Zero turn mower recommendation

Long story short our old MF16 lawn tractor quit and I'm not going to fix it this time. As a matter of fact it's already sold. This leaves us with a little 38" 12hp riding mower and a self propelled 21" Lawnboy commercial 2 stroke mower to cut over 2.5 acres of grass. This will get us through for the rest of this year but we need to look at replacing the lawn tractor. I'm thinking we could get a 44-46" deck zero turn mower and get rid of the little 38" mower. I'm likely going to be looking at used stuff because most of the new residential grade mowers are junk. What brands should I be looking at? How many of you have a zero turn mower and how does it work out? I don't want a massive deck because we have way too many trees and gardens on our property.

get to the choppa..

Dixie chopper that is...

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: get to the choppa.. Dixie chopper that is...

This. 50" Iron Eagle. had mine for 6 years. changed oil yearly, one set of blades and one set of spark plugs and the deck belt. That's it for maintenance.

I'd say "yes and no" to the comment that residential grade mowers are junk, especially if you're using it for residential purposes. We had a Toro Timecutter Z4200, which had the Kohler 19hp motor in it. About 5 years after we bought it, the rod decided it wanted a divorce and tried to escape from the block in which it was trapped. That said, it was apparently a well known design flaw and the mower shop I took it to had zero trouble getting Toro to provide a replacement block. Beyond that, we had very little trouble with ours. We had 3.5 acres of flat, tree free ground, but very bumpy. I could do the entire thing in just over 2 hours. If you can find a good deal on one, I wouldn't walk away from it. I could see spending the extra money if you had a mowing service. But if you're only using it for your own property, which means using it once a week for maybe 5-6 months out of the year, I think a well kept Toro will be fine.

I have a Cub Cadet and so does my dad. We got ours used and aside from the choke cable snapping it has been very reliable and was cheaper than a new cheapy ZTR. I think that you can get one of the residential types and be just fine but I would recommend getting one that has a good rep. V-twin engine are nice, too.

I can't speak to reliability because I just bought it Friday, but for me the answer was:

A used John Deere 777. Commercial 7-iron deck, liquid cooled motor, very heavy and excellent mower for not much more than a new residential grade unit. I went with the 72" deck which you can't really get in home mowers. My yard's mostly open, only a few big trees. It's a bit hilly too and the home mowers aren't rated for as much of a slope.

http://www.countryclipper.com/

That's what my grandfather bought. I like it quite a bit.

The joystick is very responsive, doesn't take any pressure at all to get it to do what you want.

There are a lot of zero turns that are well thought of. The key is not to buy one at Home Depsot or Lowes. Most of the professional guys around here seem to use Toro, but I through Toro had been bought by the cheapass company that has ruined most mowers.

Dixie Chopper, ExMark, Kubota are names I can recall right now.

Most entry level commercial ZTR will suite your needs. Look for dealer support close by.

I'm partial to Hustler. They have a patented parking brake that sets when you spread the steering arms. Saves lots of time. They also have the most responsive steering on the market. Mine has the Honda 20hp V-twin. Eleven (11) seasons and going strong.

"Technically" My Dixie is rated for nothing more than a 10 incline. I cut a 45 slope every week for the last 10 years (last 6 with it). They're a bit...umm..."nanny-ish" about those ratings.

dculberson wrote: I can't speak to reliability because I just bought it Friday, but for me the answer was: A used John Deere 777. Commercial 7-iron deck, liquid cooled motor, very heavy and excellent mower for not much more than a new residential grade unit. I went with the 72" deck which you can't really get in home mowers. My yard's mostly open, only a few big trees. It's a bit hilly too and the home mowers aren't rated for as much of a slope.

Very cool. Next time I see you, you'll have to let me know how you like it. When we were shopping for our mower, I looked all over the for a good used commercial machine to see if I could find a bargain. Most everything that I saw that was in the same price range I paid for our residential Toro was a CL special...20+ years old, rusty, ripped, extremely high hours. To be fair, our Toro (which we got from Home Depot) was a clearance special. It had been purchased and returned, then wound up sitting on their showroom floor for 6+ months. If I had to pay full retail price for it, I may have been inclined to get a used commercial unit.

Dixie Choppers are a nice unit. I used one at my friends place in Florida. Unfortunately they aren't popular up here and are nearly impossible to find used.

My bias against new residential units is mostly based on me poking around them at the big box stores. I'll go to some of my local farm equipment dealers and see what they have.

I didn't even realize, you're in Canada. How long is your lawn season up there? I'd bet it's short. For that amount of use, I'd think long and hard before buying a commercial unit.

