I have a cheapo Walmart special (red Murray for the win) that I bought used for about $80 and then my Dad and I promptly set it on FIRE, and it is still going. I have been eyeballing my pastures too because the bushhog left grass flattened but not cut… But I do honestly think I may hire out for my yard because I just loathe it.
I love my Scag zero turn. It is fast. I only have 2 acres but have used it a few times to mow my friend’s 4 acre pasture.
That explains it!!!
i didn’t want to be guilty of raising the dead!
I just went through this decision. I ended up wit a SCAG Cheetah with 61" deck. I even have significant hills. It cut my mowing time in half. I recommend the zero turn and I was a skeptic for a long time about zero turns and pastures.
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Strongly concur.
G.
We bought a commercial Gravely zero-turn. It can mow 5 acres in an hour and we use it to fertilize and spray. The deck height goes up to 5 3/4". Someone on the COTH forum mentioned that there’s some side slippage with Gravelys. There may be; I can’t really compare the Gravely to another brand. A lot of companies mention demos are available, but I haven’t found one yet. I’m just careful when mowing on a slope, straight up and down don’t seem to be a problem. Commercial zero-turns are totally awesome!
We also have a Cub Cadet LGT 1054. It has a 26 hp motor and a 54" cutting deck… It’s a work horse, takes a beating and its been a lifesaver when our tractor was out of service. We have just about every attachment available (dump cart, wagon, spreader. aerator, etc.).
However, I’ll will say that our 1952 Harry Ferguson TO-30 with a used bushhog was only $1,500. Cheaper than a big used mower and more versatile because it has PTO, plus it can push or tow our 5’ X 10’ flatbed trailer. But we have 40 acres, and having both a tractor and a large riding mower is really useful.
Now, should we ever win the lottery, a commercial zero-turn would be fabulous… and maybe then my husband would stop running into/over newly planted trees!
I have 7 acres all in pasture that I mow with a 17.5 Poulan 46" cutting head that I paid $1200.00 for 7 yrs ago. I finally had a problem with it last week where it would not start. When I turned the key it would just go click, click, click. Cleaned the contacts on the solenoid and it is good to go. I just cannot justify nor could I afford spending $4000 + on a mower to cut grass.
I bought the same one in 2005 to mainly cut several acres of lawn grass and the odd small paddock and around the jumps of our outside courses. Towed a lot of stuff in a cart. I bought it mainly because of the price model at the time, around $2,000+. It served me well for a number of years. But understand this is not a “real” Cub Cadet. It is branded as such and built to fit a price model for the big box stores. The same as John Deer, and some of the other “colors” that are sold at the box stores. They are all built pretty much by the same manufacture out of the country. Pretty much the only difference is the “name” and color. Real Cub Cadet, John Deer sold by their authorized dealers are Substantially better made. But that quality comes with a price. A price IMO and experience is worth paying if you want a “garden tractor” type.
My Cub had an issue several weeks after first getting. Being under warranty I called home depot to get it fixed. The box stores do not have an in-house service department. The warranty is not from the brand name manufacture. The box stores contract out to the lowest bidding local shop,
It took several weeks to get mine back. I was really pissed. When I did get it back it wasn’t fixed!!! I have a shop and very good skills with fixing, building just about anything. I had already figured out that the ignition control module failed and told the shop this. Basically bolt off bolt on. If home depot would have ordered the part I would have put it on and been back mowing several days later. Instead I had to wait weeks, hand mowed what I could while the rest of my “lawn” went feral. The people at the shop were jerks. I ended up ordering the $35 part and had it fixed in an hour after it arrived in the mail. For the price the mower worked/cut well enough. But I never sent it out for repairs again. And it needed a lot of minor repairs over the years. The frame had to be welded in several places which I could do, If someone can’t do their own repairs these types would cost more in the long run then a good used zero turn in the end.
The hydrostatic transmission in these are not heavy duty. They are mainly built for mowing and far more for small residential use. Towing heavy carts, “plowing” can and will take its toll. I had to take deal with, fix transmission issues.
Of course it comes down to one’s needs and uses. My farm was on a bigger scale and my uses bigger than the average user I would guess. The warranty repair shop could be a lot better than the one I had to deal with once. There are really good repair shops in my neck of the woods. But shop labor starts at $75-$100 an hour. Part are charged at full retail compared to what can be had on the internet at about half the cost.
I used my Cub for about 6 years before it just became to much of a PITA to keep fixing stuff. I retired it and bought a good used commercial grade Scag 61" Turf Tiger for $4,000. Which I had done this to begin with. Everything can be cut in less than half the time. Plus this Scagg has a 6" mowing height. The best I could get with the Cub was 3 1/2 until I modified it to get over 4". The only regret is the one I bought has the base HP motor. At 25 hp it is under powered for the size and heavy duty frame. I am going to upgrade to a bigger motor. It is a bolt off bolt on swap.
The Kohler motor on my Cub is a very good brand. Still runs great. A little TLC and it would still be useful. If you live near SE Pa and want a backup and or parts mower. You are welcome to come and get it. Bring me a good cherry pie in trade. Or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Cherry Garica
Granted one’s budget dictates things. We have to go with what can afford at the time. But if one values their time, esp their free time. NOTHING beats a good Zero turn. When I finally bite the bullet and bought a Z-turn I was amazed at how much less time it took to do the same job. About 2/3 less time. It is also a lot more fun to mow with. I did a lot of the mowing. But I also paid others to sit on the the garden tractor to mow. When I did the math I would have saved a LOT of money if I had bought a Z turn to begin with. More than enough to justify the price difference. Plus I would have had a lot more time to sit around and enjoy smelling the “roses”.
As I have said above. I have owned both. I have done the “research”. NOTHING beats a good Z turn. But I would NOT buy a box store brand Z turn for the same reasons I gave about the box store garden tractors.
A good Z turn, commercial grade Z turn is perfectly capable of towing. My Scag had a tow hitch that I bought that and bolts on the back.
Buying a used Z turn can be tricky. The amount of hours on these really counts. The main wear parts are the wheel hydro pumps. They are easy to replace by DIY but the pumps are expensive. If you can find a top brand with a lot of hours at a very good price. Expect to have to replace the pumps at some point. But once done they will give you years of heavy duty service. Around here the 2 main brands that landscape services use are Xmart and Scag. They swap out and or upgrade. I would buy a used one for a reputable landscape company. They usually maintain their equipment extremely well and price to sell quickly.
Scag is the only brand of Z turn that I have experience with. There are a number of very good brands. I wrote a detailed post on how to go about buying a used Z turn a few use ago.
