealers that sells toro and other makes as well. Go to them and you will get a good new one or used one. My zmaster can cut 12 acres an hour at full speed but i would not do that. Also you can do hill with no problems.

[PRS914-6]

If you have many steep hills a zero turn might not be a good choice.

ZT's don't have brakes, and the front wheels are just casters, so if it's a little slick and you are on a slope it can be interesting. They are definately faster than a lawn tractor though.

This is a valid point......No brake in the conventional sense since the mower is hydraulically driven. As with most ZT's (zero turn) my Hustler can reverse the tires instantly and that is your brake while riding the machine. Mine will stay put on a hill as long as it's running (hydraulically) but as you said the front casters don't have brakes but most small tractors don't anyway. In addition when you push the handles outwards on the Hustler it is a parking brake (running or not) that locks the tires and you can walk away from it even on a hill.

I agree on the steep slope. I do mow a couple of small steep spots. Where I found the real safety issue was the tires. They put "turf" tires on so your grass doesn't get torn up and if the grass is damp it's like a wet bar of soap!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) and CAN get interesting but good practice for drifting your 914 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) . Since the majority of my mowing is wild grass, I put a set of knobby tires on instead of smooth and solved the problem and that helps it brake significantly better due to the grip improvement.

I don't bag my grass and in fact don't even have the side shoot on mine so that I can butt up against trees on either side at the expense of getting "grass blasted" occasionally so I can't speak for the quality of the accessories.

If you have a lot of trees or obstacles a ZT is the only way to go as you can literally put the deck up against a tree and mow 360 degrees without the deck leaving the tree and it saves a ton of time. I have about 200 trees so that's a no-brainer. You simply can't do that with a standard mower. However, if your mowing was wide open, I wouldn't rule out a standard mower. Speed is also a consideration. My Hustler will mow twice as fast as any of my old mowers but "some" of the standard mowers can too but usually not the HD variety

I think knowing your mowing priorities will be the deciding factor but for $5k you can get what you want.

Test ride them and have fun!

[Mark Henry]

Looked at the JD's and Toro's today, Makes the big box units look like total junk. At 5K I'm looking at the residential units and even then they are getting over my budget (with tax) new. Budget is a bit flexible, but not a whole lot. Not a huge selection in the local used market and of course this is a bad time to be scoring a deal. Wish my tractor would have lasted the season. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

I'm going in to look at Engman's Gizmow on Tuesday. It looks like a stout unit and the price is right, but the dealer is 2 hours away and the accountant doesn't like the unknown name brand.
http://www.gizmow.com/video1.htm


The only real concerns with a ZTR is the ditches, but I don't think they would be too bad. My hills are not much more than 15*, most is flat or a slight incline.
The other question is do I go 54" or 60"?

[clow]

Does anyone ever have the problem with the zero turn spinning the grass? I work at one of Canada's largest poultry farms and help cut grass after school. We have a Kubota zero turn and a Kubota F2880 4 wheel drive.

From driving both I really dislike zero turns. They make sense but to do a 'zero' turn one wheel has to be stationary and I find this ruins the grass. Also they can't cut ditches that well and I have seen them get stuck on the flatest ground with a little bit of water. There is more that bothers me but thats the main point.


Drop the cash and get the 4 wheel drive. Its like playing on a small fourwheeler
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.pioneercvc.com-12151-1305857228.1.jpg)

On a more economical note, I have heard good things about the Torro.

[PRS914-6]

Does anyone ever have the problem with the zero turn spinning the grass? I work at one of Canada's largest poultry farms and help cut grass after school. We have a Kubota zero turn and a Kubota F2880 4 wheel drive.

From driving both I really dislike zero turns. They make sense but to do a 'zero' turn one wheel has to be stationary and I find this ruins the grass. Also they can't cut ditches that well and I have seen them get stuck on the flatest ground with a little bit of water. There is more that bothers me but thats the main point.

You are absolutely correct. If you read my comment above, they put pretty smooth tires on to prevent tearing up the turf. If you have wide open areas a ZT doesn't make a lot of sense or at least not a necessity. The purpose of the ZT is maneuverability. If you have a lot of trees and obstacles and in my case no turf, just wild grass than a ZT is the way to go.

