28 Acres...no clue where to start!

[orangemower]

Originally Posted by Mickhippy

Have a look on Streetview in Maps.

The lawns in front of the large house are pretty much dead flat. The lawns have just been mowed in the images. Going off the images, they are areas that could be mowed full stick.
The trees visible from the road dont require trimming.
No real ditch along the road, turf is thin and rubbishy unless its been repaired.
The "horse" paddocks look unkept and there are what looks like mild slopes. Only the OP knows what those yards look like and how much trimming etc is really involved.

That's why these, "help me bid this I don't have a clue" threads are a waste of time. When I don't have a clue, I don't dive in head first. If I want to bid on properties without looking at them, this is the place to come.

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by JCLawn and more

That means your mowing only your mowers are only mowing less that 1.4 acres per hour with the 72's............ That would mean they are mowing at less than 1.5 mph. I think your guys must be doing something else of the job because walking speed is about 3mph. Yes you can go faster with a diesel because you have more torque. I rarly need to go slower than top speed except for turning around. Actualy based off what you said it takes 18 man hours. I could pretty much mow most of that if not all of that with a push mower in 18 hrs.
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What are you mowing? Must be parking lots to mow full speed all the time. Also I know no one is slacking because I'm running one of the Z's. I just had to put on my hip waders, the BS i getting pretty deep....

[JCLawn and more]

Originally Posted by jrs.landscaping

What are you mowing? Must be parking lots to mow full speed all the time. Also I know no one is slacking because I'm running one of the Z's. I just had to put on my hip waders, the BS i getting pretty deep....

They make ztrs that go 15mph with full suspension for a reason, and now 18mph. You think were mowing at 5mph??? That's why these mowers are upwards of 19 grand.
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[LibertyFarmLandscaping]

Originally Posted by jrs.landscaping

With 2 72" 31hp diesels, one Walker 48" and one guy trimming/running Walker it takes us 6 hours to mow 17 acres. LOTS of trimming and obstacles. Oh the Walkers are diesel as well. I don't know how that translates to speed but you seem to think it does. You can only mow as fast as the turf allows you to. Guys need to realize just because a Manufacturer says the mower can mow at 10.5, doesn't mean you can do it on all properties.

I was being sarcastic. The 35hp VG has plenty of torque and I've demoed plenty of diesels since being in business since 2000. The Vanguard only uses 2gph in very tall wet grass. It avgs 1.6 to 1.7 in most normal conditions. The last one I bought in June was $9400 +ttl.
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[JCLawn and more]

Originally Posted by LibertyFarmLandscaping

I was being sarcastic. The 35hp VG has plenty of torque and I've demoed plenty of diesels since being in business since 2000. The Vanguard only uses 2gph in very tall wet grass. It avgs 1.6 to 1.7 in most normal conditions. The last one I bought in June was $9400 +ttl.
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That sounds a little bit better.
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[MOturkey]

Originally Posted by JCLawn and more

They make ztrs that go 15mph with full suspension for a reason, and now 18mph. You think were mowing at 5mph??? That's why these mowers are upwards of 19 grand.
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You are right. The problem is, not all turf is mowable at full stick, even with slower ZTR's. I learned that lesson 3 years ago when I bought a new Diesel Gravely. The mowing season had just commenced, and I was mowing a lawn we used to service that was well shaded, and always moist. It was an EOW mow, and one portion of the lawn in particular, where there were numerous trees, always grew like gangbusters. The grass was probably a good 10 inches tall, thick, and fine.

I took off with my shiny new diesel, and quickly discovered that with the additional torque, it wasn't necessary to slow down as I had always done with my gasser. I was elated, and kept the hammer down, mowing the area in record time. When the job was completed, I got to looking and realized that the area under the trees looked like crap, because it hadn't cut all the grass cleanly, just whacked it, leaving an uneven cut. I ended up going over the whole area again, meaning my record time, was a new record, but on the slow end of the scale.

And, yes, my blades were sharp. And, yes, they were high lifts. And, yes the deck was clean.

Perhaps there is a mower that can operate with 100% efficiency on all turf, at all speeds, I don't know. I just know that has not been my experience.

[JCLawn and more]

Originally Posted by MOturkey

You are right. The problem is, not all turf is mowable at full stick, even with slower ZTR's. I learned that lesson 3 years ago when I bought a new Diesel Gravely. The mowing season had just commenced, and I was mowing a lawn we used to service that was well shaded, and always moist. It was an EOW mow, and one portion of the lawn in particular, where there were numerous trees, always grew like gangbusters. The grass was probably a good 10 inches tall, thick, and fine.

I took off with my shiny new diesel, and quickly discovered that with the additional torque, it wasn't necessary to slow down as I had always done with my gasser. I was elated, and kept the hammer down, mowing the area in record time. When the job was completed, I got to looking and realized that the area under the trees looked like crap, because it hadn't cut all the grass cleanly, just whacked it, leaving an uneven cut. I ended up going over the whole area again, meaning my record time, was a new record, but on the slow end of the scale.

And, yes, my blades were sharp. And, yes, they were high lifts. And, yes the deck was clean.

Perhaps there is a mower that can operate with 100% efficiency on all turf, at all speeds, I don't know. I just know that has not been my experience.

I agree and that why I said if he does biweekly then its gonna suck. With my 15 acres if I keep it every 7 it don't get away from me. Now if its 10 it will add 40 min to my time. My kubota with a 6.5 inch deep deck can handle more grass at a time more than most ztrs because its not fighting the grass as much as most mowers but I think it would be about the same as the scag tt.
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[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by JCLawn and more

They make ztrs that go 15mph with full suspension for a reason, and now 18mph. You think were mowing at 5mph??? That's why these mowers are upwards of 19 grand.
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Do you mow 15 mph on ALL properties? I don't, some properties it is impossible to mow more than 1/2 to 3/4 stick. Grass conditions aside sometimes the ground doesn't permit mowing as fast as the mower is capable of. What mower are you buying for 20k anyways? Must be a great mower for that price.

[JCLawn and more]

The dixy diesel, ferris diesel, jd diesel, scag diesel, grasshopper diesel, then at 15-17 grand is kubota diesel, toro diesel, gravely diesel, bad boy diesel, hustler diesel, and so on.
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[jrs.landscaping]

We just got quoted a Deere diesel for 14k. Our Walkers ran around the same.