Which New Lawn Tractor To Purchase

[webicknell]

M mrauditor , I hear a lot of advice but not really advice without asking questions. First of all I went through this about 2 years ago as I had always had someone cut my yard and I need about 7 Acres cut. I'm the type that researches everything down to the finest detail before making a decision but there are still things I missed since this was my first time making a zero-turn purchase.

First of all the size yard you have to cut (1/4 acre) will be very small for a zero turn and the job will be done very quickly so I would HIGHLY suggest getting a mower with a deck size on the smaller end of your range such as 42 in. Larger decks are nice but any little dip or angle in the yard will create missed spots with the larger deck as it will just straddle all the low spots. The smaller decks are going to leave you with a yard that looks closer to being push mowed and that's what you want. The smaller decks are also much more maneuverable and will allow you to get closer to things and eliminate a great deal of weed eating and they fit through fence gates if ever needed.

Secondly if your yard is rough or has any rocks or other hard obstacles I would suggest moving to a zero-turn that at least has a commercial deck. This is where you are more likely to tear up a non commercial mower than a commercial mower. A good welded deck in my opinion is almost a necessity unless you have an absolute pristine lawn with no chance of ever cutting anything except grass and no chance of running into or hitting anything hard. A good commercial deck will save you a ton of headache as that cheap stamped deck on residential mowers just can't take any mistakes. If the yard is really rough the only other thing I would suggest making sure is heavy duty is the front casters. Given your yard size I would say this is not going to be too much of a concern but I still would highly consider the commercial welded deck.

This may or may not be an option for you because of price but on my mower I went with the more expensive fuel injected motor and I absolutely love it. It can sit all year long and start just like your car does and it obviously sips gas. I also can just use regular pump gas instead of having to try to search down non-ethanol gas stations like you should do with your carbureted motor. I can cut about 7 rough, hilly and overgrown acres in somewhere around 4 hours and not have to refill (60 in deck).

As for your fears of a zero-turn flipping I can almost assure you your courage will run out before that zero turn flips regardless of how you run it on the angle. I can cut hills straight up and down and sideways that I would not dream about cutting with a regular lawn tractor. There is no way I would choose a standard lawn tractor over a zero-turn. They are just completely different animals.

Finally when it comes to zero turn tractors as it is with most anything mechanical your best bet for a long-term investment will be one without all the electronic bells and whistles. Keep it simple. For instance I would definitely choose a model where your deck adjustment is a simple pin where you raise the deck and manually push the pin in and out of your wanted deck height setting rather than some electronic dial that adjusts it automatically. That super cool electronic dial will break at some point.

I'm not going to recommend a brand here because I think if you stick with the things above the brand is really not going to matter. For what it's worth, I looked at and was willing to spend whatever it took and I went to dealer after dealer looking at Kubota, Hustler, ExMark, Ferris, John Deer, Grasshopper and wound up with a Husqvarna PZT commercial model and I have had zero issues other than flat tires which are certainly not the fault of the mower but are just an indication that I absolutely do treat this thing like a bush hog sometimes instead of a zero turn.

Hope this info helps out in your search.



Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Great advice here.... I have the 5 acres... Hills with some dips and a few rocks (was an old pasture)... My Exmark Lazer Z is only a 42" deck and with the dips I have, a larger deck would miss much of them... And if I had a non-commercial version, the rocks would have destroyed my deck... Will be honest.. at the end of each season, I take it in for a full service and as a default, I get new blades put on...
Takes me between 6-8 hours to mow my 5 acres.

 

[rbstern]

Before I had my ZTR with welded deck, I had a well used Poulan lawn tractor. Stamped deck. I mow pretty rough terrain with plenty of rocks. The deck held up great; in fact, when the mower died, before I took it to the dump, I thought about taking the deck off and selling it. The rest of the mower was pretty worn out. Biggest enemy of a stamped deck is rust. Keep it clean and painted, it can last a long time, even if you beat it up.

 

[mrauditor]

Burdy:

I really appreciate the time and thought you put into your reply. You made some very experienced comments that would not have even entered my mind. I appreciate it.