Also worth mentioning is when mowing across a steep grade (steep enough for a lawn tractor to tip sideways, hence the shopping for a wider mower) mine works great. Mowing down a grade, no issues either. Mowing up the same hill, the front wheels come off of the ground if going fast enough. Went back to mowing across the grade.

quote:

Originally posted by lunchbox:
... I mow 2 acres of sloped property 1-2 times a week and my $3200 John Deere x300 that I bought in 2009 and it runs like a Swiss watch. Literally zero problems in 11 years. I maintain well, probably better than the factory recommend intervals and that’s it. …

This is more along the lines of what I had in mind. After all, I was satisfied for about 25 years with a tractor type mower that cost less than $2,000 in today's dollars. To spend ten times that much just doesn't seem reasonable.

I do understand that other people here have different requirements than I do.

$3000 will buy a very nice John Deere lawn tractor and for 2 acres that is a fine choice. I'd look on Craigslist/facebook for a low hours used one for about half new price or less. Now is the time and cash is king.

I have watched experienced mowing crews on multiple properties on my road. Most of the lots were graded out of a wooded area. I feel sorry for those guys on the zero turn mowers. They look like they are getting beaten to death.

I have always enjoyed being outside, mowing etc. The extra time spent on a lawn tractor is not a big deal for me. I actually had one of the guys ask me if my lawn was anywhere nearly as rough as the neighbors.

I spent a lot of time, money, and effort smoothing out the areas around the house after our new purchase. However, a flooding rain washed one sloped area badly. I did not have sufficient funding to complete the redo as smooth as the rest of the yard. It was gutted badly and remains rough to this day. No zero turn mower for me.

Best of luck in your decision.

I’ve got an X350 with a 48” mower deck. I mow roughly 2 1/2 acres of native grass prairie with it. I don’t mow until July because there are ground nesting birds e.g. meadowlarks, and I give them time to get their young fledged before I mow for fire protection. All that to say, the mower has to work pretty hard when I cut it down to 4” height. It’s performed well for me. The 48” deck is more expensive (obviously) than the 42” deck this mower is also available with. I think it was $3500-$3600 just a couple years ago.

If you have decent knees, look into Wright Standers. I have spent many hours on similar machines mowing steep, rough terrain, but if you have bad knees, that wouldn't work for you. Decent knees and you can cushion your ride with all the speed and maneuverability of a zero turn. It will also mow steeper hills laterally once you know what you are doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlvFFY8Gqg

I used Great Dane Surfers and Super Surfers, but they no longer make them.

You are in a different price class though - occasionally good used deals can be found.

OP, please keep us posted regarding what you decide and how your purchase works for your situation.

Thanks.

I mow about 2 acres and bought a Hustler 48" zero turn 3 years ago and my grass can't grow fast enough for me...yes it is fun and kind of a stress relief for me.
Like other said, if you have to mow on an incline and it is wet the mower can dig in or even start sliding down the hill so don't mow on a hillside when the grass is wet.
Get one with a HD fabricated deck

My wife loves mowing with her Bad Boy zero turn. She uses it for the nicer and mainly flat part of our yard and around flower beds, trees and such. I's very fast. That said, zero turns are helpless and dangerous on anything steeper than an ant hill, no matter what kind of tires you run on them.

I take care of hillsides and tough areas with a John Deere utility tractor (not a lawn tractor) and rotary cutter.

As an aside, I have a neighbor who has twice slid a zero turn down the hill and into his pond when trying to mow around it. He had to use his farm tractor to pull it out.

quote:

I have a neighbor who has twice slid a zero turn down the hill and into his pond when trying to mow around it.

I've come close a few times.

Which is better for you will depend upon a variety of factors. Inclines, already mentioned, being one of them. Another is how complicated is the area you're mowing.

When I first bought our house the front and back yards were like billiards tables. Had a JD STX38 (38" deck). Could do a quickie job in about an hour and a detail job in about three. By the time my wife got done putting in gardens everywhere, the quickie jobs were up to three hours and detail jobs up to seven!

Replaced the STX38 with a Walker brand mower with a 48" deck and got the jobs back down to one and three hours, respectively.

Our yard is not smooth and is largely clay under the sod. So when the ground dries out it gets bouncy, but not teeth-rattling.

Walker mowers, with their front-mounted decks, are known for their superior cut and ease of getting around complex borders and edges. Plus, the front-mounted deck allows the entire machine's CG to be lower to the ground, so slopes aren't as big a challenge. I have one short slope I mow, well more than 15°, and have no problem staying on the mower. Lastly: The mower being primarily meant to be a cleanup machine, it makes fall leaf cleanup a breeze.

But that mower cost us over $8K some 20-25 years ago and it's been a maintenance nightmare. I've had to repair or have repaired something on it about every two-three seasons. That's in addition to regular maintenance. (22 freaking Zirk fittings on that thing!)

Plus you must always be conscious of that big old hopper you've got behind you. I've twice replaced part of the hopper frame from, first me, then my wife backing into things with it.

I have a love/hate relationship with that mower.

I will say this: I now have all commercial-grade yard and tree maintenance equipment. (Mowers, edger, string trimmer, hedge trimmers, chain saws, leaf blowers.) The difference between commercial hardware and the homeowner stuff is night and day. You'll pay for it. Oh, will you pay for it. But it's worth it, IMO. Not in just the time you'll save, but in the quality of the work you'll be able to do.

