Learn Me Mowing our Bigass Lawn

I used to mow our 1/3 acre with a 42" lawn tractor. took 1.5 hours. It died. I looked into having it cut, cause I hate yardwork. Best quote I got was $200/ month (paid year round) for cutting 1x per week in the season, trimming, edging, etc. Highest quote was 2x that. berkeley Me.

Our local Gravely dealer was running a special at the time, 0% interest on 48 months. Now I pay $97/month for a 42" commercial duty zero turn and can cut the yard in 35min flat, plus it's fun enough I don't mind doing it.

There's no way in Hades I'd attempt 2.5 acres on a riding mower.

If you can swing the lump sum on a used Dixie Chopper or equivalent, that's the way to go, particularly if you aren't planning on being there for many years. I couldn't hit the lump sum, and I plan on owning the house for more than 4 years, so the finance made sense for me.

Key note on a zero turn - the lower end "homeowner" models have hydro drives that are sealed and nonserviceable. Make sure whatever you buy has a drain plug on the drives and you can service the fluid. The sealed units are destined to fail eventually. They also have smaller diameter axles and stuff that make them less durable.

I want the name of the landlords bigass zero turn that does 2.5ac in 45mins. I have the little Deere and it takes me 1.5hr for 1.5ac... need the fast.

No idea if these are worth the cash but they do seem to be running a hell of a lot of TV commercials as of late: ($2999 brand new starting price)

https://www.badboymowers.com/bad-boy-shop/zero-turn-mowers/mz-lawn-mower

In reply to Paul_VR6:

Exmark Lazer somethingorother

Paul_VR6 wrote: I want the name of the landlords bigass zero turn that does 2.5ac in 45mins. I have the little Deere and it takes me 1.5hr for 1.5ac... need the fast.

If it's a 60+ inch deck, I can believe it would do 2.5 acres of flat grass in that time. My zero turn was only a 42" model Toro, and it did 3.5 acres in about 2 hours and change. A 60+" would have taken less time.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Lawn service would run us nearly $200 every time they come out- so $2500 would maybe get us through a year stretching it between visits.

We must get a great deal, or it's a regional thing, but we have close to 5 acres mowed and trimmed for $100 bucks a visit. I hate mowing, so once I found out they'd cut it for that I retired from mowing for good.

Just bought a house on 1.01acres and just completed our second mow. With push mower(s).

First cut we only had a cheapie $140 push mower new from Home Depot, then I got move stage two done, got another push mower (this time a bigger self propelled) in 2nd stage of moving. Will be getting another push mower or two (for free) this weekend.

I now have a 90's craftsman 42" lawn tractor in the garage that is having electrical problems. I NEED to get it running, or punt and get something else. (Gonna throw a solenoid at it and see, just goes click when key turned with no starter motion, starter briefly turned with jumper cable direct voltage, but not strong enough to turn over motor.)

Whats the thought on the worthwhile of the commercial walk behinds with a 60" deck? How do I know if I can get the little roller skate thing to stand on behind one? Or, am I best off holding off for a zero turn rider if it comes to punting and buying something?

$400 Lawn Tractor + $100 mower + $100 mower.

ZTR is $2500 in your area? More like 2999+ in my area. That's why I have the smallest John Deere for my 1 acre. With my lawn, what adds time is going slow around all the trees, garden plots and other obstacles SWMBO insists on putting in the yard. I'm in the group that suggests just getting a good lawn tractor. Used ZTR if a deal. Had a 14hp, 42" Murray that lasted me 14 years before ethanol gas got to the carb and SWMBO gave me permission to buy the John Deere 42". Since storage isn't an issue, if lawn is open with little obstacles then go for bigger deck.

edizzle89 wrote: i have a friend with around 3 acres that he keeps mowed and he uses a riding mower and he hooks up 2 tow behind mowers like this with one offset to each side: i dont remember exactly but with some overlap of each mower i think his total width of mowing is ~10 feet wide.

Buy Miata, put on a trailer hitch, pull this behind it. Problem solved.

pinchvalve wrote:

Given that this is GRM, I don't see how you have any choice except this one.

Paul_VR6 wrote: I want the name of the landlords bigass zero turn that does 2.5ac in 45mins. I have the little Deere and it takes me 1.5hr for 1.5ac... need the fast.

