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I moved to a house with about 1.5 acres to move. I bought a Husqvarna Z246 46 inch Zero Turn about a year ago. I absolutely love it for the flat parts of my yard, but it is a mess on the hills. I don't think it is anything with the mower itself. I think it is just the issue of zero turns in general on hills. I'm destroying my yard and I can't get close to several obstacle that I have to go around while on the slopes. So, I love the mower, but I think I go the wrong kind. I need a tight turning radius mower, but it doesn't absolutely have to be zero turn. I can hopefully get close to $2000 for mine if I sell it. I want to get the most affordable mower that will do the job and not fall apart in 2 years. What about this one? https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/riders/r322t-awd/967153002/ All wheel drive seems like a great option. Any thoughts?

Some lawn areas are certainly too steep to safely mow with a zero-turn riding mower but sometimes it's just a matter of technique. What it boils down to in general is keeping the weight of the mower and operator on the rear wheels.

Are you going up and down the slopes or across them?

Edit: Here's a post I started a while back. Maybe it will be of some help. https://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showthread.php/46882-Zero-Turn-Mower-Operation-and-Safety

Darryl G said:

Are you going up and down the slopes or across them?

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Thanks for the reply. When possible, I go up and down them. There are large portions with a drainage ditch and a burm that require me to go across. The shape of yard makes mowing portion of the hill up and down extremely inefficient. In the attached pic, the red arrows show the slope of the hill, and the blue line is a drainage "valley/ditch" with a burm next to it. I will pay more to get a mower that won't slip. I generally do okay on the sideways part. It is the coming down the hill and especially turning while coming down the hill that I struggle. I know that is because a ZTR isn't designed to do this. I hoping to find something more appropriate for the job.

I see. I would start at the bottom going across so that all of my turns are uphill, unless it's so steep that the mower slides. But yeah you certainly don't want to be running a ZTR down a steep hill with a ditch at the bottom. Mowing diagonally is also an option. I have the luxury of being able to justify having both ZTRs and a hydro walk-behind for slopes.

I understand your thinking regarding getting an AWD mower. I was trying to see if your problem could be resolved by changing your technique. There is also the option of getting different tires.

The easiest things to work on steep slopes are the Husqvarna articulated mowers or the Stiga park Estate articulated mower.
Both come in 4wd .
However they are expensive, have fairly small decks and if you go too quick and turn too tight on hills they tip over.
After that it is a Ventrac, a specialist brand of steep hill mowers.
Next best will be the standers.

Tight turns on hills is something to be avoided at all costs unless you have a fettish about becoming a tent peg.

bertsmobile1 said:

The easiest things to work on steep slopes are the Husqvarna articulated mowers or the Stiga park Estate articulated mower.
Both come in 4wd .

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Thanks. The Husqvarna is the one I posted in my original post and the one I'm the most interested in. It seems hard to find a Stiga in the US. I'll have to save up for the HUSQVARNA R 322 with mulching deck. That thing is pricey.

I have STEEP hills. I eyeballed some areas at 45 degrees. I have NO issues going up them or even sidewise. Of course, I ditched turf tires at 8 hrs of use and installed ATV tires. Done. Only problem is - they suck on driveway. Riding on washboard. And you got to be careful taking turns, or they will rip sod.

Now, when you really need 4x4 is wetland. Swamps. Puddles. It is HARD to pick up and pull mower out of mud, when stuck. I did it 4 times, I don't really want to do it again. Yes, you read right. Pick up rear end and pull it out onto drier soil. Mud is like damn glue.

Stiga comes out of the EU & the Park Estate is made in Sweden & Germany so they would not be cheap & tend to be confined to the N-E corner states.
You should find a lot of used 155 Huskies around.
The original batch from Sweden ended up down here in OZ cause Americans are not capable of reading instructions and they got banned.
The next batch do not turn as tight so they are more difficult to turn over and the name changed.
Forget which way but one design is called Rider Pro & the other lot are called Pro Riders

The turf tires that come on most zero turns are horrible on hills. (mine were terrible on hills)
I ditched my turf tires and replaced them with AT 101 bar tires and the difference on our hills was HUGE.
Our hills are no problem now.

DK35vince said:

The turf tires that come on most zero turns are horrible on hills. (mine were terrible on hills)
I ditched my turf tires and replaced them with AT 101 bar tires and the difference on our hills was HUGE.
Our hills are no problem now.

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Somehow I missed this response. It's mowing season again, and I just destroyed portions of my yard which got me looking again. I think I may give this a shot. I have a normal fescue lawn. Do you find these tires damage your lawn any worse than standard turf tires?

mkitchin said:

Somehow I missed this response. It's mowing season again, and I just destroyed portions of my yard which got me looking again. I think I may give this a shot. I have a normal fescue lawn. Do you find these tires damage your lawn any worse than standard turf tires?

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They can if your not careful in hard turning.
Not enough to bother me. And the huge difference in traction vs turfs and how much better it works on hills is well worth it IMO.

I love my Jacobsen, I have some pretty steep hills, and it never feels like it is going to tip over. With the deck down the center of gravity is very low. 4WD, and almost will turn like a zero turn, it leaves a little missed spot when doing a tight turn, but not much. If the tree is bigger than about 5 inches I can cut around it without missing anything.

DK35vince said:

They can if your not careful in hard turning.
Not enough to bother me. And the huge difference in traction vs turfs and how much better it works on hills is well worth it IMO.

