2 different mowers in same yard ?

[fastlane]

Does anyone use 2different types of mowers in same yard ? One starts on left,one on right, meet in center. I have Exmark Tracer 48'' floating deck (mulch kit) great cut! I'am looking at 61'' Lazer, Ferris and Wright Stander. I don't want 2 halves to look too different. Dealer does't stock Lazer I want. Dist. will bring demo. (for only about an hour) Other dealer said no demo on Wright but he'll give me Ferris 3000 for 24hrs. It's hard to choose when you can't compare! Can you use a WB and ZTR in same yard?

[Runner]

Occasionally I would do this on real large properties when I ran the 52" wb and the 60" Gravely. What I did, was have the walkbehind running at the very back of the lot, and going crossways. That way, no matter what way I was cutting, MY rows just got a bit shorter at the back end. The main cut with the 60" would always show, while the 52" cut was basically hidden at the back, even though it still knocked out quite a bit of grass in an inconspicuous area. I would NEVER mix my rows, though.

[David Haggerty]

I mix decks in every yard I mow. Like runner says, use each deck in different areas.
It can be a challenge to get decks to cut at the same height. I measure the height of cut while the mower is sitting on concrete. It's measured from the blade tip to the floor. Because of the difference in weight, they still cut at different heghts. Then I fine adjust them to give matching height of cut.
I have them adjusted now so that the 26" snapper can trim for the Toro 580-D with no visible difference. (Except wheel pattern) You can really see any difference after a weeks growth.

When I get them all cutting the same is the time a customer will ask "Can you cut it a little lower for a couple of weeks?" :rolleyes:
My answer is a definite NO! But I have five mowers to match up. And the Toro 580-D has three decks!
The actual height of cut is varied anyways. The Snapper measures 2 7/8" and the 580-D measures 3 1/4". But it all comes out the same when the grass is cut. I call it a 3" mowing height.

Dave

[TJLC]

There are times when I'll use my Viking 48"in the tight spots, (where my Z is just a little bit too big) and then come in with my Lazer 52" to finish. It depends on the size of and obstacles on a paticular property. I'm yet to find one mower that will do it all, all the time. A Z and a w/b seem to work well together for me.

[scottb]

We use a 62" Z and a 48" walkbehind in the same lawns all the time. Sometimes they are cutting different sections. And sometimes we will cut the same section but always crossing each other we usually only do this when we are forced to double cut. It leaves a nice stripe.

[FrankenScagMachines]

Yes.
One yard has two raised areas that have to have a 21" mower on them. The rest (1/2 - 3/4 acre) is done with my 32" Toro. Another yard I do the back with the 32" Toro but the front is about as fast with the 21" mower as the 32" one because of it's size and the customer isn't sure if they'd like the bigger one on the front (they like it's cut and stripe though!). Another customer has 2 acre lawn and 2 acre 'yard' (gets cut maybe every two or three weeks). Sometimes a helper will do the back part of the front 2 acres (behind the house) with our 48" Wheel Horse, while I do the front acre with the Toro (because of it's better cut and stripe). Then when I do the field there's usually two of us out there too. At the other two places I use the same one for the whole yard.
Eric

[Dennis E.]

I run both my WB 36 hydro and the ZTR on a lot of my accounts.
It seems to work out pretty good.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

52" and 60" mixed all the time.

52" cut's the front in most cases.

Somtimes we even cut the smae spots with both mowers at the same time.

One goes 1 direction and the other goes the other.

[rodfather]

I have a couple of properties that we use 2, 72", a 61" and another 52" mower all at the same time...

...and there is one person just doing the trimming, too. Big properties though ranging from 7 to 20 acres each.

[dmk395]

Yes,
Just be careful on the heights. I have some that we cut the front yards shorter than backs, due to shade etc.

[Turfdude]

Use a tape measure and level concrete to set all blades on your walk behinds to cut at same height (make sure to compare to height of rider when deck dropped down to mowing height).
WE use 2 - 3 machines on many of our properties. Like most others, we try to place diff machines in diff areas of property. But all machines are w/in 1/8" of each other in mowing height.

Bob

[MOW ED]

All the time, Toro 44" and the Walker 52 SD. Both lay down nice stripes. We stay to our own areas. All front or all back and sides, works out well.

[mklawnman]

Well we used to run a 52inch and a 48 inch on every yard and basically you designate one area for the 48inch and the 52inch and never cross into eachothers areas, such as (front yard and back yard)
We now have two 52inch machines ones a ZTR and the other is a WB, both same size decks just tire tracks arent the same. And the deck height has to be checked on every lawn so the WB cuts at the same height as the ZTR. Otherwise we both designate area's for the WB and ZTR but if one person is doing the lawn then the ZTR can cut where the WB does and will still look like it was cut by the WB.
Matt

[Flex-Deck]

Some times if it is required by a publisher for a pic, we use 4 mowers in one yard
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