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