gotta mower question

[KY_XB2003]

I',m sure this has been asked a thousand times and probably may have even started some arguements. I'm not trying to do that. I am getting ready to buy a house and five acres. I've never mowed anything near that big before. My question is what mower is the fastest way to get it done. I'm not one of those people who is real particular about the yard looking "just so"....I just want it mowed!!! What should I consider for a mower? Thanks

[mcwlandscaping]

fastest way would be a ZTR

[greengiant9963]

For 5 acres I would look into a ZTR. Depending on what brand you buy they can get expensive depending on deck size, engine, etc. A good Zero turn that is usually priced more than a thousand or more lower than most other brands is Lesco. It is a well built commercial grade mower at a great price.

[burns60]

I',m sure this has been asked a thousand times and probably may have even started some arguements. I'm not trying to do that. I am getting ready to buy a house and five acres. I've never mowed anything near that big before. My question is what mower is the fastest way to get it done. I'm not one of those people who is real particular about the yard looking "just so"....I just want it mowed!!! What should I consider for a mower? Thanks


Definitely a Zero Turn, but with 5 acres you may want to get at least a 60 inch mower. I guess you could get larger cut but keep in mind that you have to mow around your house as well as the more open areas. I would recommend no smaller than a 48inch cut for sure. It just depends on how much of your Saturday you want to spend cutting grass. Or, you could just hire one of us and then you could spend all day fishing or golfing.

Also with that much acreage don't even consider anything but a commercial grade mower. Exmark, Toro, Scag, to name a few of them. Talk to a local dealer about this. If he is an honest dealer he will steer you toward what will work best for you.

[KY_XB2003]

Sounds like its unanimous,........thanks guys

[rodneyskip]

where in KY are you?Maybe you could have someone here give you a bid and then figure what it would cost yoou to buy a ZTR and what your time is worth- might be cheaper to hire out.

[KY_XB2003]

I am looking to buy in Scott or Harrison county.

[naturescape]

Do you want to have 5 acres of turf? I can see having 1 - 2 acres, beyond that I'd suggest doing major tree planting to get some wooded areas started.

[lawnmaniac883]

Good points made here, but just so ya know expect to be shopping in the 7-10k market for this one. Might consider hiring an lco or try the tree planting suggestion.

[lawnrangeralaska]

In the long run it would be cheaper to pay the heavy price tag to buy your own 7k-10k mower. When you don't need it again you sell it. You get most of your money back and it still comes out to be cheaper then paying someone to mow it for you. If you don't want to mow it then you hire out. To save moeny you buy it then re sell it if you ever move.

[Scag413]

I would definitely buy a 60" ztr rider. It is definitely worth the money. You will get soooo many hours of work out of them. Be careful and buy one of the top brands like: Scag, Exmark, Toro one of those three would be great! Good Luck!

[mak2]

Hey what about hustler? since when is Scag in the top three.

[mak2]

Just kiddin Scag man.

[mslawn]

72" ztr such as exmark or scag!

[Travis Followell]

I too would recommend a good commercial 52 or 60 inch cut ztr. Their are many good brands out their so just do some shopping around the local dealers.

[Smalltimer1]

If you want to do more than mow, such as gardening, snowplowing, or tilling you might as well forget the ZTR and go for a garden tractor or compact utility tractor. ZTR drivelines aren't designed for the stress that comes from other attachments.

The absolute best and top of the line GT's out are the John Deere X-series. You can get all the way up to a 62" deck, diesel engine, 4 wheel drive for muddy areas. For your purposes I think you'd be fine without the diesel, but get the liquid cooled gas X-585 or 485 depending on if you need a 4x4 or not. A gas 4x4 X-585 w/62" deck is right about the same price as premium ZTR's go for. If that isn't enough, step up to a 4010 or 4110 compact utility tractor with a 72" deck.

Another brand to look at GT's is Simplicity. They don't have a 4x4 but are more affordable than John Deere. They have a 60" deck as well.

A good contender in the compact utility tractor market is Cub Cadet. They have a 28hp Caterpillar diesel option on one of them and go all the way up to 72" cut.

I'm only suggesting a GT or CUT if you plan on doing anything more than mowing.

Happy Hunting!

[elmerfud]

I started mowing a 7 acre yard three years ago. I already had a 48HP tractor so I bought a 72" finishing mower to pull behind the tractor. After a couple of years of mowing I started noticing the weight of the tractor was causing ruts in the yard and killing the grass where I circled around trees. About midway through last summer I decided to try out ztr's. The first one I tried was a 60" Hustler. Even with it being my first time to use a ztr, I knocked off 1.5 hours of mowing time because of how efficiently you can cut around obstacles. It also cut my weedeating in half. The ztr also cut up all the old clippings the finishing mower just kept piling up. I tried three different ztr's before deciding on the 66" exmark. All mowers were good but the dealer was the deciding factor. The only negative to the ztr is the ride. They can be a little rough if your ground isn't smooth. I found the combination of a spring seat and lowering the tire pressure helped quite a bit. The dealers are more than happy to line you up with a demo so test drive before you buy.

[dfischer]

nature scape asks a good question? How much of it is to be grass? And smalltime1 is always on track. A CUT, while slower, might of real value. I LOVE hydraulics and wish I had them. Of course, I'd suggest a kubota cut as a 3rd option to the deere and the simplicity.

But first, answer the "how much is grass" question.

[True Cut Lawn Maintenance]

What about a 8N with a woods finishing mower on it?? maybe get a tractor for near the house but bushog the back fourty??

[topsites]

One more suggestion to save yourself about 3-4 thousand dollars and buy a large float-deck walk-behind with a velke. You'd be riding for a few hours, but I'd say with a 52" you'd get'r done in 3-4 hours, and I think they make larger decks than that but on a Walk-behind it gets hard to deal with much past 52", either way I would demo one first.

That or check into a used Ztr, thou my experience with that is unless you can find one in fairly new condition, most ZTR owners hang on to their machines to the point where you wouldn't want to be the next owner, hehe.

At the same rate, if you plan on staying there for say 20 years or so, a 7-10k investment on a ZTR wouldn't be a bad deal, but do keep in mind Ztr's are made to cut class-A turf... Not to say they won't cut brush or horse pasture, but the other guy's suggestion about a small tractor may not be unreasonable, either.