A few years ago I had a Toro 42"; when I did a test drive on the SD it came right back. Should be delivered tomorrow.
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Making a decision tomorrow on Raptor or SD
- Thread starter flightco
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Export threadA few years ago I had a Toro 42"; when I did a test drive on the SD it came right back. Should be delivered tomorrow.
New SD was delivered yesterday. We had rain 4 days in a row, sunny yesterday but predicted rain the rest of the week. My grass was already about 2-3 inches too long so I needed to cut it. Here are my first thoughts;
Way too much mower for my yard; what used to take 40 minutes with a 33" walk behind took about 14 minutes.
Yard was very wet, soft grass was long -
Had a few places where mud tracks were left in the grass (nothing the rain today won't wash away).
I have the mulch kit but it did leave some clumping. I expected this, I cut about 2 1/2 inches at one time because I wanted to see what would happed. The cut itself was good and even, no wind rows or grass sticking up. The grass was so wet that when I picked up some of the clumped (is that a word) grass it was dripping a significant amount of water.
The underside of the deck was full of wet, clumped grass; again I would expect this with grass this long and wet.
Since it was sunny, I waited a couple hours until the clumps dried out some and went back over it (after cleaning out the underside of the deck). This took about 10 minutes (I just aimed for the clumps) and there were no more clumps left and it looked great. The underside of the deck did not have any significant amount of grass stuck on it; for some reason I cannot figure out, the top of the deck was covered but it was pretty dry and a blower took care of it.
All in all, I think the SD did a great job considering the conditions and how much wet grass I cut in one pass but I really need to buy the house behind me to justify this purchase. At 14 minutes a mow, mowing every 5 days, figuring a 6 month mowing season I will only be running this about 9 hours per year, should last me.http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/images/smilies/wink.png
One other thing; the hydro fluid was about two inches in the reservoir at the start of the mow, empty at the end (both the mow and the cleanup passes, about 25 minutes). I would have worried about this but after reading on this forum that it is to be expected, no worries, just more oil.
Way too much mower for my yard; what used to take 40 minutes with a 33" walk behind took about 14 minutes.
Yard was very wet, soft grass was long -
Had a few places where mud tracks were left in the grass (nothing the rain today won't wash away).
I have the mulch kit but it did leave some clumping. I expected this, I cut about 2 1/2 inches at one time because I wanted to see what would happed. The cut itself was good and even, no wind rows or grass sticking up. The grass was so wet that when I picked up some of the clumped (is that a word) grass it was dripping a significant amount of water.
The underside of the deck was full of wet, clumped grass; again I would expect this with grass this long and wet.
Since it was sunny, I waited a couple hours until the clumps dried out some and went back over it (after cleaning out the underside of the deck). This took about 10 minutes (I just aimed for the clumps) and there were no more clumps left and it looked great. The underside of the deck did not have any significant amount of grass stuck on it; for some reason I cannot figure out, the top of the deck was covered but it was pretty dry and a blower took care of it.
All in all, I think the SD did a great job considering the conditions and how much wet grass I cut in one pass but I really need to buy the house behind me to justify this purchase. At 14 minutes a mow, mowing every 5 days, figuring a 6 month mowing season I will only be running this about 9 hours per year, should last me.http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/images/smilies/wink.png
One other thing; the hydro fluid was about two inches in the reservoir at the start of the mow, empty at the end (both the mow and the cleanup passes, about 25 minutes). I would have worried about this but after reading on this forum that it is to be expected, no worries, just more oil.
New SD was delivered yesterday. We had rain 4 days in a row, sunny yesterday but predicted rain the rest of the week. My grass was already about 2-3 inches too long so I needed to cut it. Here are my first thoughts;
Way too much mower for my yard; what used to take 40 minutes with a 33" walk behind took about 14 minutes.
Yard was very wet, soft grass was long -
Had a few places where mud tracks were left in the grass (nothing the rain today won't wash away).
I have the mulch kit but it did leave some clumping. I expected this, I cut about 2 1/2 inches at one time because I wanted to see what would happed. The cut itself was good and even, no wind rows or grass sticking up. The grass was so wet that when I picked up some of the clumped (is that a word) grass it was dripping a significant amount of water.
The underside of the deck was full of wet, clumped grass; again I would expect this with grass this long and wet.
Since it was sunny, I waited a couple hours until the clumps dried out some and went back over it (after cleaning out the underside of the deck). This took about 10 minutes (I just aimed for the clumps) and there were no more clumps left and it looked great. The underside of the deck did not have any significant amount of grass stuck on it; for some reason I cannot figure out, the top of the deck was covered but it was pretty dry and a blower took care of it.
