zero turn mowers

We mow for folks in the area to supliment our retirement income. Only my opinion, but I like the Grasshopper Diesel. Reasons are you can use off road diesel, mows really fast, pretty easy to sharpen blades while still under the deck, and built really tuff. Do the routine main. and it will last a very long time. Stay as far as you can from Gravely. They have a habit of breaking the frame rails just behind the seat and in front of the engine (if this happens while you are actually mowing you will be experiancing the wildest mechanical bull ride in history, on a steep hill you could die from the mower's blades if it goes upside down.) If you own one already you may want to weld some angle iron to the frame rails and install some iron gussets to the upright part of the frame just behind the seat.

Just one more thing. I really do like the way the gravely deck is lowered and raised with the foot lever. I have enough to do just steering the mower. The foot lift lets me raise the deck up and over some stuff that the blades would otherwise hit. Only redeeming virtue of the gravely.

love my time cutter zero turn..you betcha

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Bought a Bush Hog ZTR two years ago. It's hella stout, fast and reliable. I mow 5 acres of lawn in about one and one-half hours. Air ride seat, solid controls, and significantly less expensive than a comparable Grasshopper or Deere. Love the thing...probably the best hour and a half of my week! I agree that you definitely want to get a commercial unit...new carries a much better warranty and they are built more heavy duty. Good luck on your choosing!

I have an ExMark (not a zero radius)...Have had it for 7 years. Absolutely bullet proof. No problems in all that time, and I mow about three acres every two weeks with it over very rough and hilly stuff. I also have a Crapsman riding mower that I have owned for just under three years. My wife uses it to mow an additional three acres of the more flat even stuff. I have had five service calls for that mower. I want a ZR next time and it will def. be an ExMark.

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

Check out the Hustler brand Fast Track. Same frame and hydraulic motors as the commercial Super Fast Track. Homeowner Fast Track has a 4 year or 400 hour warranty. Also the mower deck is sturdy and well made. Alot of the homeowner zero turns have a stamped mower deck. Looks like they took the mower deck from their riding tractor and added a few brackets and attached it to the zero turn. I use my Fast Track to cut my pastures. I am well pleased with the purchase. The Hustler is made in America but uses Kawasaki motors.

Have a 50" Gravely for 4 years, but unlike another poster above, not a lick of trouble. Cut my mowing down from 3 hours to 1 hr and 20 minutes. Looked at the $10,000 models and settled on this $3000 model because I thought $7000 would pay for a lot of grass cuttings from a grass cutting service. Also, I can't see one of the expensive models lasting 3X longer than this one. Again, not a bit of trouble in 4 years.

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Ray
Husband to a beautiful lady, daddy to 4 sweet girls and two little boys!

They're definitely capable of pulling a small trailer...just don't forget you have a trailer attached and try to zero turn it...it's no fun.

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I blame the media blamers.

I go with the Grasshopper. That's what we've had for year. Started with lawn tractors but when we got our first grasshopper I was hooked. Had a something chopper once but sold it as it about beat me to death and went back to a grasshopper. Deck out front makes for a smoother ride.

I have a Scag Tiger Cub with 48" deck. The Great Dane is almost the same machine. The engineer is Dane Scag or Scag Dane (can't remember) but he first built the company Scag, sold out for some reason. then started the Great Dane company.

Instead of a big deck, get the smaller one and then you never need to get out a small push mower, only a weed wacker. We had a hitch plate added, so wife can pull a garden trailer behind for hauling chicken manure, garden tools, plants etc... with a 60" or greater deck that would limit where she could go. We have planted a lot of tree.

Like GreenCounty Pete said, mow less NOT more. We only mow a few times each summer. WHen I had sheep/pigs, we used Premier1 ElectroNet to graze the lawn around the trees. Now we just don't mow, if you are growing the right grass, it stops growing and goes to seed. Tall grass doesn't allow weeds to germinate. And some weeds are pretty. Only manually remove thistles and the occassional burdock.

Why waste your valuable time riding a mower?

Don't be sold on advertisements for "lawn care" products.
Who are you trying to impress?

My time on earth is short, I am not going to waste it.

I've had my eXmark for several years without any problems.

How are zero turn mowers rated?

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Meaning by acreage, I'm looking at a Bad Boy ZT in a great deal . On their site they list it as a 0 - 2 acre mower, what does that mean exactly? It is a 27hp kohler engine with a 60" deck. I was looking at a gravely the other day, same engine and deck size, 2x the price and it was described as a mower for 5+ acres

I got 5 to cut, pretty flat and nothing fancy, just long runs back and forth. Any thoughts on this?

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I ken spel fine I jist kent type.