What size walk behind?

[hi_speedreed]

Originally Posted by herler

You guys are shooting yourselves in the foot dumbing yourselves down trying to stay small in the deck size department, the size of the job is where you need to start small and work your way up but not when it comes to deck size, here the bigger the better, no f'ing around in this department. Dang three foot decks are a joke, maybe as a specialty machine for certain odd jobs but never for a main line mower.

It's obvious from your comment you don't service many gated lawns.

I would never buy a Wb with anything smaller than a 40" deck, that's the absolute smallest Walk Behind I would ever throw thousands of hard-earned dollars at and I'd really prefer a 44" to 48" or so, what are we trying to do here, they hardly cost more, want to waste money or get the job done?


I didn't want to waste money by having a machine sit on the trailer. A 36 will fit on 100% of the lawns I service. If I had a 48 21 combo I would be losing all the minutes gained on open properties by having to drag the 21 off the trailer for gated ones. If you were using a 48 and you used it on a job for 20 minutes, it would take me 25 to cut the same area. Now come to a gated lawn. It takes me 20min to cut with my 36 and it will take you 28 minutes. So the 5 minutes you gained are lost immediately and replaced by a 3 minute deficit.

As for Ztr's the same thing applies, you want to get the job done, I wouldn't get nothing smaller than a 52" and I'd really prefer a 60"
You're spending 8 or 10 thousand dollars and you want a "small" deck?
Don't kid yourself, for that kind of money I'd get a mower that can tackle some GRASS!

Don't kid yourself and think you know how best to run anyone's business but your own. You have found the best setup for you. The OP was asking about a 36 due to gated lawns and wanting to upgrade from a 21. Since he does not want to use the 21 anymore he needs a machine that will fit through gates. Your setup will not work for him.

To the OP:

You have to get what works best for you. If you have lots of gates and are tired of using the 21 then a 32 or 36 are going to be your options. Think about the direction you want to take your business. I did and came to the conclusion that, while it would be very nice to a 48WB and a 60ZTR it was not what I needed. The 36 is my main mower. It fit for me because I do not have lots of wide open areas to mow. Most of mine are gated city lots. I do have one very large property but that is it. Actual mow time there is 60 minutes. If I had a 60 ZTR I would be done in about 36 minutes. Those 24 lost minutes are more than made up for in my ability to use the 36 in gated areas that require others to use a 21.

[jiggz]

It really depends where in Pennsylvania you are located..Places out west and up north might have bigger gates I cant tell you Ive never been there, but on the eastern part of the state around Philly, Del and Most of all South Jersey anything with a chainlink fence has a 36 inch gate and you will not fit a 36" w/b threw one, beings most are actually 37-38" wide.. a 32" just scrapes by in most cases.. Just something to think about. I cut alot in Jersey/Philly and
I see absoutaly no use for a 36" mower in this area..for the simple fact that you know a 32 will fit EVERYWARE Plus a 36 isnt much if any faster then a 32 on most small lawns. when you get to the point you need a biger mower then a 32 its time to go straight to a 48. Unless Im going into a gate i dont use anything smaller then a 48 even on 500sf and they look just fine.

Trust me Ive seen guys with 36"ers on the trailer breaking their balls pushing a backyard because there shiney new machine dosnt fit. for every 15 minutes pushing a 22inch equals about 2 minutes on a 32

Hydro vs belt- Unless you plan on cutting in alot of wet conditions,Or in a rain storm lol. I perfer the cost savings and simplicity of beltdrives. I think I would only get a hydro on a bigger maching that I was planning on pulling a Sulky with. side note, t-bar belt drives feel like a hydro minus the instant reverse

As far as Toro T-bar is concerned I love them and have a belt drive 62" and its a pleasure to use over pistol grips real comefortable. I honestally dont know if Ill ever go back to belt drive pistols again..but I think the t-bar only really shines on the bigger machines 48" and above, Mabye 36 and above..Something small like a 32 I would much rather have pistol grips because they really allow you to strong arm the machine. You have a lot of levarage with pistols that you lose with other drive designs.with a machine that light you can basically put it anyware and do anything with it

[Ecotech]

From my own experience definitely a 36 for gates, hydro is great, but not needed for the first year.

