Need big lawn mower for 2.5acres

[Ricky Bobby]

have a friend who just bought a house with 2.5acres wants a lawn mower to cut it all but doesnt want a little 42" deck would like 52" but they are like 7g's from the store I know a few of u guys have a hookup in this area lmk what u got and ill pass it along thnx

[michelle]

I've got some older, but higher quality (not plastic) Bolens. Some have Wisconsin engines, others have Onans. They would have larger decks too.

[Ricky Bobby]

lmk whats the biggest u have michelle ty

[michelle]

I'd sell the HT18 (18 hp - twin cylinder Kohler). It has a 54" deck, which is sitting in a friend's barn so I can't recall the condition of it right now. The tractor is at my house though. Somewhere around $1300 for that.

I have a 1250 (12 hp - Wisconsin engine). It has a 48" deck that was rebuilt. $600 for that one. I used to use this one to cut the back of our yard (we have 2.75 acres), but have upgraded to a larger deck on a Ford 8n.

Both tractors are hydrostatic with hydrolift.

[BAD LS1]

Well my suggestion is this: Ferris IS2000 Z with a 52" or 61" deck, fully independent suspension, 26 HP Briggs or Kawi, 10 MPH ground speed and cuts 5 acres an hour. Not a cheap date but WELL worth the money. This will be my next machine i get for my property, i absolutley love this model.



Town & Country mart in the Falls sells these units.

http://www.ferrisindustries.com/zero-turn-mowers/is2000z/
http://www.koenigequipment.com/sites/default/files/products/is2000z.jpg

The cheaper variant, is the Snapper PRO S150XT although built the same way minus the suspension. They have the same Deck's. 48" or 52", 10 MPH, 5 Acres an hour 28 or 26 Hp Briggs or 24hp Kawi. Avenue lawn and leisure in the Falls sells these.

http://www.snapperpro.com/models/features/3:s150xt
http://neatvsales.com/A55CC2/neatv.nsf/0/33043450A9873536862579AB005A72F7/$FILE/f07777a8101977eaaf91ac7602925580.jpg

If the guy is anything like me, he hates spending alot of time on a machine actually cutting the grass, these machine make quick work out of it, they are fun to ride and they blow the fuck away a rider that only does 4 mph.

A company called Snow X makes aftermarket attachments like plows and such for these if he needs a machine to do more than make tall grass short too.

[Prince Valiant]

have him get some goats.

[Ricky Bobby]

thanx tom for the info yea he doesnt want to spend all day on the mower any prices on those tom can u get a deal on those big boys?? and michelle i will pass along the info and see what he wants to do, He was ready to drop 7g's on one yesterday told him to wait and do some price comparisons. And chris no fence so goats are out lol unless u want to keep watch of them

just looked at the prices on those things tom retail and holy shit 8500 for the first one u posted

[BoosTT]

$7k on a mower for 2.5 acres?

[BR3W CITY]

I've seen the Big Dog's before, they have some really cool stuff if you want a PTO for other attachments etc; haven't actually used one tho

[michelle]

I'd rather have a newer one, but new stuff doesn't interest the better-half.

[BAD LS1]

I can get 10% Back after purchase, he would get a check mailed to him after the fact basically. The snapper pro is in the 6ish range I think. That ferris is a top of the line zero turn, but mid pack within the lineup. I do service training on both of these units and they are each very very over built units. You think 8500 is alot, the biggest model goes for a cool 20g's!! The propane fueled 3100's I deal with alot are 13k and landscapers buy the fuck out of them and don't even blink an eye!

[stenchmiester]

Look into a hustler. Even there home owner machine is built for commercial use. Tony I sent ny number in pm. Send him my way ill hook him up

[jbiscuit]

Yep look into a Hustler or ExMark Laser Z unit. Depending on what which model, he can get a really nice used one for about $5-5500 which is a great price since these things are tanks. They are easy to use and cut super fast like the models tom posted above. The Hustlers are great machines also.

[jakedrew]

I got a toro zx525 52inch zero turn. Basically the base model commercial mower. I had it 6 years and it has been great. I cant see myself getting traditional lawnmower , zero turns are quicker and not boring.
That ferris one looks awesome though.

Good luck

[wrath]

I'm in the same boat, almost. I don't care who makes it, I just want something built decent and "best bang for the buck". I think I'm going to go pick up a Cub Cadet RZT 54 today. ZT2800 wheel motors, Kawasaki 24hp that shares the same parts with everything else in that lineup (only difference from 17hp to 25hp are throttle shafts and the 25hp one gets an oil cooler).

All the ~$4.5k and down to $3k mowers use the same parts. Usually the only difference is construction. Some companies trade a stamped deck to a fabricated deck for the crappier EZT wheel motors. The only thing crappier than a Briggs Intek is a Kohler non-Command so your best bet is the Kawasaki. I avoid Kohler like the plague because every one I have ever had has been a POS, except the 7hp one on my 61 Cub Cadet.

