Stand on mowers?

[LoCo86]

I purchased the Toro GrandStand 52" early 2013. It took all season to get accustom to the power, zturn controls. I'm not a pro, just a homeowner w/an acre on a 18-25 degree sloped yard. I've rolled 3 riders on these slopes over the years..and had problems getting up or down a hill (usually down, loss of control), getting too old to walk behind, so went with a machine with guts. Damn, and I did get a machine with guts!! Biggest problems w/the Toro: 1. scalping the hill ridge, scalp rollers are on the 60" not the 52, so over the season kept increasing depth high until I got a good cut height and no scalping. 2. tire scalping when making sharp turns. Divits all over the yard the first month or so. Gotten used to the Y turn to prevent tire scalp. 3. No HITCH. That's a lot of machine and not able to haul wood, or other things. A very smart friend of mine said to place a bucket that would fit in between the two front bars that end with the front caster wheels, and bolt it down. Of course, would have to remove it when mowing but now I may be able to get a little more work out of the machine. 4. No easy access to clean under the deck....either do not mow when grass is damp or you will spend at least an hour on your knees reaching under the deck to pull large globs of grass...Again back to my smart friend, (I have a pressure washer) get a pressure washer adapter used for cleaning out roof gutters, it is the perfect size and angle to get under there and blast off the clumps, also purchased a mirror on an extended rod that angles, and now look under to see the areas that need more blasting. (Again his idea). He helped me put the machine on its back to clean for winter storage, yeap, takes two men. And again, if the grass isn't damp...all I see with it lying on its back is a green stained on the under deck, no clumps anywhere, very effective in removing grass. 4. It is limited on the degree of slope, going up it wants to flip (scary), going down no control (again scary). So the very steep parts of the yard have been landscaped to remove "the Threat", guess I could have weed eated those slopes also, but again looking to decrease the work load as I "wizen" into an older man. :=) When I retire from my full time job, this machine and I will go through this suburb and see if anyone wants their lawn mowed at a reasonable cost. Just to have a little spending $$.

I also have this machine and you are on point with the learning curve for the controls on this mower. To help you with cleaning the underside of the deck you can by a mower lift for around $125 maybe more maybe less if you find it on sale. I'm glad to see you are finding ways to optimize this machines potential on your particular yard.

 

[Ric]

On the Turbo Force deck what setting do you keep the discharge plate on (I.E. A,B,or C). I believe I have read that you mulch, but just to satisfy my own curiosity I would like to know. Personally I side discharge and find that I get the best results from a quality of cut and productivity stand point by setting the selector on "B".

I'm cutting with the discharge on or between the b and c setting, on the hash mark. I'm dealing with wet St.Augustine grass. I start at 7:30 am with humidity levels running anywhere from 70 to 90% and with people watering when they don't need to I use Gator Blades to keep things as finely cut as possible and it gets me a nice cut.

 

[Ric]

I also have this machine and you are on point with the learning curve for the controls on this mower. To help you with cleaning the underside of the deck you can by a mower lift for around $125 maybe more maybe less if you find it on sale. I'm glad to see you are finding ways to optimize this machines potential on your particular yard.

Does your machine have the adjustable speed control or do you have the newer model to help with the controls?

 

[LoCo86]

Does your machine have the adjustable speed control or do you have the newer model to help with the controls?

No, it does not have the adjustable speed control. I wish it did. A dealer I spoke too said that they were having too many problems out of it, so they removed all of them as they were brought into the shop. I also talked to an Exmark dealer about their X-series Vantage and he said they were also having trouble getting everything correct with the infinite speed control on their machine.

 

[Ric]

No, it does not have the adjustable speed control. I wish it did. A dealer I spoke too said that they were having too many problems out of it, so they removed all of them as they were brought into the shop. I also talked to an Exmark dealer about their X-series Vantage and he said they were also having trouble getting everything correct with the infinite speed control on their machine.

That's really weird, I used mine when I first purchased the mower and so did the wife. I thought it gave me and her an advantage when learning the mower especially her because she never used a ZTR of any type. I still use it on occasion in tight locations. I never had an issue with it, it always works fine. I guess maybe it was you that told me about what was happening and seeing the new standers at the dealers to me they look weird without it.

 

[LoCo86]

That's really weird, I used mine when I first purchased the mower and so did the wife. I thought it gave me and her an advantage when learning the mower especially her because she never used a ZTR of any type. I still use it on occasion in tight locations. I never had an issue with it, it always works fine. I guess maybe it was you that told me about what was happening and seeing the new standers at the dealers to me they look weird without it.

Yea I remember telling you about that. I wish that feature was on there, but I have come accustom to the controls and how to retard the machine for tight spaces and hillsides.

 

[Raege]

my company demo'd a 52" grandstand about a month ago for about a week. I put about 30 commercial hours on the machine and here are some thoughts I had about it.

overall I really liked the machine. the platform was very comfortable to stand on and I liked how easy it was to shift my weight and cog on side hills. traction was excellent. cut quality was great and I like the rubber discharge chute.

there were only a few things I didn't like about the machine. the biggest thing is I wish it had a floating deck instead of a fixed deck. I mostly had issues turning to the left on uneven ground. the deck wheel would cut into the ground. I found that changing my cog to the back of the platform and take pressure off the front helped. but a floating deck would also help with scalping of offset cuts.

the next thing I wasn't a big fan of is the machine's top speed of 8.5 mph. I think that it can easily handle another mph. of course I didn't mow at the full 8.5 much anyways but while transporting to the trailer would be nice.

those are the biggest things I didn't like. I'm interested in checking out the newer John Deere/ Wright quik-trak 600r series. I'd like to try a Wright but we don't have any close by dealers around here and a John Deere every twenty miles.

 

[Hills2Mow]

On the Turbo Force deck what setting do you keep the discharge plate on (I.E. A,B,or C). I believe I have read that you mulch, but just to satisfy my own curiosity I would like to know. Personally I side discharge and find that I get the best results from a quality of cut and productivity stand point by setting the selector on "B".

And regarding your question, "B".

 

[sterlinglawn]

Standers are my favorite. I love the wright and john Deere later model like 2013 because those. Are like wrights. I don't like the SCAG toro or ex mark standons at all. The opperater platform is behind rear wheels so not as good on hills.

 

[jkeith1]

I also have this machine and you are on point with the learning curve for the controls on this mower. To help you with cleaning the underside of the deck you can by a mower lift for around $125 maybe more maybe less if you find it on sale. I'm glad to see you are finding ways to optimize this machines potential on your particular yard.

I also have this machine my first stand on mower. I jumped on it first time and it was very easy to learn. I mowed all day with no problem. This grandstand can handle major hills and almost any terrain. When you mow wet grass lift the rubber shoot up and very little grass will be stuck under deck.