I know that there have been questions in the past concerning belt drives vs hydros. But my question is more specific. Some of our lawns consist of 5,000 to 8,000 sq feet with a lot of tight turns. Which one would give me the best turning radius for tight turns, and ease of operation? We do know we want a floating deck because we want the ease of height changes, and anti scalping. We also want to get the maximum deck size for these small yards. Which size would you recommend? Jodi
Jodi- I use a 48" belt and/or 52" hydro walk behind for those types of lawns. They are big enough to knock them out, yet light enough not to tear up the turf. Both giv accurate cuts and turning. I have found that the hydros relieve fatigue better.
IF the majority of your lawns are in that size range, I would recommend a 36" fixed deck. With a 36" you don't really have to worry about side to side scapling, you will only scalp front to back. I have said it before on here, and others have disagreed with me, but here are my thoughts on mower size. You can cut a large area with a small mower, it may just take a little longer. Often times though, you cannot cut a smaller area with a larger mower, if it won't fit, it won't fit. Belt vs. Hydro. A Hydro will do everything a belt will do, and then some.
Time is money,get the biggest mower that will fit on all of your jobs.It cost almost the same $ per hr to run a 36WB or a 52"WB.The difference is the 52 will have you home at diinertime snd still put a buck in your pocket.My freind has a 36"wb,he just bought my DC lx 2001 dixie 50".he now gets done in less than 1/2 the time and makes more money because he can shedule more profitable jobs without fear of not getting them done.
Major Tom, I would suggest if you have a dealer near you, to demo a 42" Walker especially if you bag the smaller jobs. They don't scalp and can get around tight areas, and you won't get tired from dumping a catcher every few minutes. Just a thought.
I would recoimmend a 44 to 48 inch walk behind hydro for what you say. They do not scalp very much, because they are not that large. If you have alot of turns you will want the hydro, so you don't have to constanly switch gears, and they are much easier on the turf. Don't need a floating deck. Quick deck height change is nice, but save the money, and buy a fixed deck with hydro. We run fixed, and floating, and unless you have very tricky areas, our fixed are just as good, If you do come across a tricker area, a 48" is small enough to "fanagle" your way through it.
Well here is my 2 cents worth. I only have one "big" mower (Just getting back into the biz)so I got the new Exmark 44in HP ZTR. It is small enough to get through most back yard gates, that way you are not stuck doing it with a 21inch. I made my decision based on a chart that is on Exmark's home page. There is an icon to click on twoards the bottom left that will tell you how much you can mow a 100 % and 80 % effic. Brand new tax/tag/title apx $6300. Oh by the way no fatigue like that of a walk behind !! That also helped me with my decision. Once again only my opinion for startups 'cause I will certainly get more and bigger mowers in the future.
Jodi, check out a Walker Mower. I also was going to purchase a 48" WB until I tried out the Walker. I bought a MT-54. My largest proptery is 2 acres and my smallest is between 5,000&7,000 sq. ft. The small one used to take 20-25 minutes with a 21" WB. Now I'm in and out in less than 10 minutes. I was very suprised at where I can get in and around with the 54" deck. Also I'm not dead @ss tired from walking or being dragged behind a WB all day. If you think the 54" is too much they also offer a 42" Mulching Deck. Do yourself a favor and check out a rider, I'm sure glad I did. Now I can take on alot more jobs and don't have to dread going to the next job because the feet & ankles are screaming NO MORE today PLEASE. Just a thought. Hate to see you spend $2000.00-$5000.00 on a mower that you will want to trade in a season or sooner. Good Luck. P.S. Thanks for the advertising secret, to bad our little piss @ss paper said they don't do things like that. Yeah WHATEVER. Mowman
