Leaving ZTR outside

[DSepe]

Noticed a guy on my road leaves his nice Gravely ZT HD out behind his house with no cover at all, rain or shine. Do any of you do this? I find it crazy personally...but I respect that anyone can do what they want with their own equipment.

 

[Nwatson99]

No way, I have too much money and consider my mower a long term investment.
Also a mower is not manufactured nor painted or treated with rust preventative like a vehicle, so spending a good amount of money on a mower to leave outside is not the smartest thing to do in my opinion.

 

[Vanousb]

Nope. I keep mine on the carport or in the basement after cleaning after each use. Weather is the emeny to all things manufactured (metal or otherwise) over time. Accelerated rust and corrosion caused by weather can be avoided. Yes, a mower is meant to be used and can get dirty/wet...but i want mine to last as long as possible. This means proper cleaning, maintenance and storage for me.

 

[DSepe]

I actually also found rust spots on brand new mowers at a Husky/Gravely dealer that they left outside. Safe to say the owner wasn't very happy with me when I pointed it out...

 

[Carscw]

I leave all mine outside. It was made to be outside. I cut wet grass. I mow in the rain.

If your storage building is not climate controlled then why bother.

And the worse thing people do is hose it off then put it away.
Second would be the fools that cover it with a tarp.

Now I have a few antique mowers that stay inside but they are not used.

I do keep my mowers very clean and blow them off after every yard.

I learned years ago to let a layer of grass get hard under the deck. Keeps water from getting on the deck and no more grass clumping up in the deck.i know of 5 guys on here do the same thing and have years of rust free decks.

 

[DSepe]

I leave all mine outside. It was made to be outside. I cut wet grass. I mow in the rain. If your storage building is not climate controlled then why bother. And the worse thing people do is hose it off then put it away. Second would be the fools that cover it with a tarp. Now I have a few antique mowers that stay inside but they are not used. I do keep my mowers very clean and blow them off after every yard. I learned years ago to let a layer of grass get hard under the deck. Keeps water from getting on the deck and no more grass clumping up in the deck.i know of 5 guys on here do the same thing and have years of rust free decks.

I do the same thing in regards to the grass layer and it really does work. I also agree with the hosing off or pressure washing, it's a bad idea. I could see a tarp actually trapping moisture in the mower.

 

[djdicetn]

I leave all mine outside. It was made to be outside. I cut wet grass. I mow in the rain.

If your storage building is not climate controlled then why bother.

And the worse thing people do is hose it off then put it away.
Second would be the fools that cover it with a tarp.

Now I have a few antique mowers that stay inside but they are not used.

I do keep my mowers very clean and blow them off after every yard.

I learned years ago to let a layer of grass get hard under the deck. Keeps water from getting on the deck and no more grass clumping up in the deck.i know of 5 guys on here do the same thing and have years of rust free decks.

With all the mowers that you own you would need a garage that covered a 1/2 to 1 acre area to keep them inside:0)
But if you only had one that you spent $5k on(like the ZT HD owner), wouldn't you seriously consider keeping it out of the elements???? Me...in 1999 I went to buy a new boat that would fit in my garage and ended up building a new garage that my new boat would fit in(after 15 years it still looks like the day I brought it home). I made sure that I built a garage(24' X 40') that would store my boat, two vehicles....and my lawn mower with still enough room for a workshop. Best home improvement investment I ever made!!!

 

[panabiker]

Noticed a guy on my road leaves his nice Gravely ZT HD out behind his house with no cover at all, rain or shine. Do any of you do this? I find it crazy personally...but I respect that anyone can do what they want with their own equipment.

No big deal. One of my neighbors leaves his brand new Mercedes outside, rain or shine. His garage is full of other stuff.

 

[Mike88se]

No, I definitely would not. I may have to mow in light rain once in a while but that doesn't compare to leaving an expensive mower out in the rain or snow. Snow not being a big factor here of course
With push mowers it might not be a problem but ZTRs have so much electrical and electronics that there's no way I'd leave it outside.

 

[DJlawnboy]

No big deal. One of my neighbors leaves his brand new Mercedes outside, rain or shine. His garage is full of other stuff.

Unless he has electrical wiring hanging from his windows or leaves the hood open...not really a fair comparison.