We closed on our new house today so officially I am responsible for mowing my 3.5 acres lawn . I need recommendations for a Zero Turn mower to get the job done as quickly as possible. I truly believe in "you get what you pay for" and "buy once cry once" so budget is flexible. Please advice on what brand and model I should look into. Thanks.

Update: I bought the Kubota z726xkw-60

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kingfish007,

39 hours on a toro timecutter 5050 50" deck.

Mow 2.5 acres once a week on GA. Bought it last year. Cost around $3k.

Happy so far.

Exmark? Is commercial version.

Opted for welded deck vs. stamped.

I run a Hustler 60 inch deck. I agree go with the fabricated deck vs the Stamped deck.

My 48" hustler fastrak has been a tank for 5+ years. Nothing but oil changes & blades. If you can't mow over it, you can probably knock it down. And 'anything yellow' has a lifetime warranty provided you will tell them how you broke it.

Nearest dealer or service guy that takes care of you right!
In my case JD Z445, going on 10 yrs now.
Bought the largest motor offered, 25hp Kawasaki, as I use a mulching deck. Kawasaki doesn't bog down at all, if grass gets a little ahead of me or is wetter than I would like to be mowing.
When I was in Mn. the best service nearby was Toro so that is what I had there.

Exmark is probably the easiest to get parts for. Nobody makes their own engines or hydro unit, so it really is a function of price and support. If you ever go to sell, the Exmark will have better name recognition. Toro owns Exmark, BTW. Kawasaki power seems to get great reviews, but I've had decent luck with Koehler power on some of my equipment.

Scag parts are crazy expensive.

I had a Toro Timecutter.

It was OK but the wheels were a bit undersized. My property has a tilt over the entire 1.2 acres so I slid a bit or lost traction and scuffed the lawn.

I traded for a lawn tractor and do much better. Time is about the same.

If your property is flat, I'd highly rec the Toro. They have decent quality and cost is lower than the more pro oriented names.

I would really look at babydoll sheep, or a robot mower - but I hate mowing lawns. I would, definitely classify one that large as small pasture, though...

We mow about 5 acres weekly here in the Florida Panhandle. We have been using a John Deere Z track for three years and it is a great mower. We have the Z960 with a 60 inch deck, the engine is 31 HP. I can mow in about 3 hours what used to take me a couple days on a lawn tractor. John Deere has 0 percent financing on these mowers last I checked

https://www.deere.com/en_US/pr...0r_60/z950r_60.page?

I have a John Deere and so far in under 300 hours I've had the seals replaced in the left pump twice and the right pump once. I love everything else about it but if I hadn't raised hell about the low hours (it was a few months out of warranty), I would've been on the hook for over $1000 in repairs.

My suggestions would be Dixie Chopper, Exmark and talk to the pros in your area.

I've got a world class dealer less than 10 miles from me and I'm friends with all the salesmen and the owner. For about 15 years I've run ztrs and trade regularly simply because I live in a good location to sell things and the guys at SIE shoot me deals on new and used. I keep one mower for commercial work and one for my home lawn both 2013 models I bought new.

My commercial mower is a Bob-Cat Predator Pro with 37hp 1000cc Kawasaki 61" cut. Sometimes I use it like a bushhog and it will go through waist high weeds. In about 150 hours I've never needed service other than a broken belt. My home mower is a 48" Big Dog (same as Hustler) with power bar steering. Great cut and so easy to use that often my wife does it. Most all mowers are good so go with the best dealer.

Bob-Cat 61"


Big Dog 48"


A few I've had over the years

Ferris w 48" cut a bicycle seat


Joy stick country clipper 42"


Hustler Trimstar 36" hydro


50" Dixie Chopper and 52" Grasshopper


54" Hustler

Consider the smoothness of the terrain and number of obstacles. Smooth and few tight obstacles means you can go wider + time saving.

Storage, The bigger mowers are huge and take a lot of storage space.