All in all, I think the SD did a great job considering the conditions and how much wet grass I cut in one pass but I really need to buy the house behind me to justify this purchase. At 14 minutes a mow, mowing every 5 days, figuring a 6 month mowing season I will only be running this about 9 hours per year, should last me.
One other thing; the hydro fluid was about two inches in the reservoir at the start of the mow, empty at the end (both the mow and the cleanup passes, about 25 minutes). I would have worried about this but after reading on this forum that it is to be expected, no worries, just more oil.
Way too much mower for my yard; what used to take 40 minutes with a 33" walk behind took about 14 minutes.
Yard was very wet, soft grass was long -
Had a few places where mud tracks were left in the grass (nothing the rain today won't wash away).
I have the mulch kit but it did leave some clumping. I expected this, I cut about 2 1/2 inches at one time because I wanted to see what would happed. The cut itself was good and even, no wind rows or grass sticking up. The grass was so wet that when I picked up some of the clumped (is that a word) grass it was dripping a significant amount of water.
The underside of the deck was full of wet, clumped grass; again I would expect this with grass this long and wet.
Since it was sunny, I waited a couple hours until the clumps dried out some and went back over it (after cleaning out the underside of the deck). This took about 10 minutes (I just aimed for the clumps) and there were no more clumps left and it looked great. The underside of the deck did not have any significant amount of grass stuck on it; for some reason I cannot figure out, the top of the deck was covered but it was pretty dry and a blower took care of it.
All in all, I think the SD did a great job considering the conditions and how much wet grass I cut in one pass but I really need to buy the house behind me to justify this purchase. At 14 minutes a mow, mowing every 5 days, figuring a 6 month mowing season I will only be running this about 9 hours per year, should last me.
One other thing; the hydro fluid was about two inches in the reservoir at the start of the mow, empty at the end (both the mow and the cleanup passes, about 25 minutes). I would have worried about this but after reading on this forum that it is to be expected, no worries, just more oil.
i'm looking a getting a raptor sd 54". any issues or regrets so far?
My only regret is I purchased too much mower. I mow a little less than 1/2 acre, I was planning on buying the house behind us and using one for a rental but that has fallen through, that would have give me about 1.25 acres. As it is, I mow the entire yard in about 12 to 15 minutes, I am amazed each time how quickly it cuts my yard. I believe I would have been very satisfied with the 42 inch Raptor.
As to the mower, I think it is awesome. Today I cut the grass after 17 hours of straight rain. (rain stopped about 5 hours before I mowed) There were still puddles in the low spots and when I walked on the grass, the ground felt squishy under my feet. I cut 2 inches off (the reason I did it today is more rain is coming and it is getting long). The yard looked great (a little mud on the grass from the tires when I went through the low spots). If I went around and picked up the clumps from the entire yard I don't think I would could full a small bucket.
Hopes this helps.
Mike
My only regret is I purchased too much mower. I mow a little less than 1/2 acre, I was planning on buying the house behind us and using one for a rental but that has fallen through, that would have give me about 1.25 acres. As it is, I mow the entire yard in about 12 to 15 minutes, I am amazed each time how quickly it cuts my yard. I believe I would have been very satisfied with the 42 inch Raptor.
As to the mower, I think it is awesome. Today I cut the grass after 17 hours of straight rain. (rain stopped about 5 hours before I mowed) There were still puddles in the low spots and when I walked on the grass, the ground felt squishy under my feet. I cut 2 inches off (the reason I did it today is more rain is coming and it is getting long). The yard looked great (a little mud on the grass from the tires when I went through the low spots). If I went around and picked up the clumps from the entire yard I don't think I would could full a small bucket.
Hopes this helps.
Mike
thanks for the feedback.
i'll be cutting around 20 empty lots. for a half acre, it does seem a bit extreme. i do like how you get a wider tire with the 54 and up. the 48 and smaller have a narrow tire.
thanks for the feedback.
i'll be cutting around 20 empty lots. for a half acre, it does seem a bit extreme. i do like how you get a wider tire with the 54 and up. the 48 and smaller have a narrow tire.
I like the way the wider tires look but have no idea as to what difference they make other than making wider tracks in the yard.
Where are you in IL? I got a good deal with my dealer, he honored the Lowes 10% coupon and the tax was less than will county where I live. If you are interested I can see if he would like to do the same for someone else.
I'm in Rockford. I'm waiting for my dealer to get one in. Told me they'd get one next week. I've read about the Lowe's thing. I didn't even bring it up. They told me they have a waiting line for it, so they might sell to someone else. LolI like the way the wider tires look but have no idea as to what difference they make other than making wider tracks in the yard.
Where are you in IL? I got a good deal with my dealer, he honored the Lowes 10% coupon and the tax was less than will county where I live. If you are interested I can see if he would like to do the same for someone else.
Which dealer you buy from?
Did they actually want the coupon?