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Effectiveness of Running All Walk Behinds

34K views 154 replies 38 participants last post by  SDLandscapes VT 
#1 ·
So I talked to a crew from a local LCO today and they said that they use to run Zs in addition to Walk Behinds, and now they run standers and walk behinds and are switching to all walk behinds next year because it is just cheaper and they work just as well apparently. They run Exmark Vantage 52s, Viking 48s, and Turf Tracer S series 48s and X Series 60

Does anyone else do this? How has this worked out for you? I love my Turf Tracer and maybe running just a couple of those might be effective enough for what I am doing since I mostly do smaller lawns and only a few bigger properties.
 
#2 ·
I only run Hydro Walk Behinds, I love it. When I worked for a company previously, they ran all zero turns and it was nice sitting all day but was so much easier to tear up properties and make mistakes. Granted you still able to do it with walk behinds but is harder to do. Also walk behinds are able to get into tighter areas so if you cut on the smaller Ed of property size, they work awesome. My are 52's and and I know I wouldn't dare to put a 52" zero turn on some of my properties but don't hesitate with the WB.

Hope this helps, have any other questions, feel free to PM me.
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#4 ·
If your cutting multiple acres a property, yes zero turn will save you a lot of time but even on my acre properties I save time and money using walk behinds.

For my company, walk behinds work and will always be the mower of choice, for others including yours, that may not be the case.
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#6 ·
I run all walk behinds, only cuz I don't have the use for a ztr.... yet!
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#7 ·
I run 52" Hyrdo walk behinds. Ive had 3 riders, 2 60" riders, and 1 52" rider. The riders leave ruts no matter how you slice it. It feels funny to me to aerate a property, and then immediately start running 1000 pound machines over it, it kinda defeats the purpose. The riders do have their place though. I can kick some but with a hydro walk behind, and a set of jungle wheels. But I certainly wouldnt be walking all of the properties. The sulky feels awkward only for a very short time, and then it becomes easier to control the hydro on the sulky then when your walking. If you plan on being big, then get a hydro from the get go.
 
#8 ·
I've thought about doing all walk behinds.

We currently run a 2 man crew with a 60" ztr. I could add 2 wb and let them go. My thought was it would decrease ruts and divots but not sure if it would take longer than ztr. We teach guys to pick up pine cones and sticks with the grabber on the ztr. With a wb they would have to walk the property first.

I don't have many commercial and might turn away any large job. Although I would keep a rider for some properties we currently run. We also use a walker for leaves.
 
#9 ·
Something to think about. We ran all walk behinds. All exmarks at one time actually. We had on a crew 2 60" exmark turf tracers and a 48" metro on the trailer. Both 60's had the jungle wheel sulkys. What I can tell you is if you do a lot of large places where you don't give yourself some "off the sulky" time, riding behind a WB can really do a number on your KNEES AND ANKLES!!!!! I at the time was 5'6" tall and about 145lbs. My help at the time was young guys around 20 years old and all of us were feeling it badly in our knees after a 10 hour day. I mean it was terrible!!! Now with that being said, I live in southern ohio. People build houses in a freaking field and throw down seed and straw most times so the properties are normally pretty rough so maybe that had a lot to do with it. We switched over to the scag tiger cats with the suspension seats and problem solved. Not saying every once in a while bouncing around on the ztr does our back get a little soar but nothing like riding a sulkys all day. Just my .02............. We still have the 48 metro walk behinds for ditches and hillsides though.......

NOW, with all this being said, it seems like the handful of BIG successful businesses in my area have gone all walk behinds for cost reasons...... Brickman has been darn near entirely WB's for as long as I can remember?? If I weren't an operator and didn't give a snot about my employees you best believe there would be all red walk behinds on our rigs.
 
#10 ·
IMO it all depends on your properties. For large areas you cant beat a ZTR for efficiency. On small properties and hills you cant beat a WB. And now with Standers dominating mid sized properties its a tough call. I ran just a Scag 52" WB with a velke for a couple years and it was just to slow on 1/2 acre and up properties. I have seen some larger LCO's running just WB's but were running 2 or 3 of them per property.
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#11 ·
We run standers and walk behinds. Won't purchase anything sit down. Causes competition for the mower, and when they're relaxed on a hot summer day they'll drag out properties so they can sit longer.
 
#13 ·
Still tossing the idea of a two man crew with only wb's vs one 60" ztr. Our average residential property is maybe 12k.

By switching I would still need a ztr to do some larger properties but maybe over time I could transition to residential lawns only and not take on anything that a ztr would be needed.