Klayfish wrote: I didn't even realize, you're in Canada. How long is your lawn season up there? I'd bet it's short. For that amount of use, I'd think long and hard before buying a commercial unit.

Going by his avatar, I'm guessing that what his property lacks in growing season, it may make up for it in acreage. Am I right?

I thought you had horses? A little electric fencing and let them take care of it.

DaveEstey wrote: I thought you had kids? A little electric fencing and let them take care of it.

fixed

DaveEstey wrote: I thought you had horses? A little electric fencing and let them take care of it.

I suggested that but SWMBO said no. Our growing season is from April until sometime in November. We're in Southern Ontario so a lot further south than many people realize.

I have a Cub Cadet z-force 44 with a briggs 20 (or 22?) hp engine. I can mow my acre in 30 minutes! I had a couple of issues; one, the hooks for the deck tore out. I fixed that my making a plate and welding it all back together. Second, one of the safety switches got a little wonky and wouldn't let the PTO engage. If you get the same Briggs engine make sure you adjust the valves like the manual says. Its important for the compression release so you don't kill the battery trying to start the dang thing.

Bobzilla wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: get to the choppa.. Dixie chopper that is...

This. 50" Iron Eagle. had mine for 6 years. changed oil yearly, one set of blades and one set of spark plugs and the deck belt. That's it for maintenance.

Yes.

I have a 44"(?) Silver Eagle I bought 10-years ago because I never wanted to buy another mower. So far so good. That, and I hate mowing grass(I'm allergic to cut grass) so the quicker I can get done, the better.

EDIT: Oh, and to add some facts to my comments - when I was shopping for a mower 10 years ago, I hit up all the lawn/garden/profession/etc. forums I could find. Of course there were hundred of threads of people asking this same question, and as expected all the top commercial brands have their proponents, and in nearly every thread someone would reply with "Yeah, [brand-x] is good...but I switched to Dixie Chopper [x-number of] years ago and I'll never switch back." Not one time did I find anyone who said they'd had a Dixie Chopper, but found something better. Not once...

Cub Cadet ZForce 48 here. 4 years old and going strong. Has the 23hp Kohler engine.

We have 2 being used for our lawn service. One is a Dixie Chopper, the other a Kubota. Both are good mowers, but the Kubota is a much better machine. It was also $9,000, whereas the Dixie Chopper was $6000. Both mowers should last at least a decade of commercial use.

Prior to purchasing those, one of the mowers was a Toro Timecutter. I think we racked up 1200 hours on it before retiring the machine. It started having little issues after about 500 hours, like spindle bearings. Nothing that keeps it from being a good mower, but it never did cut as well as either of the mowers costing twice as much (Dixie Chopper) or three times as much (Kubota). For residential service, ANY commercial mower will outlive you, or at least your ownership of the property.

FWIW, Dixie Choppers are still assembled here in the USA, but I'm not sure about parts content. Cheaper mowers are usually contracted out to the lowest bidder and are often manufactured overseas.

Spindle bearing on a Dixie are trailer wheel bearings. And they have x-blades available. If you can find and afford one it's the way to go.

How hilly is the yard you have to mow? With your short growing season and 2.5 acres that has an effect.

Kubota is a great mower. It maybe more than you need

Dixie Choper has quality issues. They tend to break front spindles (not the bearings the actual spindles) and pop motors (They move the governors to get the fastest mower rating) They are also the least refined of everything built here. If you ever get to the factory, it is more like a garage than a production shop. If you avoid curb hopping and watch engine RPMs and don't mind the welded together look. It is a great choice. Hydraulic pumps and motors are either Kanzakis, Parker or Eatons.

The Deere is a great unit, but then again may be more than you need. Also had front spindle issues but that was fixed a few years ago. They use Kanzaki pump and motors.

Toro builds a great unit. It is also a commercial unit but Toro focuses on competition turf than mass stuff (golf courses, football fields etc)

The difference in most of the zero turns come in 3 areas, Spindles, Transaxles/Hydraulic Pump and Motors and speed. Transaxles are usually the design limitation. The design limitations for home grade (big box stores) are 200 hours. The commercial units are 1000 hours.

Bad Boy mowers are a very good brand available in Tractor Supplies, but don't get the little one if you want to mow.

In the end, with the exception of Kubota, the only difference in most of the units are the chassis and deck. They all buy the transaxles, motors, seats etc from the same people.

Many of them are even built in the factory and re-branded. The little Toros are built by MTD.

My buddy bought a JD zero turn and likes it a lot. I use a Husq 42" normal lawn tractor to maintain most of my lawn and a 72" finish deck behind my Kubota for fence lines and whatnot.