Bradley has a 48 and a 52 stand on not sure why? Pretty much the same size. I prefer 36" but my focus is on smaller properties. 52" seems to be the one everyone is buying and raving about

 

I've got a 48" and 52" mowers, neither will fit in a 48" gate. So I use the 52 everywhere I can and something 44" or smaller on most gated yards. The 48 does not get much use, other than weedy crap yards. Unless the deal was great, I see no reason to purchase a 48" again.

 

I’m running a 54 and a 36 Stander right now and hindsight being 20/20 for my 5-8k sq/ft yards I would have gone 48 and 36. I find on a lot of my yards there is just enough terrain to cause me to have to adjust patterns to keep the 54 from scalping. Your mileage will probably vary but I also don’t have any huge properties to mow.

 

if you're running a 36" already for gates, it makes sense to get a 52 because of blade size. The 52 is a touch bigger then the 48 but the 52 and 36 are compadable with blades.

 

The speed is what matters, I cut older cemeterys and my 52 will not fit into certain rows of stones. A 48 fits in all the rows and is faster than my walk behind. I remember some where on here that a 52 is only a minute or two faster on open acreage than the same frame 48

 

I've found that on medium sized lawns a smaller mower is faster. For instance, a 52" is easier to maneuver, less trimming, etc than a 60" even though the 60" fits just fine on that lawn.

And with Grandstands, the 52" stripes better than the 60's. Actually with Lazers as well.

I can't always convince my crews of that, so I am "weeding" out the larger mowers. I'll always have a couple 60's but I replaced my 60 Lazer with a 54" ZTrak.

 

I've found that on medium sized lawns a smaller mower is faster. For instance, a 52" is easier to maneuver, less trimming, etc than a 60" even though the 60" fits just fine on that lawn.

And with Grandstands, the 52" stripes better than the 60's. Actually with Lazers as well.

I can't always convince my crews of that, so I am "weeding" out the larger mowers. I'll always have a couple 60's but I replaced my 60 Lazer with a 54" ZTrak.

I've got 2-52s and 2-48s. I'm looking at a 72 also for this season. Have a few parks and ball fields we do. And bidding 2 more right now. We'll see.

 

I run a 52” zk with no issues. However it seems a lot of guys run 48’s here. Maybe because of all the hills and varrying terrain the 48” scalps less.

 

I have a 52" stander and a 48" Walk behind. Yes the walk behind fits in some places the 52" doesn't, but them places are few and far between.

Also I just looked at their website and them Bradley's are on sale right now. Very good bargain. I own the 52" and couldn't be happier. Definitely one of the best cutting mowers I've ever owned.

 

Wow those are cheap. Is there a dealer around Pittsburgh? I would like to take a look at one. How long have you had yours?

 

Isn't the 48" version usually on a smaller chassis than the 52" version. I know many WB's I looked at were like that.

 

On the Bradley I think it's the same exact platform on either machine, usually they are only a few hundred dollars in difference.

No dealers in Pittsburgh, your welcome to call me and come look at it first hand. Closest dealer to us is in Ohio. Had my stander over a year now but been buying Bradley products (factory direct) for the last 5 years.

 

I here Bradley is coming out with 36" stander this year, not sure if that's true.

 

I called them and asked to be notified as soon as it becomes available. I have the 32" BD with a Jungle Wheels sulky, but the stand on would be NICE!

 

I just bought a 48" Scag V-ride I yesterday. The dealer had one model left over from last year and they were ready to deal on it, so I bought it. I'll say that I was definitely on the 52" bandwagon from the start too. They had a 52" V-ride II there and I got to test them out side by side. I found the V-ride II much bigger, heavier, and bulky feeling than the V-ride I. I'm sure the top speed is a couple miles per hour faster, but I will be honest, I never mow full speed any way. The V-ride ride I actually felt more responsive, nimble, and much lighter. Plus wider back tires too. Listen, I know I did not take it on hills and what not, but that is not a problem for me on 98% on my lawns. I have more issues with having to go over curbs, and the V-ride I's ability to wheelie up made the task much easier. I tried it with both machines. Anyway, I really looked at my backyard gate width situation, and the 48 will let me in quite a bit more places than a 52". Some of the clearances are pretty tight, but it gets in. I saved quite a bit of money on this deal too.