Zero Turn Mowers

[dullbird]

Hi Guys

so we are looking at getting a Zero turn mower,

This is going to be a massive expense for us as we are looking at spending about 10 grand as we are hoping we will only have to buy it once..looking for a heavy domestic to light commercial model around the 52" deck size.

its for 5 acres might seem excessive but our little ride on is starting to get tired doing all this work..

I'm getting a horse however paddocks will still need to be mown and maintained as they will be rotated.

we have looked at Husqavana and really like it....

this is the model we were looking at

GYC - Husqvarna MZ28ZT | GYC More than just mowers

but also know that councils use Toro because they are reliable so was also looking at this model

GYC - Toro Titan ZX6050 CE | GYC More than just mowers

one thing that was pointed out to us was that the huskys have supposedly a stronger frame they are all beefed up as if they were on a commercial frame....so they are meant to be pretty dam strong. I dont know a lot about Toro

I have also seen council on kabotas but I have looked at these and they are not really in our price range.

does anyone have any experience with the above? or know of something that is comparable that we should be looking at, we dont know a lot about mowers

What I do know is I'm looking for reliability, its got to be fairly rugged because its got to last, it has to have a minimum of a 52" deck because I want to significantly cut down mowing time (currently spend all day doing it and some times the next day if its a hot day) and I dont want a pressed deck.

I'm not interested in Buying second hand so please dont suggest, simply because we dont want to have the worry about having to work on something, we have enough cars for that! we would just like a little bit of piece of mind in the outset with a warranty.

[MR LR]

We just got an Ariens (think thats how you spell it) 48" for the farm, and from all reports it seems excellent (i haven't see it yet ), i think it was about 7.5k brand new, worth a look

Cheers
Will

[goingbush]

for 5 acres you will want something with suspension,
those machines in your link wont last long, nor your back.

have a look at a ferris zero turn mower
Ferris Zero Turn Mowers

much better mower for similar money.

[dullbird]

for 5 acres you will want something with suspension,
those machines in your link wont last long, nor your back.

have a look at a ferris zero turn mower
Ferris Zero Turn Mowers

much better mower for similar money.

Really even though we have a fairly level block?? as for the back you can option air seats which dampen the effect of the ride I think

[Blknight.aus]

for what you're doing I strongly suggest skipping the mower option and head into the relms of small tractors and slashers.

My theory on this is based from having to deal with the ride on mowers and slashers from the old RAAF Amberly golf club.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Small-tra...item2a228a685c

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mower-Sla...item35bee34ecc

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mower-Sla...item35bee34ecc
http://www.sotatractors.com/index.ph...entView&id=773


http://www.midwaysales.com.au/produc...4-in-1-loader/

Allibaba has similar items for as little as $3k ea.

[dullbird]

Dave our place is not big enough to warrant a tractor and as I said I DONT want something we will have to work on to start with...the only way we could buy a tractor would be second hand, we wont have any idea on the sort of life it has had.

There are some cheaper chinese tractors available now but the cost comes with buying the extras adn what happens when it brakes how available are the parts...I cant store a tractor either.

I will soon have a horse so once I have the horse the mowing will reduce a lot. I also think the zero turn will be more manoeuvrable than a tractor with a slasher on the back we have a fair few trees down the back. We have looked at tractors and talked about them in the past and came to the conclusion that once the place is paddocked off there wont be a great need for it...

[LandyAndy]

We have 3 Toros at work.Great machines that dont give alot of strife.
Only had issues with the smaller petrol powered unit,the engine needed a rebuild at 700hours due to low compression,we think it was dusted as the airfilter was damaged.
Parts are easy to get and dealer backup (ToroQuip WA) is excellent.
The big 3 gang reel mower was almost $40000
Andrew

[carjunkieanon]

I worked on the grounds team at a 300+ acre school. The best front deck mower we had was an Iseki Iseki : Home

It copped heaps of abuse, but seemed to keep on going and going.

No idea what the prices are.

The website has tractors as well as zero turn mowers.

R

[Don 130]

A friend of mine has a Dixon. It's had lots of bits fall off it, and it's because he does what you intend to do, and mow a paddock. Fast yes, but with those tiny wheels it will shake itself and your liver to bits unless your paddock is billiard table smooth. They have a cutout switch under the seat to stop the engine in the event of a rollover, and at speed on a bumpy horse paddock it'll be cutting in and out as you bump up and down. You'll have to go slow with one or do what Dave has already suggested. Tractors have big wheels for a good reason. Or you could disc up your paddock, resow, then harrow it smooth.
Don.

[dullbird]

my ride on has never cut out granted it doesnt go as fast as a zero turn but it goes flat chat if you hit a small ditch when your not expecting it you will bloody know about it...we have also cracked the chassi on our ride on I just find it very hard to believe that a good semi commercial mower is not going to do a better job than our MTD ride on has done for the last 3years??!! and we have bloody abused that little mower and we bought it second hand, its been a great little machine and coped some abuse its just getting tired.

I have a friend who has a Toro and they go flat out around her place and abuse the bloody thing and her place is 30 acres, my place is flatter than hers?????