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Currently have a home grade 54" mower, 23hp, 4mph max speed, 1/2 acre per hour. Mower is great but takes FOREVER to mow the 10 acres a week that I mow on mine and my mom's acreages.

I'm not a commercial mower but feel that quality would probably be best on the farm. I've seen a lot of ads for Bad Boy and Spartan mowers, are they any good? Would a used Scag or Hustler type be better?

your problem is you are still thinking in terms of using a mower when that is way way too much for a lawn mower

get a tractor with a larger then average bush hog so its cutting about 8-10ft at a time and thats the proper tool for the job. for right around the house and driveway you can use your mower for that stuff but use the bush hog for the rest

All depends upon how many obstacles & what space you have between them,
An old commercial with a big deck 60" to 90" will serve you better but of course you need a big trailer to move it from one property to another.
I see a lot of really cheap Great Danes out there with 61" decks that would suit you fine.
Two older, cheaper mowers are always better than one new expensive mower and if it is an old tired mower then no need to keep it under cover , just a small one over the engine will be fine.
My landlord sits on 1000 acres , around 600 of these are pasture that require regular mowing after the cattle have finished eating the grass to knock down the weeds
He uses 3 2000 series Cub Cadets with 48" & 54" decks and it takes all 3 of us 6 days of full on hard yakka to knock it over
He also has a 1962 40Hp Inter with a 10' flail mower that will do the whole pasture in 3 days that we use for heading the seeds in fall because the mowers can not cut high enough to leave feed for the cattle.
For the paddocks with a lot of Tussock grass then there is another , slightly newer Inter ( 1968 ) with a 10' slasher on the back.
Old small farm tractors are a dime a dozen over here and I would imagine it would be the same 10 fold in the USA as cost pressures have forced small farms to combine into big farms with corresponding big farm equipment.
So as others have suggested look at some big equipment for the broad acre stretches and use the little stuff for trimming around the fence line.
If the ground is fairly well level the look to old fariway mowers retired from golf courses when you can get 12' to 20' cut in a single pass.
Cutting a wide swathe slowly will do a better job and is better for the grass than trying to race over the 10 acres quickly .
And go for something with a fabricated deck

I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. I’m not a commercial guy either but I have a few acres to mow. I started looking at the big stores and my brother told me to look at commercial used mowers.
I started looking and everything had a ton of hours but I happen to find a rancher that had a 2013 JD Z920m 48” and needed a 60”. So he bought the same mower in a 60” and he sold me the 48” for $5500. He said it has 239 hours and was in great shape. So a bought it and brought it home and as it turns out the hour gauge has a decimal point and it actually has 23.9 hours. It is so much better quality then store bought. The new z920m start at $10,000. So you may want to look around for a good used commercial mower.

That's gold ! Gotta love the ol' decimal points sometimes.

It is also worth remembering that most commercial operators actually do regular maintenance on their mowers .
So a teamster selling a mower with 15,000 hours would be a better buy than the same mower from a private owner with 1/3 of those hours.
Even worse are 3rd hand machines.
What is a problem for a contractor is often nota problem for the home owner.
Just finished doing a referb on a Great Dane with 22,000 hours on it and it is still a lot better mower than the Toro Titan I did the week before.
Although the Titan is a lot easier to change drive belts on .
The Dane gives a better cut & is a lot easier & more comfortable than the Titan despite being 10 years older.

I would look for a used commercial grade ZTR. 10 acres a week is really nothing for a commercial Z. A new homeowner grade is still in the 3K range and will last a couple years. A decent used commercial machine is around 7K and will last many years if taken care of. Many times dealers will lease machines to schools or large commercial cutters. When they come off lease is a good time to pick one up.

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Rivets said:

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Resolved.

I cut a few acres a week and was lucky to find a J Deere 926 - 3 cylinder deisel - 72 inchcut - I also have a turf blazer 727 same engine same cut - these were the for runners of the zero turns - they are older but both are well made. Either one of these older style machines will get your job done fast, and are cheap to buy - about 1 - 2 thousand - I bought the J Deere for $1000 and the turf blazer 727 for $700. - you better be a good mechanic if you get one of these - they will need fixing here and there

I have a Kubota ZG327 with 60" cut. I bought it new and was going through buyers remorse for a while but that faded quickly when I realized I was cutting every inch of my 9+ acres with no pain in one day.

The difference between a home owner mower and a commercial machine is huge, way beyond the price difference. Now, 6 years later, I am show over 500 hours on this machine and it still starts right up and cuts and operates like it was new. Lots of blades and filters, more fuel put through this than my motorcycle but the lawn cutting is not the big problem that it was.

Re: the comment about using a Bush Hog and tractor, I have a Kubota 40 hp tractor with a loader and a 6' bush hog but if I were to use that for the acreage I am cutting it takes twice as long, lots of trees
and the turn radius for the tractor loader combo makes it a real chore. A number of fence posts have been broken and you still have to go back to trim around the trees and posts.
If this were an open area the tractor would win but that is not my case.

This is my first post and I look forward to being a part of the community here, I spend more time with my landscape gear than just about anything else except the horses!

