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Anyone out there still use walk behind mowers?

1450 Views 67 Replies 26 Participants Last post by  knox gsl
Anyone still use walk behind mowers or have you gone over to stand on mowers? I am looking to buy a Scag 36" SWZT but everyone tells me to get a stand on. Am I making the wrong move getting a walk behind? I will be using it mainly for backyards. I feel the price difference is not worth it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
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We have a toro 36 stand on, love it because it can also be used as a W/b

buddy of mine is still rocking a w/b w/ a sulky couldn’t tell you the size though
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I'd love to have a stand on, but I'd have to force a bunch of people to chop down all their trees to use one. LOL
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I still use walk behinds. My newest mower is a used 2011 John Deere WH36A. Dual hydros with controls like a standon. Sweet mower!!! Very easy to maneuver and real nice cut!
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Anyone still use walk behind mowers or have you gone over to stand on mowers? I am looking to buy a Scag 36" SWZT but everyone tells me to get a stand on. Am I making the wrong move getting a walk behind? I will be using it mainly for backyards. I feel the price difference is not worth it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
I have a JD 636m (36" standon) and a Ferris Comfort Control DD 48" walk behind. I much prefer the standon. But I have some properties with hills that require the walk behind. I'd look into a lightly used standon if you don't have hills.
Courage
I switched over to a standard a good four years ago, it improved my time.

I have been in three dealer, this year & I did not notice any walk behinds on the show room floors,
We have one that we use for a couple small backyards and some hills that the stander won't hold. I've actually been contemplating buying a couple 48 ex marks especially for the spring when its wet out. They are a lot lighter than standers are and won't leave the heavy tire marks.
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I have a 36 tor t-bar on the trailer for small area's and hills. I have 2 44's t-bars with trac vacs that are still my goto for leafs.
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I've got to say, nothing stripes like a walkbehind with a pro-slide. :love:
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With my old company, we bought 1-2 new Ex Mark walk-behinds each season; those were our primary mowers.

Never. Had. The. Opportunity. To. Operate. One. However. 🤣

They looked nimble, and the crews created beautiful stripes with the machines. In my 4 seasons, we had to go out and fix ruts on only 2 properties…that was just a matter of a Crew Member using poor judgment, and a lack of oversight from the Crew Leader - not because the machine is super weighty.
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I e been considering going BACK to walkbehinds
Nothing beats their versatility.
customers seem to think you do a better job with them and these whippersnappers need excercise!
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Still have one...doesn't get used a ton but there are some slopes that just can't be done with a stander or Z.

Ironically, it stripes as good if not better than a VRide.
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Anyone still use walk behind mowers or have you gone over to stand on mowers? I am looking to buy a Scag 36" SWZT but everyone tells me to get a stand on. Am I making the wrong move getting a walk behind? I will be using it mainly for backyards. I feel the price difference is not worth it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Biggest diff is backing up with a WB vs a stand on.
Biggest diff is backing up with a WB vs a stand on.
How so? Does a stand on go forward to back up? :unsure: ;)
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Knowing what I know now, I would have tried getting a stand on all those years ago when I bought my walk behind.



That said, I would have also gotten something bigger than a 36, but at the time, the 30 inch mowers didn't exist, and I needed to get through gates.
I do need to mow quite a few steep hills though, so I'm thinking a stand on would not be ideal - but I guess if that's the mower I had, I wouldn't be taking on lawns with steep hills.
Sometimes you choose your work based on your machine and sometimes you choose your machine based on your work.
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I still rock a 48" Turf Tracer but have considered selling it to buy a stander. It stripes great and will bulldoze through the thick long spring growth in one pass.
Knowing what I know now, I would have tried getting a stand on all those years ago when I bought my walk behind.



That said, I would have also gotten something bigger than a 36, but at the time, the 30 inch mowers didn't exist, and I needed to get through gates.
I do need to mow quite a few steep hills though, so I'm thinking a stand on would not be ideal - but I guess if that's the mower I had, I wouldn't be taking on lawns with steep hills.
Sometimes you choose your work based on your machine and sometimes you choose your machine based on your work.
Whoa Nellie...that's looking close to 18°...you sure you can do that?
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Whoa Nellie...that's looking close to 18°...you sure you can do that?
Don't worry - He's got the right tool for the job. If it were a Stander or Rider - woooosh! - right down the hillside she'd go!
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Knowing what I know now, I would have tried getting a stand on all those years ago when I bought my walk behind.



That said, I would have also gotten something bigger than a 36, but at the time, the 30 inch mowers didn't exist, and I needed to get through gates.
I do need to mow quite a few steep hills though, so I'm thinking a stand on would not be ideal - but I guess if that's the mower I had, I wouldn't be taking on lawns with steep hills.
Sometimes you choose your work based on your machine and sometimes you choose your machine based on your work.
Do you not use a sulky or pro-slide? If not, look into a pro-slide. Very versatile.

Also, I know that pictures don't often to justice to inclines, but from this angle, I can't imagine that a stander or ZTR wouldn't do just fine there.
How so? Does a stand on go forward to back up? :unsure: ;)
Much easer to back up with a stand-on. Most WB have a sulky, pain to back up.
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