Gravely hydro vs. Bobcat belt drive

[peteny567]

Hi,
I am considering buying a commercial walkbehind for cutting my 1 acre lawn. There are some gently sloping hills and only a small patch of steepness behind our house. I can get either a gravely hydro or a bobcat belt drive. The gravely would only cost me about $300 more. Any thoughts on which I should choose?

Also, I have a number of small trees scattered about our lawn together with a number of beds and one of the things that I'm concerned about is that the hydro may be more difficult to maneuver (i.e., I wouldn't have the belt drive's luxury of being able to let out the belts and pull or push the machine a bit to get a better cut along irregularly shaped objects).

Thanks,

Pete

[steve in Pa.]

as far as i'm concerned there is no comparison of a belt versus a hydro. hydro's no worry about changing gears, putting in reverse, belt wear. no comparison especially with only 300.00 difference. i would buy the hydro!!!!!

[Tharrell]

You need to demo both machines. The Bob-Cat will produce a better cut in my opinion. One acre once a week or so? The belt drive is almost bullet proof. The hydro on the other hand, has a lot of high dollar parts. Hydro is more suited to someone working it all day. Granted, it is more maneuverable but is quality of cut what you're after?

[peteny567]

Thanks for the input. But can you elaborate on what you mean by better cut?

One of the things I liked about the hydro was that it allows for almost a zero turn capability without "smashing" the lawn at the point of the turn like a belt drive does.

Also, my property is a little hilly, and so, I thought the hydro would avoid my concern that the mower could get away from me on the inclines.

Thanks.

[Tharrell]

I tried to respond to your pm but there was a problem with the site. Better cut, plain and simple. Yeah the hydro turns easier but the belt is not THAT difficult. For me, quality of cut is number 1. If I wanted a hydro, I'd still stick with Bob-Cat. The bottom line is you need to use them both to see the difference. You could have a nice TURNING mower or a mower that leaves the NICEST CUT of the two. Good luck.