Riding mower deck size

At about the age of 9, I had my choice of a JD F930, or a Toro 345 upon which to spend about 50 hours a week during my summers making my uncle rich. Neither of which cut as good as the two Yazoo's he had.

 

The pinnacle of lawn mowing technology right here...



If you need more than this then you will most likely perish in the coming proletariat revolution.

 

I thought this was the pinnacle of lawn mowing.

 

I live in Wisconsin. In the spring/fall, I switch the tractor over to/from snowblower duty. ZTR's won't do that, more equipment to buy/maintain. The tractor takes a few minutes longer...big deal. The 48" blower kicks the hell out of all of my neighbors' snow blowers.

 

It’s hard to offer suggestions, without seeing the property.

12 easy generalities/tips are:
1.) I always mow diagonal and start at a boxed corner, mowing out of it. That puts me ending on an open corner of the property from where I can start my perimeter stripe. My perimeter stripe will cover my conveyance tracks to my starting corner. A lot of people mow squares and rectangles, which leaves all the perimeter and obstacles they have to go back and address. Plus, it looks terrible.
2.) If the property has obstacles, I always mow to the first pass past the obstacle, jump off my current pass, run my trim pass around it, and continue on the previous pass. That eliminates spending time on the obstacle, until I’m done avoiding it, and leaves a clean stripe around it.
3.) I mow within one deck width of anything, especially the ends of a pass, so my single perimeter pass cleans up everything.
4.) If the pass puts me turning left and there is a hard surface or obstacle to my right the clippings will blow across/onto, I’ll turn right, back up, and turn right into my next pass. That minimizes spraying clippings all over the hard surfaces (roadway, walkway, driveway, etc) that will need blown off and eliminates risk of damaging obstacles (vinyl siding, fencing, vehicles, etc) with clippings and flying debris.
5.) If I have a building interrupting my passes, I’ll stay on the side of the building where I first encountered it, continue mowing that side until the end, go around to the other side and continue my diagonals on the backside, when I get to the end on the backside, I’ll line up my next pass to clip the end of the building with my trimside, jump off that pass, lay my perimeter stripe around the building, and get back on my previous pass. When I turn around to go back, I can line up a straight line to clean up my stripes.
6.) Anything I mow around, I get as close as possible, including up into corners. This eliminates tons of string trimming. Many times, I’ll see crews leaving huge areas for the trimmers. String trimmers damage grass by knocking the top off the grass blade, as opposed to cleanly cutting it off with a sharp mower blade. String trimmers leave a crappy finish. Lastly, string trim last, so you’re not spending unnecessary and excess time trimming areas a mower can get.
7.) Edge concrete with an edger. Again, string trimmers used along concrete further damages grass that’s already susceptible to stress from heat radiating from the concrete. Ever notice how string-edged properties always have weeds along the trimmer path? It’s because the grass died and weeds moved in. I use a walk-behind edger for my establishment of a groove, then, stick-edge as needed. Once the groove is established, I can run that edge as fast as I can walk and it looks crisp, with the grass along that edge standing tall and sharp.
8.) Leave ditches for last. Once mowed, you can use the mower’s airflow to blow off the roadway, saving blower time.
9.) If you have a tree line, mow through it. When you get to the end pass, jump off that pass and go to the other end of the tree line , and run your perimeter trim stripes around those trees on your way back to your pass. It puts all your mower trimming in one quick session, as opposed to spending time in each of your passes, going around each tree. And, it leaves clean stripes around them.
10.) Don’t mow wet, which includes morning dew and during or after rain. Don’t mow weeds, because they hold a lot of water (which is why so many weeds survive drought). Utilize a chemical service or learn about it, to clean up the yard. Don’t mow short, because that cuts all the moisture out of the blade and stem of the grass. All this moisture introduced into the clippings causes clogging, clumping, deck accumulation which ruins deck performance, slows down the operation, and looks terrible.
11.) Install an operator-controlled discharge. I like the Power Chute product. These things save a ton of blower time and eliminate discharge and debris risk. Plus, being foot-operated leaves hands to continue operating the mower.
12.) Run high-lift blades (not a bagger blade; one level below them). They increase suction and airflow, which stands the grass up to be cut, disperses clippings over a larger area, minimizes windrows, and leaves stripes without a roller (with certain decks).

Not that I could sell you on the TRX, but, a skidsteer would sink on your property and makes a terrible mower. One of the local municipalities bought that very setup, thinking they could mow with it. It was used once to attempt mowing and that was the last time. Huge waste of money.

I’d never buy a JD ZTR. Their drive wheel placement is really far forward, putting a lot more weight hanging off the back for easier burial and the operator directly over the wheels which rides terrible. But, they’re green and yellow, so they're the best. *facepalm*

I know a golf course still mowing with those old Fords. They swear they’re the best course mowers ever made.

Toolpath logic is ideal, IMO. Efficiency maximizes profit potential.

 

You’re only adding an engine, 2 belts, and a couple zerks to the maintenance load. Meanwhile, you’re saving way more than “a few minutes”, each mow, the whole season. In fact, a ZTR can cut mowing times to 1/3-1/2 of lawn tractor mowing times. The purchase cost is equated/justified with what your time is worth. Apparently, your’s isn’t worth much. But, go ahead and keep telling yourself how great your lawn tractor is.

 

I need a mower attachment for my dually!

 

4 hours with a John Deere 42” tractor to 1.5 hours with 52” zero turn. It went from being a pain in the ass half a day process to something I enjoy doing.

 

Yeah, zero turn is really 3 point turn.

 

I really liked my Kubota sub compact but I’m much happier with mowing on my exmark. The suspension seat leaves my back feeling better too.

 

The point of not turning on one wheel is noted and one of the reasons I stopped using landscapers. I had brown circles at the end of each row.

 

Right, because you couldn't have changed it yourself in 30 seconds any time you wanted. You're hilarious. Trying to get your message out there to see if there are any takers, while pretending to be the helpless victim of a prank.
You know there was only one guy dumb enough to fall for your act and stalk me with drunken hate messages on your behalf, right? Everybody else knows that you're looking.

 

There should be some sort confidentially that comes along with the mod position.
You have too much authorti and lost your ability to mod Frenchie.
I nominate Ritchie as a suitable and confident replacement. “The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end, your highness”.

 

Grasshopper has blower attachments for their front mount units. And Gravely has them for their mid mount zero turn. No excuse for a tractor.

 

You can cut in forward and reverse, tighter turns let you finish quicker.

I am on about 3/4 acre lot I had a 42 tractor, a 42 zero and now a 54 zero. I wish I had gotten another 42 for mane
uverability and portability. The 54 wont fit in the back of a pick up so I have to trailer it to cut moms grass when that was needed.

Also some said earlier if you get the wider deck, you weed eat less. Nope, I do more because I can' fit between some areas now. so all yard specific. I dont find the 54 andy faster than the 42 Zero, but il wont have another tractor. The zero is kust FUN.

 

I have never seen the zero turns with a blower mounted before. Will keep that in mind if I ever need to replace the tractor. You learn something new every day.

 

It always take me the same amount of time to mow no matter what size mower my lawn guys show up with on the truck.