[CowboysLawnCareDelaware]

Okay, I think we have all come to the conclusion on the main questions. Now I will change everything up.

I have several 40" wooden fences that I mow. I can squeeze my 36" Toro t-bar through their gates, but why make it a pain. I have talked with each and everyone of my customers and they have all let make a section of their fence removable. Spend 15 minutes on each property in the preseason or on a day when your not working and removal one section of fence(does not work for gates, so don't try).

Their are several different methods of connection that you could do.

The first would be to a bracket that looks similar to an upside-down "h". You drill two or four of these brackets onto the posts going into the ground and then the 2x4's that run length wise on the section will slide in.

A second way is to use a male/female bracket to hook the fence section back into the posts, this way may look more discrete depending on what brackets you can find.

Make sure you mark where the brackets should go before you remove the section of fence.

If anybody has an thoughts or ways that they do it, feel free to share.

-Michael

[Darryl G]

Originally Posted by CowboysLawnCareDelaware

I have several 40" wooden fences that I mow.

That's gotta be kind of rough on the mower. I can't imagine my customers being very happy about me mowing their fence.

[CowboysLawnCareDelaware]

Nice

-Michael

[lawnkingforever]

[QUOTE=jiggz;4594714]It really depends where in Pennsylvania you are located..Places out west and up north might have bigger gates I cant tell you Ive never been there, but on the eastern part of the state around Philly, Del and Most of all South Jersey anything with a chainlink fence has a 36 inch gate and you will not fit a 36" w/b threw one, beings most are actually 37-38" wide.. a 32" just scrapes by in most cases.. Just something to think about. I cut alot in Jersey/Philly and
I see absoutaly no use for a 36" mower in this area..for the simple fact that you know a 32 will fit EVERYWARE Plus a 36 isnt much if any faster then a 32 on most small lawns. when you get to the point you need a biger mower then a 32 its time to go straight to a 48. Unless Im going into a gate i dont use anything smaller then a 48 even on 500sf and they look just fine.

Agreed. A 36" is not useless, but you would be pushing many small gated yards around here. A 32" will fit through almost any gate.

I changed things up this year and sold off my 33" mower. I now run with a 48" Grandstand and Toro Sr4. No more fighting with another mower on the trailer and maintaining another mower either. I turn down any account that has a large backyard and narrow gates where my 48" won't fit. I have grandfathered some existing clients in, but their price will be increasing greatly next year. These accounts take much too long to do and slow you down in the course of a long day. Many guys in my area will not accept any fenced in yards as their large machines will not fit through most gates. There is a small niche to be filled with these types of accounts but the money generated is not worth it compared to the time spent. These yards take up valuable slots in my schedule.
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[Isenberg Lawn Care]

Yes I now know from some help from a few of you that it all boils down to what works best with my application. Being the area I am in and the types of properties, a 36" will be perfect. And hydro most likely. I just know for my area, customers will not be happy with tracks/path of a 48" or 52" cut. A 36" will look great.

[Darryl G]

Yeah, it depends on your area. My 48 is on the small side for my area. I have a 52 inch ZTR too. A lot of guys in my area don't have anything smaller than a 60 inch ZTR on their trailers. What amazes me is that they string trim anything that they can't get with their mower, which includes some narrow side yards and fenced in areas. I don't care how good you are with a trimmer, you just can't get the same cut quality as you can with a mower. I don't currently have anything that I need a 21 inch mower for but I do have one and I'll use it if I need to.

[Realslowww]

Get a 72 Scag WB with dual 22 inch tires per side and put a 44 Generac on it and that ought to do it.