John Deere has the Z425 ($4k at big box stores) and Z445. The Z445 is a nice mower. The Z425 is comparable to the RZT 54, except it has 22" tires so it goes 1.5mph faster (same ZT-2800s, just different gear ratio).

If you can wheel and deal, the Gravely ZT 54 XL is probably the best mower in the ~$4k range. The Exmark Quest S is ~$4k but gets you the same parts as the Cub RZT 54, just much nicer seat and controls and a wimpy-duty fabricated deck instead of a wimpy-duty stamped steel deck and it's not 54" like the Gravely.

The Cub Cadet RZT 54 is $3299 right now. I have a $100 "friends and family" coupon that I'm going to use. I have a difficult time finding anything better to buy when comparing bang for buck.

If someone wants something bigger, the Bad Boy 60" mower is probably the best bang for the buck.

My Dad has a RZT 50 (23hp Kawasaki, EZT wheel mowers) with 430 hours on it. We've both used it and abused it. Just grease it every mowing and change the oil/filter (seems to like Pennzoil Platinum 10w30 and Purolator PureOne filters) at ~60 hours. Only on its second set of blades. It mows like crap if you don't clean off the deck around the pulleys. Have hit countless things wide open that have spun it around and nearly knocked you off and the deck has survived unbent and unadjusted. Did break one of the suspension cables for the deck once, that's the only thing that has been replaced. Did put tubes in the front tire because it would roll the bead real easy and that's the only real gripe.

And all the commercial stuff weighs too much. A 26hp Walker with a 62" deck weighs ~1000lb and tears up my yard/leaves ruts everywhere. Probably would be fine if I didn't have so many hills and trees. By the time you buy a used commercial mower (assuming you don't buy someone going out of business as a package deal with a bunch of other crap you don't need) you are not getting a deal. There is a reason the commercial guys sell them when they do and it's usually related to dollars. Most of the people that were impacted by the recession have already gone under.

If Michelle has a 70s through mid 80s Bolens garden tractor for sale, I'd consider one of those especially if there aren't a lot of trees. What trees there are can be made quick work of with the foot pedal but it gets irritating after a while. The Eaton rear-ends on these H/HT/XL/Eliminator series are pretty much indestructible and the bigger ones have a manual locking differential in them. The frames are pretty much indestructible on the H16XL and up. The steering is a poor design on all of them. The decks are very well built, even the belt drive ones. They stripe nice and your lawn will be smoother because of the incredibly heavy deck with full rollers on the back and the heavy rear end with the wide tires. I don't use mine to mow with because I have other stuff that is faster. But I can half my mowing time with a lighter zero turn due to all my trees. Even though I can cut the ~1.5 acres of semi-open space I have with my garden tractor pulling an offset self-powered mower behind it (~84" swath between the mower and pull-behind) in 35 minutes. The Walker or RZT 50 isn't much slower (trees are cake, no double-cutting at row ends).

I like mowing the lawn, but not that much (I did a lot of lawns as a kid to earn a few bucks). It takes me about 5.5 hours mowing and trimming. I can get it down to 3hrs with my Dad's RZT 50. Hoping to get it down to 2.5 with the RZT 54. Between the faster/lighter mower and the hundreds of trees I've been planting each year I'm hoping to reduce my mowing time. However, at the same time I've been planting trees I've been reclaiming the woods.

I'm open to suggestions but I'm probably going to buy the RZT 54 today.


EDIT:
Bought it. (http://wrath.com/temp/RZT54_S.jpg)

[DR.FORD]

X-Mark for the win. I've got 3 acres and I get it done in 1.5Hrs. It isn't cheap, but the best never is.
oops, just saw your edit.

[BAD LS1]

All that explanation and bought an MTD in the end. lol.

[JC70SS]

hopefully with a good warranty

[WilliamZ]

Once you use a Ferris you'll never want to drive anything else. I am with Tom. If I ever get a zero turn it's going to be a Ferris.

[wrath]

The RZT54 has the same parts (Kawasaki FH or FR, ZT-2800 wheel motors) as $4,000+ mowers. The only thing close is the Exmark Quest at $4k on sale, and it's narrower with narrower tires... and weighs more. The deck is only marginally better (if at all). The Gravely ZT54XL was the next best but I couldn't get the guy to budge on price. I even noticed some mowers use the same casters and spindles on the deck.

I have a porky commercial zero turn mower. It works good, is fast, is super quiet, and rides nice. But it tears up the lawn. Another 1,000lbs $10,000 commercial mower isn't going to do me any good. It would be nice to have a Ferris/Simplicity fully-suspended model but I need something fairly narrow to fit between the trees and they're still way too heavy.

If I made a living riding around on a lawnmower I'd definitely not have purchased a low-end mower. But thankfully I don't.

Some say "what about dealer support?" I say, if you're on a car forum and you take your lawnmower somewhere else to work on it you should be embarrassed, sell your car, go live in a shitty condo, and ride the bus. There are no cheaper nor widely available parts than for a MTD. And they're easy to work on because severely underpaid people put them together.