My fathers 72" diesel Kubota will do 13 acres in 7-8 hours, but it's also a $14K mower.

In reply to RedGT:

My neighbor did something similar when i was a kid. He just used one push mower, though, and grafted it onto the side of the tractor's mower deck, staggered behind it for some overlap. it worked, as long as you pay attention tot he push mower to ensure it doesn't stall or run out of gas.

Something like this would work if you had a large, flat yard with few obstacles. Trying to maneuver this around trees and such seems like it would be...problematic.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: In reply to Paul_VR6: Exmark Lazer somethingorother

All of those are pretty serious mowers.

I would imagine it would leave gaps in tight turns though.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse:

You uncouple the push mower for 10 minutes at the end (or start once you know the boundaries) to run around the trees and borders. Same idea as weedwacking vs mowing but on a larger scale.

Rotary powered Rallyx car and a brush hog attached behind.

Work on your skills and your yard at the same time.

Boom done!

Our Kubota is a better mower than our Dixie Chopper. It's also a more expensive mower. The next mower we buy is going to be another Kubota, probably a 54" or 60" with a diesel. Those mowers run almost $13,000, but you can get a gas one for less, and you can get 0% financing, too. It will be the last mower you ever buy, and if you do ever sell it, they hold value rather well. The used ones on consignment at the tractor dealer were about 75% of what the new ones were, didn't have special financing available, and some of them needed a lot of work.

ultraclyde wrote: Key note on a zero turn - the lower end "homeowner" models have hydro drives that are sealed and nonserviceable. Make sure whatever you buy has a drain plug on the drives and you can service the fluid. The sealed units are destined to fail eventually. They also have smaller diameter axles and stuff that make them less durable.

The guts are the same thing you get in the higher end garden tractors at Lowes with one axle taken out and the case modified.

They are serviceable, but they are not meant to be serviced at home.

I would avoid these models at all cost. They are rated to do just 200 hours and are designed to that point.

Get a commercial unit. Run Full Synthetic in them. 10,000 hours is not unheard of with synthetic before a rebuild is required.

Kanzaki Kokyoko of Osaka Japan has the North American division of Tuff Torq which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yanmar diesel and about a 5% stake by John Deere.

When Dixie Chopper set the "worlds fastest mower" record they had our pumps and motors in them.

I've said it once and I will say it again. Get a well maintained commercial unit over any new homeowner grade equipment for what you have.

Last year I gave up and bought a 60" zero turn cub cadet with a steering wheel. It does the 4 acres at my house in about an hour and a half and the tree filled 3 acres at my mom's house in just under two hours. Zero percent financing for 5 years, $100/month.

All the homeowner or light commercial units use pretty much the same parts. The transmissions without spin on filters are designed to last 1000 hours assuming you change the oil in them every 200 hours. The only way to change the oil is to remove the transmission, turn it upside down, and let it drain through the vent.

The units with spin on filters are designed to last much longer, and it's super easy to change the fluid in them. They also start at closer to $3500, but it is worth it. It's an easy way to tell looking at units from different brands to compare them.

wow guys. 1 hour for 1/3 acre with a 42" lawn tractor? how many obstacles do you have in your yard?

18 year old craftsman LT1000 here. 42" deck. 20hp v twin briggs. it takes me about 45 mins - 1 hour to mow an acre. my back yard is really steep so I loaded the tires with rv antifreeze for weight, and sit on the uphill side of the seat mowing across the hill.

Craftsman, poulan, husquvarna, whatever else, many of them are all the same when you are looking at lawn tractors and garden tractors.

I'd say since you are renting, consider something like that, not a piece thats going to cost you a couple grand.

In reply to oldopelguy:

you might want to read your owners manual. 200 hours

Fwiw, unless your lawn is full of obstacles and you need the fence perimeter trimmed every time, you're looking at a lot closer to $100 for us to do it. Likely a bit under that. It's wild that the price differences are that significant between here and there.

RedGT wrote:

pinchvalve wrote:

Given that this is GRM, I don't see how you have any choice except this one.

If this place wasn't a giant hill full of trees, I'd be all over this plan. I think I'd want to solid mount the push mowers closer to the back of the tractor and replace the wheels with casters though.