looking for a zero turn 3.27 acres

[Mowerdawg]

Hydro Gear and similar drive systems are found on many GT and larger tractors in addition to ZTRs. Wheel motors and pumps have been a mainstay on many ZTRs and have proven to be very reliable. In the 70s I had an Economy (Power King) and a Farmall Cub, both with dry disc clutch and manual transmissions, great machines but slower than molasses to mow with unless long straight runs. I bought a Case 446 GT which is hydraulic drive, sold both the Economy and the Farmall Cub and never looked back.
As for robert, he must have a large fleet of both GTs and ZTRs. The many hours mowing with both have provided him with his 100% assured factual information about the characteristics both good and bad about the operation of GTs and ZTRs on every lawn type possible across the entire country.
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin::laughing:

Ok. Well.....your full of "crap". To quote you.
That's one found.
I'm getting to know the players from the wanta bees. Guess which category you qualify for..........
Next.......

 

[Mowerdawg]

Ok. Well.....your full of "crap". To quote you.
That's one found.
I'm getting to know the players from the wanta bees. Guess which category you qualify for..........
Next.......

Found. Ric, cumon down!

 

[jenkinsph]

Wow still at it. Having the Deere x749 for over a year now I have found it to be a good flexible multi use machine. The limited cat 1 hitch workds well with most 48 to 60" implements so that working in tight quarters this year was alot easier for me. I spent alot less time with manual work compared to prior years. Being able to run the 48" tiller where the larger compact tractors would not fit was a real time saver for me. Need to build a small landplane/grader for this over the winter which will save me more time next year. Point is the larger garden tractor is great for many of the tasks I do building landscapes on hillsides. It handles mowing decently too, but that isn't why I bought it. If mowing was the most important thing to do with it there are less expensive options that work well enough.

I think the zero turns are fanastic mowers, very manueverable and faster to mow with than the best lawn and garden tractors within their scope of intended use. If I spent alot of time mowing I would have a zero turn to save time and costs. I might also prefer a front mower without wheels if available as I think you would get better results if you could cut the grass before you ran wheels over it. The x749 with wide front and rear tires does mash down alot of grass which I don't care for.

In a nutshell I think there are good reasons to have both a lawn and garden tractor and a good zero turn. I don't think either type will excell at everything though and depending on the jobs you have you may need both to operate efficiently. For the typical homeowner who wants to mow his lawn and reduce the amount of trimming time a zero turn is defintely a good thing to consider.

 

[Mowerdawg]

Ok. Well.....your full of "crap". To quote you.
That's one found.
I'm getting to know the players from the wanta bees. Guess which category you qualify for..........
Next.......

Sorry. To quote Ric. The rest applies.....

 

[Mowerdawg]

Wow still at it. Having the Deere x749 for over a year now I have found it to be a good flexible multi use machine. The limited cat 1 hitch workds well with most 48 to 60" implements so that working in tight quarters this year was alot easier for me. I spent alot less time with manual work compared to prior years. Being able to run the 48" tiller where the larger compact tractors would not fit was a real time saver for me. Need to build a small landplane/grader for this over the winter which will save me more time next year. Point is the larger garden tractor is great for many of the tasks I do building landscapes on hillsides. It handles mowing decently too, but that isn't why I bought it. If mowing was the most important thing to do with it there are less expensive options that work well enough.

I think the zero turns are fanastic mowers, very manueverable and faster to mow with than the best lawn and garden tractors within their scope of intended use. If I spent alot of time mowing I would have a zero turn to save time and costs. I might also prefer a front mower without wheels if available as I think you would get better results if you could cut the grass before you ran wheels over it. The x749 with wide front and rear tires does mash down alot of grass which I don't care for.

In a nutshell I think there are good reasons to have both a lawn and garden tractor and a good zero turn. I don't think either type will excell at everything though and depending on the jobs you have you may need both to operate efficiently. For the typical homeowner who wants to mow his lawn and reduce the amount of trimming time a zero turn is defintely a good thing to consider.

I agree. There isn't a one size fits all. If one can afford a good zero turn (not a home improvement box store brand......)(MTD..opps) and are made aware of the potential of costs replacing the hydro units and also told what not to do to them when running them, then sure. A zero make sense in many cases.
Also agree on the front deck. I have an old Gravely Promaster three wheel with a 50" front deck. It goes where no one has gone before. AND cuts the nice part of the lawn beautifully. As do lots of the older mowers with some weight and unstamped decks do......it's articulated chassis is great for odd terrain, and it's fearless. I've also got an older AYP Craftsman with a Onan engine and a deck that weighs in at 200 + lbs that also cuts nicely. As nice as the Bobcat zt225-61 I have. No kidding. Not near as fast, but hey. Really. If you have to go fast, get a Learjet. I enjoy my time on the mowers.

 

[earthworm]

How many "roberts" do we have ?
And how many earthworms ?
I do not own a ZT, but from what I have read, and its a lot - both good and bad...the caster front wheel machines are the way to go for a great many, small lawns, large lawns..
Digging up turf ?
Scalping ?
I can do this with my LawnBoy two-stroke 21" machine.
Its the operator, not the machine, robert !

 

[jenkinsph]

earthworm,

I agree about the operator, as I know I have enough knowledge and skill to tear up lawns with little or no power equipment needed.

 

[Mad Mackie]

Ok. Well.....your full of "crap". To quote you.
That's one found.
I'm getting to know the players from the wanta bees. Guess which category you qualify for..........
Next.......

Of course I'm full of crap and that it is why I'm here!!!
I just picked up about 400 bushels of crap from two customers lawns and dumped it in the woods behind their homes so I don't have as much crap in me as usual!!! This is a job that I have done for 20 plus years but now I do it in about half the time with my ZTR as I did with my GTs with collection systems installed on them, but what do I know, I'm full of crap!!!!
I came over to this group looking for some interaction with other Scag ZTR owners but not much in the Scag thread so I got involved with this thread, sorry, my mistake. I'll crap out of here as it is obvious that I am among commercial operators that have more than 20,000 hours of experience and I'm just a green horn with 25,000 hours on many machines since the 70s plus repairing many others!!!
Seeya!!

 

[Ric]

How many "roberts" do we have ?

Funny isn't it, one shows up the other disappears. Suppose he'll go away mad too???????????

 

[robert]

No earthworm it is not the operator but it IS the machine as both Scag and Husqvarna say the zero turn, by design, is prone to turf damage; sorry that this bugs you but this comes from the largest maker of power equipment on the planet and from the maker of very high end zero turns NOT FROM ME.