No idea, but I just wanted to say a few days ago I saw someone mowing a commercial property with what I think was a zero turn twin stick mower.

What struck me was that it was running a propane tank. If you’ve seen a forklift with a propane tank mounted on it, this mower had the same setup.

I don’t need one, can’t use one, a guy cuts my yard, but the propane unit seems great. No gas fumes, no E10 crap fuel, just change out the tank as needed.

Good luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

I have a neighbor who has twice slid a zero turn down the hill and into his pond when trying to mow around it.

I've come close a few times.

One of the sharpest businessmen in our community was mowing around a small lake on his property using a Scag Turf Tiger. The mower slid sideways into the lake. The lap bars pinned him in the seat and he drowned. Zero turns are great if you have the right ground for them. I've used them for over 20 years now and they are time savers, same size deck a ztr would probably do 2 acres about 30 minutes faster than a lawn tractor.

I've bought and sold used mowers for years. Used to be easy to find low hours lawn tractors where the 1/2 acre lot guy would have to have a ztr and no one wanted the lawn tractor so I'd buy trade ins from my dealer buddy for $700-800. Still deals around but not as numerous as they used to be and I don't search like I used to.

This is my zero turn now that I only mow my own 3/4 acre yard. Big Dog is same as Hustler just red. My 748 is same as Hustler Fastrak, has a 21 hp Kawasaki and 48" 3 blade deck. I love the power bar steering. Similar to motorcycle hand throttle, twist grip forward to go fast, twist to rear to slow and then go into reverse. Both grips operate the mower so it's easy to use one handed.

The most yard I have cut is around 4 acres including fairly steep mud-under-grass hills and pond banks.
I had flat ground yard friends tell me about zero turn. Gave test runs a try, but it wasn't the choice for me because I needed something to pull utility trailers with wood and other heavy equipment. I still do this all of the time and have always gone with compact or similar tractors. (ZT were faster at mowing but I can't afford both-).
My brother cuts around 3 flat NC acres with a ZT Deere and it has constantly given him problems when he tries to pull anything heavier than a vac. (The Deere dealer's service dept loves him).

I see someone mentioned "modifying" a ZT to pull a trailer. As far as I know the warranties of these ZT mowers warn against pulling attachments and if they do there are stated weight limitations. I would like to hear what forum users have done in this regard-

If you need to go this route make sure you check the towing capacities of whatever you are going to buy if moving things is a capability you require- just sayin'

quote:

Originally posted by Wolfpacker:
OP, please keep us posted regarding what you decide and how your purchase works for your situation.

Thanks.

I will post again when I buy something. That will probably happen before the end of the month.

Thank you all for the very helpful information you so generously provided. It is now obvious that a zero turn will not work for our situation.

I am a little taken aback at what something decent is going to cost. If I had not already scrapped my old one, I would be tempted to pump a thousand or so into it so I could just keep mowing with it and keep the extra $$$ in my pocket.

A cousin of mine passed away around Christmas and I was given her John Deere Lawn Mower with 475 hours on it which I intended to clean up and resell. It cost $2500 plus tax at a John Deere dealership in 2008. It has a Briggs and Stratton 23 horsepower twin engine. The engine requires a valve adjustment every 100 hours. Getting to the grease fittings on it is a major problem requiring shield removal and gymnastics. It is very lightly built and the steering and controls feel very cheap. As mentioned several times in the three pages of this post, You might consider buying a LOW HOURS used machine from a private party. I have seen some great deals although this may not be the best time of the year to find them because everyone is looking. Best of luck to you!

A Deere X350 can be bought from a JD dealer for $3000. That might be right for you and your situation.

You are always better buying from a dealer. Big box stores get zero respect on warranty service. What is your nearest Craigslist? I'm good at spotting good used mowers.

quote:

Originally posted by John Steed:
....I am a little taken aback at what something decent is going to cost. If I had not already scrapped my old one, I would be tempted to pump a thousand or so into it so I could just keep mowing with it and keep the extra $$$ in my pocket.

Most of the X30_ series lawn tractors utilize a K46 hydro which is a light duty non-serviceable unit. If you get one with this transmission and you just use the tractor for mowing (hopefully not on a lot of steep grades) or occasionally towing a little light cart on level, it'll hold up for 10-15 years or so, maybe less maybe longer, it's really more a matter of hours. 16 years ago I moved to a house with a large enough yard (almost flat and over 1/2 acre) that I wanted a rider so I bought a JD lawn tractor, I forget the number now but it was 19.5 hp with a 42" deck, K46 hydro, and I paid $1,899 for it at Lowes. (The same EXACT lawn tractor was also sold by John Deere dealers for the same cost, however dealers also sold higher quality models which Lowes did not.) A few years later I moved again selling that house, with the mower, to my son. Anyway my son took great care of his little JD changing the oil twice a year and only used it for mowing, no cart, blade, etc. Last year after 16 years the transmission gave up. The rest of the tractor was still in great shape.

To move up from the K46 in the JD line you have to get up to a $4,199 X370 (42") or $4,699 X380 (48"). These both have the heavier, serviceable K57 and K58 (respectively) hydros that'll last a lot longer.

Speaking of inflation, in 1966 my father bought a new John Deere 110 tractor which had an 8 hp Kohler motor and 38" deck for $700, about 6,000 of today's dollars.

https://centralmich.craigslist...ctor/7110742752.html

Saw this for you to look at. New, this set-up would have been well over $12,000.00