Berniep: I have a sloping hill a large flat front yard and a sloping (20 degree s) to my drive way and I have had the most issues with the 20 degree down slope which is where i have mentioned the destructive left hand uphill turns I do not feel a jerking on straightaways but I do find myself trying to minimize turns to avoid stripping. I have used a lawn service during a hospitalization and they used two 60" eXmarks with 27 Kawis and I did not experience the strip tears or the ruts. I hope I do not have to go to the eXmark Forum because I mentioned eXmark it seems like there are a lot of unspecified rules not consistent with a definition of a Forum. I am not necessarily looking for FREE but more specifically knowledge and experiential options. I have been been satisfied with the thought process that went into yours and KennV's questions and that is why I continued to provide as much information as I thought useful to the problem. I am certain there are many similarities in Z Turn mowers regardless of the manufacturer. Thanks
Well this is an odd place to post a question about a mower as this forum section is for issues related to the website itself.
A more appropriate section would be the top one labeled "General mower discussion". You can find it by clicking "Forum" near the top left of this page.
Most folks would probably not generally even read this section so you are limiting your audience and potential for helpful suggestions. I only saw your post when I clicked today's posts which displays all posts made today no matter what forum section. I don't know how many folks use that option.
I dont think it matters whether you get free advice and never post again. I do get irritated when folks never follow up and leave us wondering, or worse, leave someone with the same problem wondering at the solution.
Now to your problem.
It is my GUESS that there are different conditions from when the ex-mark operators mowed your yard.
The ex-marks cant be that much lighter than your Ferris and ruts would be formed if the ex-mark guys would have mowed it now. As to the turns, there is a skill involved in making turns without tearing up your yard and those lawn service operators have many thousands of hours of experience and are adept at avoiding things that make customers complain.
I find that you cant just go wide open on the turns. You have to be careful and keep the inside wheel turning a little bit. This shouldn't slow you down a lot you can still go wide open on the straights.
And remember the pure physics of turning 1500+ lb machine takes some force.
I would expect your dealer to have already gone over this with you before selling you a wheel motor but you never know.