I just hate to terminate current properties where the ztr is needed.
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#14 ·
We run standers and walk behinds. Won't purchase anything sit down. Causes competition for the mower, and when they're relaxed on a hot summer day they'll drag out properties so they can sit longer.
That is genius!! Never thought of it either..... that is absolutely true that the guy on the sit down will drag out a property!!! Ive caught my guys doing that crap before. And yes, a time or two, ive been guilty of it!!! LOL

Like your post though man I never thought of it. I guess as an operator myself I like the sit downs but if I were sending out crews and that was it maybe Id have to think long and hard about this...... Im fat. I want to sit down. LOL:laugh:
 
#15 ·
The one thing I have always said is if I could have one mower and one mower only it would have to be a exmark turft tracer 60. Its amazing how well I can run ditches with a 60tt. I can put a 60 about anywhere I can put a 48 due to the overhang of the trim side of the deck........... I used to run just those mowers but it really got to my knees and ankles on my rough ass properties.........

As for properties with fences, that I couldn't get into with my 60..... Someone else can have them.... LOL
 
#16 ·
I believe that running exclusively walk behinds can be great for the right company in the right application. I love Scag but boy oh boy are TT 60's just amazing!!! I do, however, have to completely disagree with what you guys are saying about the guys milking the clock on the rider. Before I started my own company I worked for a well established company and we did about 120 accounts Tuesday to Friday and I didn't have time to milk anything. It was balls to wall from 7am until 4-5pm. If I "milked" an account, we wouldn't get done that day. Your guys do have a time limit for each property right? No? Huh, better hit it with them next time to show them how long it is supposed to take or they will absolutely take advantage....
 
#18 · (Edited)
3 48" Turf tracers sit on my trailer.
Went back to all walk a few years ago. (but I never ran the ztr anyway. lol)
And when I say walk, I mean walk, no slides or sulkies.
I cut only resi-and they all seem to have some tricky terrain. Up, down, terraced, tightly landscaped, etc.
We do a lot of "cluster cuts", (it's what I call a stop with multiple properties), and you can crank 'em out at a pretty good clip with the right crew.
Having only 48's means any mower can mow anywhere without concerns with the finish stripe-fronts, backs, islands all interchangeable.
Right application for me.
 
#19 ·
I totally agree with what has been said here. I am however thinking my next mower will be a wright stander, but something tells me to stick with walk behind/sulkys. However, when i do the numbers, operational and purchase costs come out to be the same, so what truly makes the walkbehinds cheaper to run?? Id like to hear more on the business/cost cutting side of this. For an operation that changes labor a lot, whats more "fool proof" ??????
 
#21 ·
People leave out the most important factor in selecting equipment.

Wear and tear on the body. The person sitting for 30 years will have less knee, hip, and leg problems then the guy standing or walking.
Another factor to consider is back problems. I have these and sitting on a Ztr for hours on end I wouldn't be able to move the next day. This is where a stander serves me well. I am curious what a previous poster asked about the expenses with a stander vs a walk behind.
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#22 ·
Another factor to consider is back problems. I have these and sitting on a Ztr for hours on end I wouldn't be able to move the next day. This is where a stander serves me well. I am curious what a previous poster asked about the expenses with a stander vs a walk behind.
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Cost wise, i cant seem to find where a stander is more costly to purchase or run when compared to a similar sized machine (deck and engine). What is really adventageous about walk behinds? Yes they are easier to turn, but some people who have worked for me seem to have trouble learning them, where the Stander demo was much easier to grasp.
 
#23 ·
Wear and tear on a body? From WALKING behind a mower? Really? We are not talking about pro football here folks.... We are talking about WALKING behind a mower.... Ever hear of a little thing called exercise? The man that uses a walk behind for 20 year is going to have a lot less back, leg, and hip problems that the sedentary man sitting on his duff for 20 years. This is proven stuff here folks...
 
#24 · (Edited)
I have been researching a new mower for a while now and still cant bite thebullet on the $$$. My whole thing is standers people say cant hold a hill like a walk behind but some say they can. One plus to w/b, weight. stander is still 200 pounds more than the w/b. And this is a biggy to me. In the last year I have been using a 48 rider and I have noticed my yards starting to get ruts. And most people around here their yards arent huge. I have very rarely cut wide open speed with my rider I have right now. So to me it makes more sense to buy a walk behind vs rider. for a smaller company. but even a bigger comapnay you have to think about the footprint on the yard. I guess if you have two or three different size mowers you can switch it up so u dont get ruts as badly. the stand on mower is intriguing to me though. as far as business wise stander and walkbehind cant be too far off on maintenance costs. seems like they have similar parts or I am wrong??? dont know a whole lot about standers and before anyone says anything, I do change my routes on the yard.
 
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