Think I'm going to buy a Turf Tiger... few questions?

[wils]

Howdy y'all, have a 6 acre lot that I'm mowing 2 of those acres right now. Over the next couple of years I'm going to develop the rest of the land so hopefully there will be some more. Not planning on grassing all 6 acres or anything.

Current situation is I've got nothing but field grass. It looks nice when it rains, I keep it mowed with a Deere x540 riding mower. It does an okay job.

I have two projects I want to do here. First is getting some Zoysia going to choke out this field grass and weeds, plan here is to section out a couple of areas and work on those first.

Second thing here is getting rid of these dang ol' sticker burrs (and other weeds, just those burrs hurt when you step on them)

My Deere can mow the lawn just find but I want to pick up these burrs. The Deere just helps them spread. I'm considering a TT Scag with the Clam Shell.

Am I right to think that this will help me work towards picking up all these burrs?

Am I on the right track using the Clam Shell, or is there another catcher that maybe Scag doesn't make that'd work better?

If I do add a catcher on the mower, does it make sense to use mulching blades too? I'd rather mulch when I get these burrs under control.

I've got pretty flat land, but there's a lot of rock here. I know where most of it is at this point but I do need to raise and lower blades and will occasionally hit one. I can probably remove some of the rock, out here in Hill Country Texas that little rock might be a 5,000lbs chunk of limestone or granite underneath so I can't really remove all that. Maybe I can add some soil but then I'd have lumps all over the yard... I'm rambling here, is it easy enough to raise/lower these decks for 5 feet at a time?

And I guess last, what can I expect for lead time and price? I priced it out on the Scag site, is that what dealers sell them for? And is their supply chain messed up with all the past year? Is it going to take 6 months to get a mower built?

Thanks y'all, appreciate any info. Apologize for the barrage of questions. It's a big purchase for me so I'd just like to make sure I do things right.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The best catcher are Walkers by a very long way
Grass Hopper comes a close second.
Down side is they have counter rotating blades and narrow decks so it will be a few more passes.

 

[wils]

What's the difference between the Turf Tiger and the Turn Tiger II?

 

[Honda Tech]

What's the difference between the Turf Tiger and the Turn Tiger II?

Turf Tiger II is a new revised version of the Turf Tiger. If you find a 'new' Turf Tiger, it was manufactured at least 4 years ago. The clamshell would be perfect for what you have planned and you will be able to just back up and dump. All baggers needs air flow to work, so you will still get a little blow-by, but it will contain most of the weed seed, but you will still need to apply weedkiller to get it under control and overtime, you should be able to convert to mulching.

 

[dcgrazier]

For what it is worth, I have 2 suggestions for you. First, I have zoysia grass in my yard and I would love to get rid of it. It is a very aggressive grass and spreads where you do not want it. I have tried roundup and that seems to make it sick for a while and then starts growing again. It has taken over 12 inches of my asphalt drive on each side. I will have to go to concrete to stop it taking over all of my driveway. The second suggestion is to use a herbicide to get rid of the burrs. If you are able to catch the new burrs when mowing, the plant is still there and will continue to produce burrs. My brother had them in Midland, TX and they are miserable. He was finally able to get a handle on them with a herbicide.

The Scag Turf Tiger mowers are a great mower. My brother had one and it was a pleasure to use. They are built like a tank and will last a life time if maintained.

 

[wils]

Y'all are awesome. Thank you for the information.

I think I'm going to stick with the Scag just because I've got a good dealer out here. There's a Walker dealer about 20 miles away but they don't keep them in stock and I've never seen one. Probably in my best interest to use a mower that I can get good support on when I mess something up. (I tend to do that every now and again!)

I've got sections I'm going to target here, first section is wide open and I think I'm going to scrape it clean. Just kill everything and put down some topsoil and go with bermuda there. Next year I've got a shaded area and I'll work on that with zoysia. Tons of leaves there so I need to get a catcher to help me here. Talked to a guy and he had the idea of putting mulch rings around the oaks in the back, that'd look real nice and really cut down on the area required to work on.

I don't really have much choice on grass here, bermuda where it's wide open and zoysia where there's shade. Or fieldgrass with stickerburrs!

Now to decide... local dealer has a 35hp carbureted on sale on the floor right now for $1k off... But I think I'd rather have that 37hp EFi...

 

[Honda Tech]

Sounds like you're on the right track. As for the decision between carb or EFI....if your dealer is able to give the same confindence in servicing and EFI engine as a Carb'd engine, then EFI. If not, you may be better off with a carb model.

 

[CentralIL]

This is my 3rd year on a 36" Scag Liberty Z. Cannot comment on the larger Scag models as our yard has a couple of locations that only the 36" will fit. I have always had the Hurricane mulching system on the deck since new and it works fine, especially with leaf mulching in the Fall.

Our lot (80' X 160' plus boulevards) is a mix of Zoysia and many grasses. Here in Central Illinois Zoyzia will not continue to grow and thrive in the shade. Pretty much full sun only. I have sodded it under the shade of trees and it will gradually thin out and more or less disappear after 4 or 5 years in the shade. Also it turns brown with the first frost and slow to green up in the spring. As of March 31st it is still light yellow to brown and dead looking. Zoysia sends out runners but, can be controlled by edging or a border. Good luck.

After submitting the above two paragraphs I started Googling Zoysia grass. I did not realize how many newer varieties are out there. The Zoysia I am commenting on is an old variety as we have had it for over 40 years. I had edged a Lady's curb and sidewalk for the pieces to make plugs and have no idea what variety she had established. It appears to me some of the newer varieties may be much more shade tolerant. 6Apr2021 and Zoysia stll dormant in Central Illinois.

 

[wils]

Well some things happened, and I found out my best option wasn't a Scag after all.

My local dealer here wasn't very responsive, like at all. I couldn't even get a quote from them. Figured if I couldn't get them to acknowledge me when I was waving a pile of cash at them then I'd be in some real trouble later when I actually needed something from them.

Narrowed things down to responsive dealer and to engine that could be worked on locally and parts could be sourced from, turns out EFI sounds good but nobody can get parts for them around here. Ended up with a Gravely 460 with the fx1000 Kawasaki.

Did not go with the bagger yet, we'll get there if/when the time comes. I'm waiting things out to see if I can suffice with the mulch kit. We hit these sticker burrs pretty good with pre-emergent and haven't seen any yet. It's getting close to the time they come out. Also seeded a bunch of bermuda over my problem areas, we'll see if I can choke that stuff out a little bit.

Thank you all for your advice to this point!

 

[slomo]

Sounds like you need a tractor and a bush hog. Stickers and field grass doesn't sound like a manicured garden type lawn.