What do you see the local commercial guys using? That is a good clue, They have to use good equipment that they can get service and parts for quickly and easily.

I decided I didn't want to spend all day mowing my yard so I ponied up... Nut now I enjoy it so much I find myself mowing the yard twice a week unless a drought.
I bought a Ferris 61" with fuel injected 28 HP. commercial rig. Over 8K. Love it!
I can do 4 acre with ~35 trees, house drive bushes dog pen... in just over an hour. 1:05 to 1:25 depending on conditions.

I run 90% of the time at full speed ~10MPH, however at ~8 it does do a tad bit better job.
Lots of fallen tree limbs and exposed roots and rough ground keep my blades dulled. Mow about 3 1/4 in high usually.

Add ons? Bagger, mulch?

Need ears, preferably with tunes! I have the Howard Leight Impact Sport but would prefer Blu-tooth if doing over.
Eyes, Got some cheep googles, those and dust mask needed when dusty. Sun hat.

Oh yea, cup holder.

And I had to buy a new trailer as I have to transport it to multiple locations on occasion and it was too wide for my old trailer!

Grandkids nicknamed it "The Beast" LOL!

My yard is very rough so I got one with 4 wheel independent coil over suspension. You can see the front shocks in the photo. Rear is the same.

If no suspension you need a nice seat. An optional upgrade on some brands. No worries if you have a smooth yard.

My Kubota ZG222 is about 6 years old. I absolutely love it. I mow about 3 acres with lots of trees. I have not had any issues.

Buy a set of Bose noise canceling headphones and cook the tunes while drinking a cool one.

My neighbor bought a JD at the same time for the same size yard. He has had nothing but problems.
Mike

Walker mowers. I believe they have a 72" deck. They have a grass catcher that dumps. Attachable thatcher, plow, and much more. I haven't dreamed and looked at their site in a while.

A word about mowing / ground speed.

A few years ago the major players got in a mowing speed war and Dear old Uncle Sam decided things were getting out of hand and unsafe. ANSI stepped up and set a recommended standard that all Mfgs. now seem to voluntary observe for liability reasons.

IIRC... They set a limit of ~19,500 feet per minute maximum safe tip speed for the blades. So, blade tip speed effectively limits mowing speed to about 10 MPH.

At that speed, the sharpened portion of the blade will usually get only one pass at any particular blade of grass. Slow down a bit and it gets 2 swipes.

A few mowers will travel faster but it is considered for transport only.

A Hustler HyperDrive will mow at 15mph if your butt can stand it. Mainly used for flat lawns rather than typical yards. My Bob'Cat will mow at 12mph easily but I run throttle wide open and speed about 1/2. 5 or 6 mph is plenty when time isn't of the essence.

https://www.hustlerturf.com/pr...s/super-z-hyperdrive

Dealers around here will let you take a home for a test mow. I had my heart set on Exmark until I mowed with it.

Oh the eye candy in this thread! LOL! We do love our toys! Grunt Grunt Grunt!!!!

And a little more info....

I have been very happy with my Kubota tractor.

NOT so happy with my ten yr old JD Lawn tractor. Tranny going out, all three mower bearings shot and all 4 tires need to be replaced.

So the other day at Kubota, noticed they had 0% financing going on and looked at their Kommander series ZT mower. $3K or maybe $2900 iirc. I think I may try the Kubota.

I have a 5 acre property, I mow about 3.5 acres of it, the rest is wooded. I opted for a Gravely 54XL series, which is their middle of the road pro-sumer line. Welded deck, 24HP Kawasaki, foot pedal deck lift and of course a cupholder.

I have 340 hours on it, it's 7 years old and nothing has broken on it. Gravely also manufactures a snow kit for the XL line, which includes a 54 inch blade, bolt-on counterweights on the back and knobby tires. The foot pedal lifts the blade. Since I'm in snow country with a 500' driveway, I purchased the kit as well. Storm earlier this week, I pushed 8 inches of wet snow with no problem at all. Very happy with this unit.