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Thanks. I think I will order a set of these.
https://www.amazon.com/Carlisle-Sup...005O5VAVY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
It is the only bar tire I can find in a 18x9.5, Update: it is only available in 2 ply.
https://www.carlislebrandtires.com/our-products/product-detail/super-lug-power-trac-tru-power
Guess I should keep looking for a 4 ply 18x9.5 bar tire. This one maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/Duro-18-9-50-8-HF255-Trencher-Tire/dp/B00D6OLSPI
It seems there are better mowers for this type of work, but they are out of my price range.
I'm not getting any notifications when someone replies to this thread for some reason.

mkitchin said:

Thanks. I think I will order a set of these.
https://www.amazon.com/Carlisle-Sup...005O5VAVY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
It is the only bar tire I can find in a 18x9.5, Update: it is only available in 2 ply.
https://www.carlislebrandtires.com/our-products/product-detail/super-lug-power-trac-tru-power
Guess I should keep looking for a 4 ply 18x9.5 bar tire. This one maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/Duro-18-9-50-8-HF255-Trencher-Tire/dp/B00D6OLSPI
It seems there are better mowers for this type of work, but they are out of my price range.
I'm not getting any notifications when someone replies to this thread for some reason.

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I bought my Jacobsen used. I think I paid 2800 for it. Put about another 300 in repairs, but it has been awesome.

Anyone have any experience with this one or something similar?
Cub Cadet RZT SX 46 KH
https://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/...ders/steering-wheel-46-in-23-hp-kohler-engine
Seems like a decent Zero Turn for hills. I might consider if the new tires don't help out a lot with my current mower.
I know a front mount deck mower would be nice, but they appear to be a very expensive and not great at cutting close around trees.

mkitchin said:

Anyone have any experience with this one or something similar?
Cub Cadet RZT SX 46 KH
https://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/...ders/steering-wheel-46-in-23-hp-kohler-engine
Seems like a decent Zero Turn for hills. I might consider if the new tires don't help out a lot with my current mower.
I know a front mount deck mower would be nice, but they appear to be a very expensive and not great at cutting close around trees.

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Front mowers do fine around trees, especially trees that are bigger than 6 inches wide. I paid less than that for my Jacobsen used, and I have a feeling that Jacobsen will be running for decades more.

I mentioned this before, but technique on slopes is key. Without being there it's hard to say if it would be enough. It's all about keeping weight on the rear wheels and proper stick technique on turns. Wondering if you can get a highly experienced Zero-Turn operator to have a look-see?

Darryl G said:

I mentioned this before, but technique on slopes is key. Without being there it's hard to say if it would be enough. It's all about keeping weight on the rear wheels and proper stick technique on turns. Wondering if you can get a highly experienced Zero-Turn operator to have a look-see?

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Thanks. My back yard is 80% made up of a wide continuous hill. Nowhere to turn that isn't on a hill. My neighbor has the same situation. His professional mower uses a walk behind for this area. I would prefer to do it all with a riding mower. I know they're staged, but those videos of the Cub Cadet navigating hills look awesome. I will see how my new tires do and go from there. Thanks for all the advice.

Please give us an update how the new tires perform vs the turfs.
Bar tires on mine made a massive difference on hills. The same hills that were always a problem with the crappy turfs, or I couldn't mow at all are no problem at all now.

DK35vince said:

Please give us an update how the new tires perform vs the turfs.
Bar tires on mine made a massive difference on hills. The same hills that were always a problem with the crappy turfs, or I couldn't mow at all are no problem at all now.

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Will do. Shipped out from Simple Tire yesterday. I'll get the wheels off and take them to a local shop this week. Will likely mow on 4/6 or 4/13. Depends on weather.
If I can get things working with bar tires, it will save me a lot of money and keep me on a mower with a simpler drive train.

Tires are mounted. Can you recommend a PSI for these? The tread looks very aggressive. I would like to start with a PSI that would be the least likely to do damage. See pics.

Never ran bar tread tires on a ZTR so I don't know what pressure for sure but I think 10 to 12 PSI is a good guess. I gotta say that those look different than the bar tread tires on my buddy's Grasshopper mowers, unless his are plain worn out. I'm a bit concerned for your lawn...

Yeah, I'm a little worried too. These are the ones most people recommend:
https://www.carlislebrandtires.com/our-products/product-detail/at101-chevron
but they don't make them in my size.
Here is a similar one to what I bought (but only in 2 ply)
https://www.amazon.com/Carlisle-Super-Lawn-Garden-Tire/dp/B005O5VAVY
The reviews have people saying they are using them with some care and not damaging their lawns.
If they don't work, I think I will have to upgrade to a more expensive mower.

How big is the lawn you are trying to mow & how rough is it ?
The articulated mowers come in 4wd which is not outragiously expensive.

Sorry. Just saw the last post. My lawn is about 2 acres. From yard is 75% flat. Back yard is 95% sloped.
The new tires did great. The grip was really good. I was very careful at first, but eventually, I was turning as tight as normal and not tearing anything up. I ran the tires at 12 PSI. There are a couple of places where it did some minor damage, but I think it was less than the factory tires. They definitely weren't slipping, and it was wet. I still think I could do better with a 4WD or front deck mower at some point, but I am definitely okay for now. Thanks for all the tips.

I run 8 PSI in my Carlisle AT 101 bar tires.