How flat is that 10 acres? Any hills, berms or ditches? Any ponds or waterways? How rough is the property? Any trees, rocks, roots, gates or other obstacles? A ZT is likely to be a faster mow, but a Tractor may give you better traction and the ability to do other tasks. You can probably get a new unit in the $6 - $7K range with warranty rather than take a risk with a used unit. Many dealers are offering 0% financing on new units. The monthly payment on a new unit may put you into a more reliable ride. The cost of a more expensive unit over 10-years of ownership is not that much more per month if you do the math. Regrets last a long time. Nothing worse than purchasing the wrong unit and being disappointed every week as you mow those 10 acres. Do your home work. Ask questions. Talk to several dealers and look at several used units. Don't be in a hurry. If you miss a great deal, don't worry......there are more good deals out there.

Before I bought my new ZG327 I blew 2k on a used Dixie Chopper, "well maintained" was the ad. Broken hour meter.

It was at one time a nice mower I am sure but when I got it the machine almost never made it through a cutting session without a repair of some type.

Very demoralizing, but at least it pointed me in the right direction.

Mow with a push mower and lose whatever weight you can. You're welcome.

LOL. (I do a lot of mowing with a push mower, have mowed over 3 hours non-stop with one, but that wasn't 10 acres!)

OP, what did you end up doing?

Sheep, goats, and fence.
Other than that, an old Ford tractor and rotary mower.

MowManWV said:

Mow with a push mower and lose whatever weight you can. You're welcome.

LOL. (I do a lot of mowing with a push mower, have mowed over 3 hours non-stop with one, but that wasn't 10 acres!)

OP, what did you end up doing?

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Okay fella, that is MY LINE, LOL.

I have 5 Snapper push mowers, 3 are true pushers. Wife and I use them weekly for exercise and some "ROMANTIC" bonding..... ?

Back on topic, a tractor is the best tool for this guy. Course there is this way too.

slomo,

Glad you liked that! Neat video too.

In the process of getting my wife a self-propelled mower so she can help me mower easier. We are blessed to have wives that enjoy hard work.

MowManWV said:

slomo,

Glad you liked that! Neat video too.

In the process of getting my wife a self-propelled mower so she can help me mower easier. We are blessed to have wives that enjoy hard work.

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Everyone has to rush out and get 1500lb 0-turns these days. They rut the turf like mad and use a ton of 5 dollar a gallon gas. Cut terrible and are a pain to work on. Most people don't even have a way to get these mega mowers to the shop if needed. Got to keep up with the neighbors I guess?

I would be looking into a Toro Super Recycler. Nice aluminum deck and get that 190cc Briggs if I were you. Easier for the wife to mow with.

slomo said:

Everyone has to rush out and get 1500lb 0-turns these days. They rut the turf like mad and use a ton of 5 dollar a gallon gas. Cut terrible and are a pain to work on. Most people don't even have a way to get these mega mowers to the shop if needed. Got to keep up with the neighbors I guess?

I would be looking into a Toro Super Recycler. Nice aluminum deck and get that 190cc Briggs if I were you. Easier for the wife to mow with.

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The OP is mowing 10 acres.
A push mower ???
Most 1500lb zero turn with a 60-72" deck would knock that out in a few hours, would hold up for many years, are easy to work on , and the cut is very good. (I know mine are)
The right tool for the job has nothing to do with "keep up to the neighbors"

DK35vince said:

The OP is mowing 10 acres.
A push mower ???
Most 1500lb zero turn with a 60-72" deck would knock that out in a few hours, would hold up for many years, are easy to work on , and the cut is very good. (I know mine are)
The right tool for the job has nothing to do with "keep up to the neighbors"

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Yes push mowers. 10 acres and a tiny 60"-72" mower would take a while.

I'm about to go mow two yards right now. A zero turn couldn't do these yards due to size and slant.

Ever notice how the mowing team, the fat guy is on the zero turn and the skinny guy is weed trimming? Maybe they should rotate jobs a bit.

Another bad thing about no turns is they can make black tire marks on the driveway. Some people with nice new homes get fired up about skid marks on their new white concrete driveway. Rich folks are picky. Don't blame them I guess.

slomo said:

Another bad thing about no turns is they can make black tire marks on the driveway. Some people with nice new homes get fired up about skid marks on their new white concrete driveway. Rich folks are picky. Don't blame them I guess.

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Zero turns "can" leave black marks on driveways if the operator wants to (or doesn't care) or doesn't know how to operate it.
I have a Trans Am that can leave black marks on a driveway too. Doesn't make it a bad thing...

I have a 1939 Farmall A with a Woods 60 inch belly mount mower....cut quality as good as all the mowers mentioned here. You can get a Farmall A...or Allis WD 45 or other brand with a belly mount on Craigslist for a couple thousand....depending on condition of course. I mow my yard and neighbors lot weekly...3 acres....makes the job fast and easy. Simply another option to consider.

Have about 15 acres I mow several times each summer. Bought a bad-boy 60” at an estate sale, used it to get things cleaned up (lots of briars and vines), upgraded to a new 60” eXmark to maintain it. Put lugged tires on the mower, helps on the hills. Use a ZTR because it’s easier to work around the trees. Use low loft blades, seem to cut better with less load on the engine when things get overgrown.