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Hello, I am a new member and potential new Hustler owner. I have 4 acres with very slight hills, a pond and a creek bed. I had a Dixie Chopper Silver Eagle that I was very pleased with but have heard that Dixie Chopper is no longer the company that it once was.
I am looking to purchase within two weeks and am concerned that the 54" Fastrak may not be quite a heavy duty enough mower. The terrain is fairly rough and the grass around the pond and levee gets fairly thick. My dealer thinks the fastrak will be plenty, I just don't want to be halfway through the season and be disappointed with the performance of the standard Fastrak. Is it worth considering stepping up to one of the heavier Fastraks or would their capabilities be similar. The X-One and Supers are really more than I want to spend, but would be willing to go up to an SDX if it would perform better and potentially hold up better. My old Silver Eagle was a beast and the Turf Boss tires came in handy around the pond. I know that comparing Fastraks to DC Silver Eagles is apples to oranges, but I really don't want to spend 11-12k for my residential mower.
Any input is appreciated.
Ed

I went with the Raptor SD60 and have friends that have put them into commercial service and are beating the dickens out of them. No problems thus far. If you want to pay the difference between the RSD and the Fastrack, I'd say go for it.

I, personally, didn't think there enough difference in the bang to throw away the buck. It is, after all, only a lawnmower.

Run'em like you stole'm. If you break it, fix it.

I went from a raptor SD to a fastrack and can't believe how much better the traction is. That said I'm not sure I would want to be around any Pond situations. I'm not sure if an after-market luggy type tire would be better or not.

I looked at similar mowers and went with SDX 54". Have up to 5 acres, 1 watered. Did mulching deck so the outlying acres I need to go a little slower on. Does a good job. Parts are very hilly/steep and it seems to handle well. I went with the SDX for upgraded air filter and beefier transaxle with my hills.

Ed,

If you are around Denham Springs you can come look and ride on my Raptor SD. I have over 4 acres but I mow less than 1 acre. So far I am pleased with it.

I agonized over the models you are looking at as well as a Ferris. I had the money but decided to save it. If you actually mow 2-3 acres it might be worth it to get the one of those better models. I suspect any one of those Fastraks will do just fine for your needs.

No matter what you purchase there will always be that little nagging voice wanting more.

Rhett

Thanks for the input everyone. I ended purchasing the 54" FasTrak today, had it delivered and had time for about an acre worth of mowing before dark. So far so good. Very pleased with power and comfort. I am ordering an OCDC from PowerChute Design and will give feedback once I get it installed.
Rhett, thanks for the offer. I am in Alexandria but travel through Denham fairly often.

Ed,

Enjoy your new purchase. You should get out what you put into it.

As far as the traction, I do have something to input. There can't be any more traction between a Fastrack and any other version if you're speaking about same GVW, same tire widths, same power to weight ratio, wheelbases, etc. There are two 54 Super Zs and a 54 X-One. None of them have any more traction than my RSD60 and I finish mowing my 3/4 acre in a few minutes less time than they do their 1/2 acres. I have a 250 foot 25 degree angle and theirs are all flat. I have a sprinkler system that makes the grass wet and I wait for the grass to dry before cutting.

However, I did, just for this thread, cut the grass wet and waited for it to get to 5 inches instead of 3 1/2 before I cut. The mower didn't have any signs of wandering along the angles and along the street has a short area with a fairly steep area to cut with a nice little 15 foot radius. Have to mow around a man hole on that steep incline. The mower did not care.

Hope the traction comment didn't sell you on the higher priced unit. Sorry I wasn't able to make the grass grow out more rapidly to do this test for you. No disrespect meant to Kraky. Just an observation and as an aside, I made a living doing the traction thing for many decades.

