Garden Tractor Or Zero Turn ?

[Murphy Slaw]

I've avoided zero turn mowers because of the price. I have a hunting property that has a few acres to mow, the easement, a small yard area around the cabin and then about an acre around a small pond.

I'd always get about 7/8 years out of a 46" 20/22 HP garden type mower.

The first one, when I bought the land in 1999 cost $750.
The second one, around 2007 was about $1200.
The 3rd one, around 2015 was about $1500.

Those puppys are NOW $2500 and up.

I might go with a zero turn this year and try to get 10/12 years out of it, looks like it can be done for around $3500 with a Hustler or Bad Boy.

Any opinions?

[zuzu]

Had the same choice two years ago and got a Craftsman 5 degree turn garden tractor for $1800 less than I could buy the cheapest zero turn. It will cut as tight and close around stuff as could be, and doesn't leave scuffing spots if you may have to mow when conditions are wetter than desired. It is also much lighter. Very happy with my choice, it was the right one for me.

[hubcapsc]

I live on 20 acres. I bush-hog some of it with a 52 8N. The horses keep some of it
in check. My wife mows a whole bunch of it with an Ego Z6, which I
think is cooler than a lawn mower deserves to be... she also uses it to
run silently around on the property carrying stuff...

-Mike

[imwjl]

My only recent or current experience is maybe skewed towards heavy duty, but we mow at the ski area and prairie type MTB trails. Above all we choose the first tier makes with parts and repair options. We have walk behind, zero turn and tractor types.

One Kubota tractor style has the advantage of a small bucket and pulling a trailer. Zero turns types have to be heavy duty. The big walk behind but powered have lasted well and better for repair and reliability unless your tractor type is diesel with hydrostatic drive.

Do you want function or are you trying for a manicured look in the country? We only mow close near a few buildings. That is sort of an advantage of the big brusher style machines that also last longer.

The sum-total is actually at 16 properties so there is park land, public lands that allow hunting etc.... Where it's only a few acres and not mowed too often I like the big DR brand and types and same for when you are covering a few miles of prairie type trail corridor.

With a troubled back sitting on mowers seems worse than operating the walk behind types with self-power.

From childhood and a past job I have some John Deere bias, but our Kubota machines (utility tractor, UTV, lawn tractor) seem better for stuff smaller than full-size or higher HP farm tractors. It's kind of like the way a Toyota or Subaru ages against domestics. Dumb and annoying things don't break, or some little feature doesn't become an annoying rattle. John Deere has to be commercial grade for me.

[Gunny]

I use a Hustler zero turn for my property. It cut my mowing time in half. 9 years and running. Only 1 bolt has broken and I had it back mowing in 10 minutes.

If you don't need to pull trailers or other implements, zero turns are a joy to use. You probably know that the good mowers are not sold at Lowes, Home Depot, etc..

[Gitfiddlemann]

Definitely consider it.
I don't have as much land as you, but enough so that a mowing job with my old Husky LR120 took nearly 4 hours. It wasn't so much that, but it wasn't very maneuverable, with a huge turning radius, which was a real pain for corners and changing direction. But they're well made, and it lasted me a long time.
It finally crapped out a few years ago, and I decided to get a zero turn mower. (A Husky Z46 from SLE equipment in Nashville. Great folks).
Yes it was pricey, a little over 2k, but man was it worth it. I love this thing! It's so fast, and turns on a dime. And it mows great. I'll never get anything else, although this should last me a a good long time.

[GCWaters]

I’ve had both types…have a John Deere zero turn and love it—-much faster than the tractor and a better cut. At the lake, though, I prefer the tractor—rough, hilly terrain, lot of rocks and stumps….

[TomB'sox]

I mowed a large space for years with a garden tractor. I had a 54 inch cut, huge really. It would take me about 2 hours.

I got a zero turn with a 46 inch deck, took me a little over an hour. They are great, once you have one, it would be very tough to go back.

If you need to do other chores with it, a garden tractor is more versatile, but for pure mowing, can't beat the zero turn. There is a reason all the yard guys use them and not tractors.

[KevWind]

When we had our 17 acres at our old place, I had both, and agree for mowing overall I think a zero turn is a better machine, than a small garden tractor Yes they are more money but I think they are more efficient .
That said neither of the ones I had,, were particularly good in uneven terrain (they would both either scarf any sharp transition point OR they would get stuck)

Now days I only do heavy duty large areas and I use a 7' high flow hydraulic rotary dual blade brush hog on a skid steer. I used to have a PTO style on a tractor but the front mounted rotary on the skid steer is much more maneuverable and quicker. I can do most of the 70-80 acres of pasture that we mow in about 4 hours

[Aimelie]

Another delighted zero turn user here.

We have a Dixon Ram 48ZT, and our almost two acres with over forty trees (small orchard included) take about three hours with an excellent final result (and leaves practically nothing for the string trimmer).

Our machine’s bagger system isn’t so great, though. I have to use it the way farmers do when making hay — cut and wait a day for it to dry out, then go over a second time (but much faster than the first cut) to bag up the cuttings. That being said, we only do this a few times in the spring when the grass is growing thick, dense and wet.

@ hubcapsc — I’ve got my eye on one of those Ego’s. They look like just the thing for me. (We’ve been gradually switching our gas powered yard tools over to battery powered and it’s just so nice … a relief for my sinuses and ears, too. )

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

I live on 20 acres. I bush-hog some of it with a 52 8N. The horses keep some of it
in check. My wife mows a whole bunch of it with an Ego Z6, which I
think is cooler than a lawn mower deserves to be... she also uses it to
run silently around on the property carrying stuff...

-Mike

We're very similar. 54 NAA for bush-hog, goats and sheep, my wife mows with a Ryobi electric zero-turn. We have an old electric golf car for running around the property, hauling, and towing stuff.

[KenL]

I mowed a lot of grass when I lived back in the midwest. Had two garden tractors, but then bought a Gravely zero-turn 48". What a machine! Cut my mowing time in half.

Only problem was that I couldn't keep my then-teenage son off of it. We used to fight over who got to mow the lawn.

[Mds53]

I love my Gravely 54 inch zero turn. I mow about two acres with many trees on half of it and many pocket gopher hills on the other half. I've had it 9 years and oil changes and one broken belt are the only problems.

It's very quick and heavy duty enough to clear long grass with even young buckthorn present. I cleared about 1/2 acre of the stuff with the Gravely.

Dont go cheap on the seat padding. It can shake your teeth out if you go too fast over rough terrain. I really take my time on the gopher hill acre.

Also beware of front end "drift" if you are sideways on a slope, you can lose steering all of a sudden, and the nose will drift down hill. Startling at first, but you learn to avoid and overcome.

[The Bard Rocks]

Over the years I've had 4 ZTRs and now run a Ferris and a Gravely. The Ferris is heavier built, more expensive, and has a far quicker response. The Ferris is probably 10 years old and the Gravely half that. Both with Kawasacki engines and never a cent spent on either engine so far.

For mowing, FAR superior than garden tractor. They only do one thing, but they do it very, very well. The better ones are also better on side slopes, My first (long gone) was very reliable about... taking downhill dives. When comparing, pay attention to the rear tire sizes. Bigger is better. Not so on engine sizes.

[JonWer]

Recommend zero turn. If you are >3 acres probably need commercial model rather than residential. ExMark makes a great product. Your costs will be much higher than $2500, but worth it when it calculate what it would be to have it done professionally.