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I live in N Florida. I have one acre with mostly those Florida grasses, St. Augustine and bahia along with an assortment of weeds.

ms

Hello there and welcome to the forum from Scotland :smile: Maybe you could start by giving us a few more details of what sort of mower it is you are looking for? That way there will be someone who can probably help you out

With luck this will be my last mower. I have a rough acre to mow. Big tree went down last year. Tire ruts were left by the tree removal folks. Anyway, I think I would like a zero turn. I currently have a 12 year old Craftsman 46" garden tractor. Seems to take forever to mow the yard. The Craftsman's mower deck has been rebuilt and is in need of another rebuild. I also help my neighbor cut our "driveway" when I can... of about an 1/8th of a mile easement. There is a Bad Boy dealer in town (no service).
Within 50 miles, there are a couple of dealerships. Coworkers have Bad Boys and they like them. One does have a Deere X300 tractor, but his yard is small. Nice machine though.

Thanks!

mormonsniper said:

With luck this will be my last mower. I have a rough acre to mow. Big tree went down last year. Tire ruts were left by the tree removal folks. Anyway, I think I would like a zero turn. I currently have a 12 year old Craftsman 46" garden tractor. Seems to take forever to mow the yard. The Craftsman's mower deck has been rebuilt and is in need of another rebuild. I also help my neighbor cut our "driveway" when I can... of about an 1/8th of a mile easement. There is a Bad Boy dealer in town (no service).
Within 50 miles, there are a couple of dealerships. Coworkers have Bad Boys and they like them. One does have a Deere X300 tractor, but his yard is small. Nice machine though.

Thanks!

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What is your budget? There are many brands we can recommend. :smile:

Haven't thought much about a budget. I guess under $8K (sounds silly for such a small yard). I would like to get this before I retire. Another co-worker just purchased a Country Clipper. It has joystick control and lift up deck.

mormonsniper said:

Haven't thought much about a budget. I guess under $8K (sounds silly for such a small yard). I would like to get this before I retire. Another co-worker just purchased a Country Clipper. It has joystick control and lift up deck.

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With $8,000 you can get a lot of mower for your money! Others will recommend some brands to look at or demo.

I moved your thread to the Mower Buying & Pricing Forum. :smile:

Welcome to LMF neighbor:thumbsup:
You picked the right time of year to start shopping, as dealers are wanting to move '13 models quicker via better deals. Local support is a big consideration for a choice, as driving hours for repairs stinks.
Pose to us your model considerations, and opinions will be given. Don't worry about size, as my 52" is used to do a 1/2 acre, with a 2 acre cut every other month at my work.

mormonsniper said:

I live in N Florida. I have one acre with mostly those Florida grasses, St. Augustine and bahia along with an assortment of weeds.

ms

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I have been there. I was shopping for a ZT mower when I found a good deal on a 27hp 52" tractor. It used to take me an hour and twenty minutes or so to mow one place with my 14hp 42" craftsman, with the new mower I did it in 28 minutes. A new mower is such a work saver. Good luck with yours

Technically, the yard should be mowed every 4 to 5 days. It grows that fast. Right now it is just continuous (it seems). I keep the grass pretty tall to help choke out weeds. The rains do not help. I really don't mow when it is wet. Sometimes, there is a week to 10 days between mowings. Temperatures are coming down finally so that will help. The yard needs to be smoothed and leveled due to ruts, a fallen tree (large) and a couple of dogs I know. The only mower I've really been looking at is the Bad Boy since some coworkers have them with no complaints. Parts are available on-line and there is suppose to be an excellent dealer/service company just South of me in Alachua, Florida. I have not been there yet. I've not seen any advertisements for the 2014 models yet. I may have to buy a trailer too.

mormonsniper said:

Technically, the yard should be mowed every 4 to 5 days. It grows that fast. Right now it is just continuous (it seems). I keep the grass pretty tall to help choke out weeds. The rains do not help. I really don't mow when it is wet. Sometimes, there is a week to 10 days between mowings. Temperatures are coming down finally so that will help. The yard needs to be smoothed and leveled due to ruts, a fallen tree (large) and a couple of dogs I know. The only mower I've really been looking at is the Bad Boy since some coworkers have them with no complaints. Parts are available on-line and there is suppose to be an excellent dealer/service company just South of me in Alachua, Florida. I have not been there yet. I've not seen any advertisements for the 2014 models yet. I may have to buy a trailer too.

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Good Luck, I have heard good things about the Bad Boy, it was pretty much what I had decided on when I found the deal on my tractor.

mormonsniper said:

Technically, the yard should be mowed every 4 to 5 days. It grows that fast. Right now it is just continuous (it seems). I keep the grass pretty tall to help choke out weeds. The rains do not help. I really don't mow when it is wet. Sometimes, there is a week to 10 days between mowings. Temperatures are coming down finally so that will help. The yard needs to be smoothed and leveled due to ruts, a fallen tree (large) and a couple of dogs I know. The only mower I've really been looking at is the Bad Boy since some coworkers have them with no complaints. Parts are available on-line and there is suppose to be an excellent dealer/service company just South of me in Alachua, Florida. I have not been there yet. I've not seen any advertisements for the 2014 models yet. I may have to buy a trailer too.

Click to expand...

Not trying to sound too brand-loyal...but last fall I bought the last mower I'll ever have to buy just before my upcoming retirement end of October, 2013. I have about 1.5 acres and I got the 2012 52" Gravely Pro Turn XDZ100. It's a fully commercial model and the 2013's have an MSRP of approx. $7,499(Model 991080). In 2013, Gravely introduced the base Pro-Turn which is now considered their "entry-level" commercial and runs a little less($6,899 for the 52"...they may be on sale right now for $6,199). They are still worthy of being called commercial, but miss some of the nicer upgrades of the 100 XDZ series. You could probably get by with a 48" and get one even a little cheaper. I have 32 hours now on my Gravely and I love it(just added a mulch kit and am extremely pleased with that too). There are a whole LOT of good ZTR's out there for $6k-$8k, including Hustlers, Toro, Scag, Kubota, Dixon and Husqvarna. The Bad Boys are built like tanks, but have gotten mixed reviews by their owners. Most importantly, find a dealer with a good reputation that makes you feel comfortable and is willing to be a little negotiable on price.

Just to close the loop, I purchased a slightly used 2013 Scag Turf Tiger today. It has less than 200 hours on the meter. Maintenance records came with it and it still has warranty tied to it. $9000.00. More mower than I need I know, but I think it was a good deal for the last mower I hope I'll ever have to buy. 61" cut with the 29hp Kawasaki water cooled engine. How'd I do?