You may or may not follow motor racing. Autos, motorcycles and trucks. I designed chassis's, engines, intake and exhaust systems, ignition systems, breather systems for mud and swamp racers and rear axles for Fuel Cars on down to street racers. Here is where the traction comes into the equation: For mud and turf, if you're trying to launch a vehicle up a hill, you need horsepower as well as torque, to keep from cutting the turf, there is a fine line of tire width so you can get a bite and if the tire is too wide, it will spin. If it is too narrow, it will begin digging in and make a nice little rut, but then, you'll bury the unit. The Raptor SDs have very wide tires which in my opinion are best for your expensive sod due to less pounds per square inch of weight on the blades of grass. Adding weight doesn't necessarily make the traction better, it will, if the grass is wet cause you to spin more and do more damage to your grass.

I built quarter mile Wheel Standing Drag Cars known world wide, raced in Australia, New Zealand, England, Europe as well as all over the USA. I've attached a few of my productions since the early sixties. Traction is king for getting the job done and can even save your life on the side of a pond, drop off or hillside. Point to all this, the Raptor SD has the same traction as a Super Z.

Everyone is welcome to bring their mower here and we'll set up a scientific challenge to see if your mower has any more traction than mine. You may have more horsepower, you may have more rpm, but you don't have more traction than a Hustler Zeon with a full charge or a Raptor SD. Again, no disrespect meant to anyone. I speak from the scientific platform, not from personal reason to spend more money with the friendly neighborhood lawnmower salesman.

Hope you all have a great Father's Day 2016.

Max

No offense taken. But I still have to stand by my claim..lol. my house has a shallow ditch about 70 feet from the front of the house that I mow Crossways for one or two swipes. Then I like to make alternating straight lines up to the house. When I come down towards the ditch I had trouble turning around with the raptor SD.. sometimes even stopping would be a pretty good skid. With the new machine I never spin a tire and I actually can come down the hill fairly fast and stop without a slide.
Hard to know what it is... it could be the narrower taller Tire.... the extra 200 pounds on the fast track... perhaps slightly smoother hydros.... maybe just a little deeper tread on the tires who knows. A couple of months ago I was talking to a buddy who has a landscaping business and loves his John Deere compact tractors. He refused to take delivery of a certain brand of tire on his new tractors even though that tire size was the same as another brand and looked virtually identical. He said the difference in working on the side-hills and ditches was like being on ice or being on pavement with the two tires and he had no explanation for it either... sometimes things are just plain weird!

kraky, speaking of that situation, I can run any of the five Hustlers on my property that is much like yours. Every one of them have done exactly what you describe. We all have the same tires on our Hustler mowers.

I brought them all over from one time or another after they all said their's wouldn't spin going backwards up the hill and inclines. It turns out, the Super Z's spin as badly as my poor little SD. Now, with that said, I learned it was me, not the mower. I changed my methods and problem fixed. lol I called it "Operator Error" and I'm still learning different things that others have already learned.

I do run mine wide open and come to stops going down the hills. I've got a feeling I'm going to slide soon according to your statement! lol

Hope to hear more from you. Always a pleasure.

Max

mhavanti said:

As far as the traction, I do have something to input. There can't be any more traction between a Fastrack and any other version if you're speaking about same GVW, same tire widths, same power to weight ratio, wheelbases, etc. There are two 54 Super Zs and a 54 X-One. None of them have any more traction than my RSD60

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Yet the FasTrak has a slightly longer wheel base, has larger diameter tires and is 200 lbs heavier than the Raptor SD
My Super Z has larger diameter tires, wider tires, longer wheel base and weighs well over double the Raptor SD.
Did I mention it mows my 8 acre yard in 2 hours

I understand the wheel base, the additional weight all contributes to tire load which of course contributes to traction and/or loss thereof. Remember that weight to: tire width, power delivered to tire, ground temperature, dew, dry, even or uneven surfaces, tire's rubber compounds, tread design, tire pressures and there are other factors involved.

Heavier isn't always better for traction. If you consider a 1150 pound machine is sitting on a pair of 12 inch wide tires presents almost twice the weight to contact ratio. It can ruin a lawn if a heavy mower is on the property right after a heavy rain, or if there are chronically wet spots, or where one fairly steep incline meets another the heavier unit will generally leave ruts and scalps and or "crop circles" in the lawn where a lighter unit may not due to less weight per square inch on the tire's contact surfaces and thus the ground surface.

