Toro Timecutter 4250 - love it! Hate it! A modest proposal

[packardv8]

FWIW, I've been mowing the same acre of ground for fifty years, so I know it pretty well.

The all-around best mower for the money was a Simplicity 30" 8hp tractor style. The little B&S ran for thirty years and was still running when I sold it.

Two Cub Cadet tractors, a 12hp and a 16hp Kohler, were beasts and I probably should have kept one of them. Problem was, tractors are slow, don't climb steep hills for shite. What I do miss is their ability to steer the front wheels and to cut right up to the fenceline on hillsides.

Anyway, for several years now, I've been using a Toro Timecutter 4250 ZT. It's faster, more maneuverable on flat ground; however on hillsides, it's a dangerous pig-on-ice. Way too many times, including just today, the Toro has gotten me stuck and tangled into fences where the tractors were never, ever a problem.

The Toro Owner's Manual goes into great detail about safety and emphasizes that the mower is only safe to use on flat ground.

However, while escaping the zombie apocalypse, I have mow my way up a way-too-steep hill. I discovered the Toro is a regular mountain goat, as long as it's going straight up or straight down. Try to traverse a side hill and the zombies will get you for certain.

Anyway, if the grass catchers are full of green grass, and/or the operator is 6' 2" 240, that's a lot of weight on the rear and the front end can get a little light at the top of the hill. I added a 2' section of 3" oil field pipe; about 50#, to the weight box above the front axle and that ties the front down solidly.

jack vines

 

[nbpt100]

It is like a zero turn. Not recommended for hills. But , if you do negotiate a hill you have to go straight up and down as you mentioned. You seem to be doing the best you can with it which seems acceptable enough.

I have a friend with a Snapper 28" riding mower with a 8HP Briggs. The thing is about 25 years old and he loves it. His lawn is pretty flat. If the engine dies he will re-power it. Some came with a bit larger HP engines.

 

[MParr]

Weight is better distributed on a tractor style riding mower. With a ZTR all of the weight is on the rear.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Weight is better distributed on a tractor style riding mower. With a ZTR all of the weight is on the rear.

Here we go again with zero turns and hills. Riding mowers are terrible on hills (very tippy). Zero turns, as a general rule, are great on hills.

 

[MParr]

Neither are very good running parallel to the slope. That's why manufacturers put recommendations in their owners manual.

 

[Auto Doc's]

To run parallel on a hill you need a 50 lb. wheel counterweight on one side (uphill side) as a minimum to maintain traction. Loop around and always keep the weight towards the rise of the hill.

I still use a 1980's Snapper RER with a 30-inch deck, and it is a monster on any terrain.

 

[toolboxhero]

I have a Toro TimeCutter SWX5050 and an Exmark Quest 42 inch steering wheel ZTR and they both handle slopes and sidehills better than any other residential ZTR.
The steerable front wheels hold it on slopes like a lawn tractor, and the rear hydros are mechanically connected to the steering so they both provide traction on slopes.

 

[packardv8]

Since I added more front weight for mowing uphill, it started me thinking about removing the weights for flat ground and sidehills.

FWIW, I bought my machine with the bagger and wasn't aware the front suitcase weights were part of the package. The manual which comes with the bagger cautions against using the attachment without the weights. Having noticed the increased hill-climbing traction when the bags are full of detritus, one can also imagine how dangerously light the front end would be on a steep uphill without the weights.

As an experiment, flat ground and sidehills only, I removed the front suitcase weights. It feels like a different machine! Better in some ways; quicker to react, less quick to run down the slope on a sidehill.

I'll continue the experiment, no front weights for normal mowing; replace them, plus the extra pipe weight when I have to mow the steep uphills.

What has been your experience with and without the front weights?

jack vines

 

[packardv8]

Here we go again with zero turns and hills. Riding mowers are terrible on hills (very tippy). Zero turns, as a general rule, are great on hills.

Agree, ZTs are great uphill and tractors are mediocre. However on sidehills or close to fences and ditches, the tractors were precise to to the inch, where ZTs are as likely to tangle one into the fence or slide down into the ditch.

FWIW, when I first got the Toro, I was complaining about not being able to hold it out of the fences on slopes. A pro lawn care guy I know was going to show me how and he damn near destroyed my fences before admitting the Toro just couldn't be controlled in those areas.