We've got a potential contender with this crazy housing market.
We'd be going from 1/3 acre to 1.5 acre lot size & downsizing the home space. Win-win to me, as there's a lot of space in our current house that sits unused.

For the past couple years, I've been using a reasonable lawn service to do my yard. After my blower & edger died, it became a huge chore on the cleanup side.
Have since sold my Husqvarna AWD push mower, and that wouldn't have been a practical option for the much larger lot.

So, toss in your recommendations.
Mower Brand
Engine brand
Deck size
Zero turn vs traditional riding mower
Accessories

The house we're going to look at has a nice sized shed that should accommodate most ZT/riding mowers, not sure on the options larger than that (yard tractors & such).
We'd also be going from a 3-car to a 2-car garage, so the shed will also serve kids toy storage.

As best I can tell from photos, the property looks mostly flat, slightly sloped around the house, and a shallow-ish ditch in the front for community drainage (house has what looks like a tiny 'bridge' when you turn into the driveway from the road.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

*Cough cough… I run a 46 inch deck 24 hp bright orange Husqvarna. Probably not the best these days, but definitely old reliable. Parts easy to get.

Maybe a Walker?

When you said big mower, my first thought turns out to be not at all what you were looking for. Gearmore 84” (7’) PTO driven flail mower with hammer flails. That sucker just murders brush, and keeps on going.

Good luck with the house purchase and hope you find the perfect mower for your needs. I’m sure the hive mind will have excellent suggestions.

Just bought (last year) and 24 hp Cub Cadet 46" for some property (about 2+ mowable acres).

Pretty good so far except I keep beating it up (hit a hidden tree stump)...

I've mowed 2.5 acres with a Kubota 22 HP zero turn with a 48" deck. I mulch the grass and mow weekly during summer. I've had the mower for over 10 years without a single problem. Lots of Kubota equipment around here. I also have a 29 HP tractor with loader and snowblower.

What he said ^^^ with a Kawasaki twin cylinder gas engine.

What I have is larger than you need, but you should consider the same theory as I had.

I run a 72" Ferris with a big block Vangaurd, but I mow 6 acres. My theory was that a commercial mower is designed to be used and abused, and is much better built than a consumer version. For as little use as your yard will see a commercial unit should last you the rest of your life, and probably could be passed down to the next generation. This would also hold true for a used unit that was well cared for.

Once you have had a ZT you will never go back to a traditional mower unless you have some super steep property then you might buy a stander. I have a 50" ExMark and it's been flawless. Most of the brands you have heard of make a good product.

You can get away with a bigger deck on a ZT because they are so maneuverable so I would get at least a 50" if you are cutting that much grass.

I would also search the area near your new house and see what kind of manufacturers are near you. I personally like buying from a place that all they do is mowers instead of a box store. The place by my house will pick up the mower and return it for $25 so it's something to consider.

Your budget will help people narrow down the brand and size. My 50" ExMark was $4200 two years ago so ZT mowers are much pricier than a standard mower because that's what everyone wants.

My dad has some flavor of Kawasaki engined ZT, but I forget the brand.
IIRC, he has just a hair under an acre, but mows close to 2.

Luckily, the potential new house is only about 30-40 minutes from them, instead of almost 2 hrs. So worst case I could 'borrow' his in the short term until I can get my own.
Or, if the house came with one, even better.

We're going to check it out tomorrow morning.

When the JD dies, I'm going e-mower, hopefully a few years down the road but after running e-accessories from EGO, the next step is a mower.

EGO Power Zero Turn riding mower looks like an interesting mower, add in accessories, edger, trimmer, blower and you'll have plenty of battery power, no gas to mix or buy at $$$ a gallon.

https://egopowerplus.com/power-riding-mowers/

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
When the JD dies, I'm going e-mower, hopefully a few years down the road but after running e-accessories from EGO, the next step is a mower.

EGO Power Zero Turn riding mower looks like an interesting mower, add in accessories, edger, trimmer, blower and you'll have plenty of battery power, no gas to mix or buy at $$$ a gallon.

https://egopowerplus.com/power-riding-mowers/

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Those things are still outrageous. Eventually they will get there but right now most of the Electric ZT's are 3 or 4 times the cost of the equivalent gas mowers. I would love to have one though because you never have to worry about them starting, no belts, gas, oil, etc.

I like Hustler/Big Dog ztr with Kawasaki engines. 48" would be ample. Easy to find good used models and made in USA.

$5,500 for the 42" EGO
Haven't priced the gas comparables too know if that's crazy high or not.

^ Skimmed the POA docs for the potential new house.
Seems they're good with some non-business AG use. Goats could work, but they'd likely eventually end up in the pool...

Whatever floats yer goats.

Are you talking mowing once the grass tickles your chin or mowing at least once per week and making it look like it's really taken care of? I guess I'm asking if you want a brush hog or a finishing mower.

I use a finishing mower for my customers. My lawns are done weekly. I use a Toro Zmaster zero turn as it has the best quality of cut of any mower that I've tried. I can suggest the 36", the 52" and the 60" as they do an excellent job. The 40" is a total lemon because the 3 short blades do not have enough lift.

You may not need a Zmaster for one lawn per week, a Timecutter is the homeowner version but a Zmaster will last you just about forever. However, we're talking $9k.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
$5,500 for the 42" EGO
Haven't priced the gas comparables too know if that's crazy high or not.

Depends on your level of crazy LOL, then again if you are the only one in the neighborhood with an electric z-turn, you can smugly mow, hear the music from your iFone easily, are not putting bad things into the air, subsequently proclaim you are truly the greenest yard in the neighborhood.

Of course if you jump in your F450 diesel to go get a qt of milk it kinda hurts the "green" image

Price is higher than GAS, the JD ZTrak series starts at $3K and can get up to $10K, depends on what you need for the yard size.

https://e-marketing.deere.com/zero-turn-mowers/

I know it's old tech, but when I was a kid my buddy's wealthy dad bought a GE Elec-Trak lawn tractor. He said it was the future and was quiet, blah blah... Lectured everyone about the environment. (He was woke before woke was cool).

What was a riot was that he was assured it could handle his several acre yard. After about a year we would coming home from school and it would be abandoned down in his yard somewhere exactly where it died... It sat in his garage for many years after the batteries went TU.
He priced replacing the batteries and decided against. But a lot of folks liked these-

Big yard and electric? I think I'll pass...