Also consider a Raptor SD60, a Fastrack SD60 and a Super Z60 all have twelve inch wide tires that are actually approximately 11 inches wide. The heights or diameters of the tires do vary in all three due to diameters. RSD is 20 inches, FT is 22 and SZ is 24 inches. If we're speaking to doing wheel stands, the larger diameter gives a 75.3984 (approximate) roll out, where the RSD 20 inch tire is only going to give you a 62.832 (approximate) will help in maintaining a wheel stand if on a solid, dry surface. It will also help maintain top speed depending upon power to the transmissions and if they are of a lower (higher numerical) gear ratio thru the hydraulic system. We are not speaking of hard surfaces unless we're mowing dirt or rock. (I know, at some point, we all get to mow some rock) And we're not talking wheel stands.

If any of the scenarios I've mentioned above or those a couple of you have mentioned, the lighter unit sitting on the same width tire can launch faster and can shut down more rapidly as far as tire traction goes. However, the extra weight on a flat surface should stop you more quickly simply because the double weight of the Z requires propulsion to make it move, thus the extra weight will slow and stop it in the opposite mode.

The Little Red Wagon Competition Sled Puller is a prime example. This truck was the little engine that could. It made 100 percent sled pulls while doing an exhibition wheel stand and on a drag slick with paddles glued to them. Yes, I re-purposed all the drag slicks off the drag race trucks and cars. The larger, multi engine trucks and tractors did not always make full pulls. Now you're questioning how I managed to pull this off. No, not trickery, tom-foolery or even magic unless engineering is now magic.

I simply put a pair of titanium 10 inch square "wheel stand" sled pads that allowed the vehicle to pop up to a full wheel stand and had to unload 65% of the truck's gross weight at the same time managing the attack attitude of truck. There were calculations figuring how much weight would remain on the truck connection and how much weight was redistributed to those tiny little titanium "skid plates".

Again, lets all get together, put a RSD60, FT60 and a Z60 together, which is really easy because those are all on my block and lets not forget there is one X60. Well, all of them are FT42, X54 and two Z54s. I think I could get the county provide us with the mud pit for the mud racing trucks, the hills for the fourwheelers and dirt bikes and plenty of grass for us all to cut. (I promise you, any grass that isn't in my sodded area isn't coming into my sodded area) I believe we can put on a pretty good challenge. Anyone want to contribute to put on this show?

After all the above, none of it means jack. Just enjoy the units you have and as I always end these things:

Run it like you stole it. If you break it, fix it.

Gentlemen, Have a Great Father's Day!

ed3303 said:

I am in Alexandria but travel through Denham fairly often.

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A CenLA boy ehh!!! I'm sure you will enjoy your mower. I get up that way sporadically. My wife graduated from Menard and we have some other friends that went to Bolton and ASH. Nice area of the state.

I saw a lot of folks chime in on traction and many stated it is a fickle thing. I suspect the added weight would help on a slope assuming it was dry. I wanted a lighter unit, sort of a mud buggy to float across the top. My Raptor seems to do that fairly well. A have a very small amount of steep bank next to a small bayou that runs through my property. I mow it only when it is dry and I've had no real issues. Practice on the different slopes, surfaces, etc. really seems to help me out.

Good luck!

Yeah Rhett, born and raised in Pineville, lived in BR for awhile and still have a house on the Amite just South of Port Vincent. I do miss those river rat days...
Anyway, have made a full mow with the new Fastrak and couldn't be more pleased. It did everything I asked if it, had plenty of traction and while not as fast as the Silver Eagle, it is plenty fast for me.
Thanks again everyone for the input and advice, I sincerely appreciate it.

Glad the new mower does well for you. Keep those CenLA people straight up there. They're a crazy bunch.:thumbsup: