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I have an older 3-wheel Honda ATV ("Big Red") that I've been using for light towing around my property. Dragging small felled trees, towing a small utility trailer, etc. It doesn't seem to struggle with the loads I've put on it. But... it DOES seem to struggle with staying cool. The last time I used it, I noticed that the engine was getting quite warm. The engine is air cooled, and depends on vehicle speed to generate airflow for cooling. It's not really designed for continuous use at the low speeds I use for towing.

My ZTR is a Cub Cadet Pro Z 100, an entry-level commercial unit. It has HG ZT-3400 hydros and a 27HP Kohler EZT750 engine. It has more power, torque, and weight than the ATV. As a mower, it IS, of course, designed for continuous use at low speeds, so long as the engine is kept at full throttle to keep the engine and hydros cool. So I want to start using it for utility towing.

My HG manual says that ZT-3400's are good for vehicle weights up to 1600lbs. My Pro Z weighs right around 1000lbs.

I know that gear transmissions are better for towing than hydros, but I still think my ZTR would be a better option than my ATV for the towing I do around here.

Opinions?

I'm sure the engine would be up to the task, but I'm more concerned with the hydros. Is there anything I could do to improve the ZT-3400's reliability for towing? Is there anything I should be concerned about when towing with this mower? I already run full throttle all the time, except when warming it up. While I think the ZT-3400's can handle the towing I need to do, I don't want to drastically shorten their lifespan. They ARE a bit expensive to repair or replace.

A slightly related question.... When doing towing around my property, I often leave the engine running for a minute or two with the ATV parked while I do something (load, unload, hook up something, etc). I do this to avoid wearing out the starter. If I did this with the Pro Z, would it harmful to drop the engine to idle while parked? And then back to full throttle before pulling away? I think the engine would be fine, but again, my concern is the hydros.

Hydros were never made for towing period. It does degrade your hydro and will make it potentially overheat. Now it's a little bit different with a riding mower because they were made to have things like a front blade, bagger, sleeve hitch and those accessories and more. But ZTRs weren't made for anything other than cutting grass. If you really want to tow stuff, you'll have to keep it light or else the Hydros might overheat or the tires might spin out. Wherever you are towing there will probably be ruts from the tires trying to grip. ATV s are just made better for for the job, but fix that overheating issue. When driving your ztr, always run at full throttle. I'm not sure if there is a clutch system that untensions the belt when you are parked on you ztr but if there is you can let it idle.

Hmmm. Sounds like my best bet would be to find a beat up lawn tractor with a gear transmission and a rusted out deck for cheap. If I burned up something like that, it wouldn't bother me.

Does this apply to tractors? I'm looking for a compact or subcompact tractor, too. I'm finding that the smaller the tractor, the more likely the transmission is a hydrostat. I will want to do towing and dragging with it too. If I shouldn't tow with a tractor with a hydrostatic transmission, I may look at something bigger.

With tractors, they are built much beefier to last a long time and everything is serviceable so it's fine if you use it for towing. I think using an old yard tractor with a gear tranny is what I would do. Depending on how much weight you are towing, I would get a 90s-2000s craftsman gt5000 or a similar GT. Another More budget friendly option which I actually have is an old craftsman 2 gt18 (profile pic) with a solid gear transmission. I got mine a while ago for 50 bucks in great shape! I see a lot similarly priced around here. If you really want hydro convenience, you could get an old riding mower and use and abuse it till it croaks and just replace it every few years

Craftsman Garage said:

With tractors, they are built much beefier to last a long time and everything is serviceable so it's fine if you use it for towing. I think using an old yard tractor with a gear tranny is what I would do. Depending on how much weight you are towing, I would get a 90s-2000s craftsman gt5000 or a similar GT. Another More budget friendly option which I actually have is an old craftsman 2 gt18 (profile pic) with a solid gear transmission. I got mine a while ago for 50 bucks in great shape! I see a lot similarly priced around here. If you really want hydro convenience, you could get an old riding mower and use and abuse it till it croaks and just replace it every few years

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Do not tow with a zero turn. Riding mowers are not made to tow either, probably anything more than 300 pounds is a no go.

Tiger Small Engine said:

Do not tow with a zero turn. Riding mowers are not made to tow either, probably anything more than 300 pounds is a no go.

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300 lbs is probably good enough for what I need to do. I'm not planning on moving a 5th wheel around. Just drag small trees, and tow a small utility trailer, which probably weighs around 100 lbs.

Do the ZT-3400's do anything for me? They are supposedly commercial, and are serviceable. I would think that they're a bit more robust than the hydros on, say, a big box store ZTR.

GearHead36 said:

300 lbs is probably good enough for what I need to do. I'm not planning on moving a 5th wheel around. Just drag small trees, and tow a small utility trailer, which probably weighs around 100 lbs.

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I'm not familiar with your equipment but want to comment on towing basics. Listed towing capacity relates to the weight of a wheeled object where resistance is minimal, called rolling resistance. When an object is dragged, resistance is multiple times greater than the same object on wheels. (For example, envision bowling with a square ball.) It's impossible to know the towing resistance of a non-wheeled object in general as it would depend in large part on how much of the object actually touches the ground. However, dragging an object could be more than 10X the same object on wheels. Dragging a 100-pound tree could be like towing a 1/2-ton wheeled object.

TonyPrin said:

I'm not familiar with your equipment but want to comment on towing basics. Listed towing capacity relates to the weight of a wheeled object where resistance is minimal, called rolling resistance. When an object is dragged, resistance is multiple times greater than the same object on wheels. (For example, envision bowling with a square ball.) It's impossible to know the towing resistance of a non-wheeled object as it would depend in large part on how much of the object actually touches the surface. However, dragging an object could be more than 10X the same object on wheels. Dragging a 100-pound tree could be like towing a 1/2-ton wheeled object.

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I guess what I should really be impressed with is the ATV. It tows and drags stuff around with no problem, except for it wanting to overheat.

Thanks for the info.

We tow all the time with our China 107 cc atv. Sometime I use it with the roller that says 600 pounds. I pull our Yerf dog scout when the belt breaks and pull it home from the back 40 1 st gear wide open. When engine starts smoking " not out of exhaust " I shut it down and take a break to let it cool off. Have done that with that chinese atv for 16 year's. Brother has a 2001 250 honda recon He bought new and does same. We both run 15W 40 diesel oil in both.