Again, priorities should be looked at before purchase. I think you could buy a pretty functional regular mower if you had no rocks, trees or obstacles to deal with

[Mark Henry]

Now you're confusing me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

This is my driveway and front lawn, back (not in pic) what I cut is about 100' X100'
Front is about 1-1/2 acre, out of 450' frontage I only cut 200' , plus I cut a path into the back 40. Fence on the left (2nd pic) is about the 200' mark my property still goes over another 250'.
This takes at least 3 hours on my 50" 18hp husky. Double that time if I trim it up.

[Mark Henry]

This is a just small part of my side and back yards. There's a nice pond and a couple of football sized fields hiding back there, if I could get to it.
I'd like to cut some of it mainly for rodent control, but also so my kids can use it.

4WD is way beyond my budget, I want to do a good job in a timely manner and I don't want to spend $10K+.
$5K plus tax is my max.

[warrenoliver]

My zmaster can cut 12 acres an hour at full speed but i would not do that.


YIKES! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) I can't cut 12 acres of grass per hour with my 9' haybine!

By my calculation you would have to be cutting with a 60" deck and going 20 miles per hour! Better be wearing a seatbelt on that ride (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

Warrenoliver

[PRS914-6]

Now you're confusing me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

What are you confused about?

[Mark Henry]

Would I be better off with a ZTR or a regular tractor?
Sometime the grass can be wet in a few areas in the spring, I don't want to be hopelessly stuck. The very front of my lawn (first pic) is always a slightly damp (but not wet) area.
My old husky would get stuck in the ditch every once and a while, spinning one tire. It hasn't happened in a while as I know to stay out of the ditch in the spring. The JD 320 I test drove you can lock the diff.

[MDG]

Mark, after giving this a lot of thought and studying your pics, go with the one that has the fastest acceleration!

[trojanhorsepower]

LOL! I have a 4x4 Kubota at work and it is AWESOME, but I think it cost about 14K so a little out of your budget. If you just want to mow that field I would get an old Ford and a bush hog. You could get a very nice set up plus a few other implements with 5K.

[Mark Henry]

Ha-ha!
I've never seen a bear, but I know we have the odd black travels through here. An old ford and bushhog is no good for around the house and over the septic bed. I can borrow one anyways and I know they do a pretty rough job.

You can see the lawn is getting tall, so I have to pull the trigger by this coming week.

[PRS914-6]

Would I be better off with a ZTR or a regular tractor?
Sometime the grass can be wet in a few areas in the spring, I don't want to be hopelessly stuck. The very front of my lawn (first pic) is always a slightly damp (but not wet) area.
My old husky would get stuck in the ditch every once and a while, spinning one tire. It hasn't happened in a while as I know to stay out of the ditch in the spring. The JD 320 I test drove you can lock the diff.

OK, I get it but can't make the decision for you

I started by emphasizing the BUILD QUALITY of the Hustler so that's a single topic to be considered.

Practicality and usefulness differences between standard and ZT mowers is a different topic but we have intermixed them

On a ZT you can always drive both rear tires since your handles control the speed of each tire. Like me you don't have any "golf green" lawn to worry about so knobby tires will help out a lot in the wet stuff and I lean towards ZT because of speed. My grass is typically damp in spring but I never have issue with it especially with the knobbys. You don't seem to be heavily treed and why I said you could use either. However, the ZT's are typically much faster speed wise. I noticed some of the standard mowers can scoot along quickly for sure . Hustlers are designed to mow fast. My blade speed is almost scary and road speed is fast enough to hurt yourself if you hit a tree. I needed a small mower to get between the trees but I can still get mine mowed hours faster than my neighbor despite his larger standard mower because mine mows at go kart speed

In closing, I'm partial to the ZT for speed and build but they have weak areas too but not on my property. It doesn't seem like you are steep enough to warrant a 4WD. Also, if you have a lot of holes or bumps, the little wheels in the front can give you a rougher ride than the larger tires of a standard mower.

You have a LOT of open area to mow and I don't think you'll get a really big ZT for $5k.

If you wanted to save some money you could probably get a standard mower but the money saved will be the offset for slower mowing and less maneuverability around the trees. Here are some pictures of my tires and what I am mowing so you have a reference.....I've tried to give the + and -'s of each

[Mark Henry]

You have more trees to go around then I do. If I got a bigger mower I will get a used little shitbox or push mower to do the real tight areas.

Going to look at a few more today, then tuesday and I'll probally bring home one the same day.
No hustler dealers around here and not much used except a superZ at $10K on CL....that's too much.