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With a lot of help from these forums, I finally purchased a replacement for my old John Deere 316, 48" deck with a pull behind lawn vac. I have a football field with 31 trees back yard, a nice sized side yard and a small front yard. (I don't know from acres) Mowing with the Deere took 4-5 hours and during the leaf season we spent a whole Saturday multiple times. Anything, including negative thoughts, jammed up the vac. I bought the 316 used in 1986. Nothing can kill it but I am the only one that works on it and it is getting torturous. I am going to mount the snow blower (northern Indiana) and retire it from mowing. The back yard is not real smooth and I have a slight decline from the walk out back door. The 316 and a few walk behind mowers are my entire mowing experience. This mower is the last one I wish to buy and will only be used for my house and hopefully some goodwill mowing for the neighbors.

I bought a used Toro Commercial Z-Master 6000 with a 60" Turbo-Force deck (only one set of trees is too narrow for that deck with the bagger) and the air cooled Kawasaki 25.5 hp engine. The real draw was the huge bagger with the self dump lever. I can't wait for fall. It has the propane conversion with 44 lb capacity which gave me serious concerns. I am old and most likely will only get weaker. So far (one tank change since I bought it Friday) changing the tank is doable but I am putting some mechanical means together to help tank changes and under deck service in the future. I decided to leave the propane since I hear it is better for longevity. The hour meter read 984 and was used to mow commercially residential lawns.

Hopefully I will get this entry right and I can get some knowledgeable answers from the group.

1. Thoughts on keeping the propane vs converting it back to gas? I plan on getting another tank as a full spare in case I run out when the two filling stations in town are closed. Can anyone tell me exactly the terminology on this tank in case I buy it on the internet or have to special order it? It is totally not the same as the other small tanks around here for various purposes.

2. I have a service manual but I was too anxious to open this thread to read it fully. I did skim it though, which is pretty good for me. My parking brake needs adjustment. It allows the mower to creep when set and roll on a slope when the unit is turned off. Any tips on adjustment?

3. I was told that they would sharpen the blades before I got it but my fingers do not think so, and the blades have some gouges. I ran the front up on some ramps and slid underneath. The deck had a lot of old grass buildup and the bolts on the blades did not look recently removed. Do pros sharpen while the blades are in place somehow? I read that the Toro blades need to be balanced (see, I did skim it!) so I don't want to just take them off and sharpen them if it is tricky. I can buy a blade balance I suppose, but maybe a pro would be the wise choice here. Advice? I always sharpened the 316 blades on a vertical sander, being sure to keep the blades cool. Should I still? The question is, is there a lock somewhere on that deck to allow me to remove the blades without the blades spinning or is there a trick? My old trick was a block of wood on the blades but I don't really want to take the deck off if I don't have to.

4. The tag numbers are 74925 311000279. Is there a link to a site to help me interpret what this means? I'd like to know more about it (like year built, exact model etc....). I think there is must be more descriptive than just 6000.

5. I see there are blades for different purposes. Is there something I should be looking for in leaf pick up blades? I have a LOT of leaves.

6. Does the bagger have a full warning system? I have no idea when to dump. Love it so far! Back into the forest, pull the lever and drive slightly forward, return the handle and go looking for more grass. My back and shoulders are VERY grateful! Can mow in my good tennis shoes now.

7. The 316 paid for a lot of my ignorance the first few years. Is there anything that more experienced people like yourselves can tell me to help me do a better job of driving, mowing, maintaining or just plain enjoying such a beautiful machine?

8. Is there more I should add when posting a description? I will add a picture when I figure out how.

Now for the fun part. Friday evening brought it home. Drove it around without mowing. I did my best to repair the scratch to my sons Volvo this morning. Saturday morning mowed the side yard very slowly, learned some about driving. The only neighbor with grass long enough and lots of trees was down the street so I practiced on his lawn first thing. Probably should have asked him first but he hates to mow and I have done it with the Deere before without violence. Long wet grass cut just fine, clumped a bit, as I forgot to check the chute and it stuck. Used to have to lay on my back, reach up into the catcher down on the deck and try to find the twig stopping the flow. Now I just release the catch, standing up by the side of the Toro. My bandage costs will go WAY down. Learned how to go around trees and found the point where the trees would catch the bagger if I forgot rear swing-out. Decided to tackle the back yard. Used to take about 3 - 4 hours MINIMUM with the 316. Knowing I was going to replace it, I recently did the lawn never taking the throttle from full open. Both of us took a beating (bruises all along the back of my thighs but nothing fell off the Deere or the vac. Tough little sucker!) but got it done in one hour and 45 minutes. This morning (Sunday) did it with the Toro, relatively sedately in 37 minutes. Slope was scary at first. Even with the weights up front I popped a few small wheelies. Made some divots in a few turns but mostly kept the wheels turning.There is no place to go up a leveler slope and mow back down so I mowed both ways. With the bagger and mower on, at higher speeds the motor slowed noticeably going up the slope. I am learning our limits. One of which is a raised spot over a tree root that took us airborne. Man that seat is nice! While kinda fun (off road jeep fanatic) THAT will never happen again! Confidence finally high enough, I mowed the front lawn and the landscaping survived. Only a couple of skinned places from the turns.

Now I am stuck. Literally watching the grass grow and nothing more to mow. I am known throughout the family as the most serious hater of mowing. Now I am praying for rain! Think I will see what mods I have to make to my little trailer to load and carry the beast. There must be some relative somewhere with taller grass.

Any tips or comments would be very welcome. Hope I got the thread right and didn't waste too much of anyone's time reading. I am just very excited about this. Wanted one for five years since I saw a big John Deere Zero Turn at the dealer. Have been looking all over for about four months and got exactly the one I wanted. I thought it would end up being an Ex-Mark in the garage but loved this Toro at first sight.

Thanks for reading.