Mower Advice

[Bunyip]

Looking for advice from those that know better than I do.

We are moving onto our 10 acres this Friday 

This will mean a substantial increase in the amount of green stuff that will need a haircut on a regular basis. Not the whole 10 acres, but I am thinking around 2.5 acres (200m x 50m) is currently grass that needs to be cut.

As I am lazy I am thinking this warrants a ride on mower of some description. I would love a compact tractor with a centre PTO mounted deck, but that isn't going to happen at the moment.

The land is gently to moderately sloped, the real steep bits I will do with a normal mower.

I know it sounds like asking the bleeding obvious but:
1. What size deck would be the minimum you would use?
2. Is there a maximum deck size before it gets too difficult to manoeuvre around objects? 
3. What would be the minimum HP engine I should be looking at?

Basically I have a limited budget so will be looking at second hand units around the $2K mark, unless that is totally unreasonable then we will have to re-evaluate.

This may be silly "how long is piece of string?" type questions but I have never owned this much land before so have never had to worry about mowing that much.

[Bunyip]

Just one additional thing, there will be a rather large gentleman operating the machinery at 125Kg+, I have acted as an anchor for a ski boat in the past (couldn't get me out of the water), I image this may come into play when looking at how powerful the poor old ride on would have to be.

[Jeepers Creepers]

I bought a second hand slasher the other day for $2,000 off my current tenant.

Don't know the brand, just know its red with only 40 hours on it.
We'll also have the old work ride-on, a 42 inch husky with 1,250 hours on it.

The slasher, only has a 3 and half foot cut, just a little bloke, but fine for our 12 acres.
BUUUUUT, its way too small for most acreages, so maybe look around for a slightly smaller slasher than a normal one, as they will be keen to sell it and it won't have much use.

When our tenant bought this one i'm getting, it was 3 years old and brand new still and he did a pearler of a deal to move it. 

Hope that helps.... 

[Bunyip]

Thanks JC,

So maybe a slasher rather than a mower. I will have a look.

[Jeepers Creepers]

Thanks JC,

So maybe a slasher rather than a mower. I will have a look.

A mower will always give a nicer finish..... I'd have both, but i'm a bit of a mental case too.
The back 6 acres of our place, I would zip over with the slasher, but the front half, I would still always do when I could, with the ride-on.

Even though it's acreage, I want it to look pretty trick. (our place... not yours.)

Slashers sort of bash the grass up a bit compared to a mower, but if done on a regular basis, can still cut the mustard.

This done with a ride-on....

https://i2.au.reastatic.net/1383x697-resize,extend,r=33,g=40,b=46/5decd6783b2b849c2bfefc8219253a99b9f305a6c52463edd9c7d4dd6cb1e3e2/image12.jpg

https://i2.au.reastatic.net/1383x697-resize,extend,r=33,g=40,b=46/f03be5ad48bb82a1f59a10a8de44159518ae84d411cc8e9ea8c9423959afe16a/image14.jpg

[BC66]

Howdy
We have 1 1/2 acres and use a John Deere L110 ride on. It has a 42 inch deck and takes around 2 hours to mow it inc around the house and gardens etc.
Greenfield are faster but have a smaller deck.
Mowers will cut neater than a slasher.
Mowers are best in the house yard and slashers for the back blocks



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[Spada]

I'm no expert,but for a couple of acre's, something in the 42" to 52" range would do. With the likely hood of wet grass, the more power the better, 17 to 20hp'ish? Zero turns are handy if you have a lot of obstacles, but the twin arm zero turns can also be a bit of a pain if the ground has a few lumps and bumps. The new breed of zero turns that have a steering wheel instead of the twin arms are a lot friendlier to use. Something with hydro drive and pedal forward/reverse (as apposed to a gear shift) will save a lot of frustration if have a lot of tight spots to navigate.

If you can, get one with a fabricated deck instead of a stamped deck. They are just a lot stronger.

[Jeepers Creepers]

Yep, spot on, our Husky is a 42 cut, 22 HP with a fabricated deck.

If ya buy a husky, make sure they brace the diff mounts before delivery.
Good mowers, but the diffs break off the mounts. Once braced.... all good.

[Hoyks]

I have a John Deere D130 with a 23hp motor and 42" deck. It does the house yard with a mulching plug fitted and I hold the grass exhaust chute open with a bit of wire, put it on the highest setting and do the goat paddock once a year.

It has a hydraulic drive that works well at my place because it it reasonably flat. On the steepish bit out the front it has a tendency to lift a wheel, spin that tyre and get stuck. Husquavana had a diff lock on some of their models.

If you have hills, then get a transmission with gears. They are slightly less convenient, but I have heard about mowers similar to mine that have been worked a bit harder and the transmission wearing out. The transmission is also the whole rear axle and is 1/2 the price of a new mower (although, rebuild kits are available for a lot less).

If you want to get it done quicker, then a zero turn mower is the go, usually a bit more $$, but so much faster for getting around the trees and turns at the end of a run. I think they would go close to cutting the mowing time in 1/2.

[Jeepers Creepers]

Try half filling the rear wheels with water.... gives way better traction on hilly stuff.

[rags]

Try half filling the rear wheels with water.... gives way better traction on hilly stuff.

Every time my dog goes down to the shed he tries to do that to my ride on, only problem is he just wets the outside of the tyre and always to rear right.

[lloydus67]

My John Deere D110 was a great 42” cut mower. But at 2 1/2 acres will take hours a week to mow.
I would give second hand hydrostatic mowers a wide berth, they are very costly to repair
If you want all 10 acres cut get a slasher, if you only want 1-2 a mower will give a much nicer job


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[Paddy16]

Can’t go past a Greenfield but $2k might only get an older model. They last forever though and aren’t scared of hard work.

[tryagain]

A zero turn I find way more enjoyable and generally far quicker to operate but will probably struggle to find something in that price range.

[muzza01]

As the others have suggested, $2k will buy a second hand lawn tractor quite easily. 52inch decks with an engine hp between 17-20 is quite common amongst John Deere, Husky, Toro etc.

I used to have a 42inch 20hp twin cylinder lawn tractor.  Did a great job on my 1acre block. I have had a 50inch zero turn for the last 6 years, it cut heeps of time of my mowing as it is a much quicker machine, larger cut and turns on a dime.  Mowed my lawn yesterday, 45 mins.  My 1 acre minus sheds, house, gardens and pool area would equal about 2500 m2 of lawn to mow. The same area took about 65 mins in the lawn tractor.

[terravista]

I have just under 2 acres at home and use a Cub Cadet 19HP Kohler engine with hydrostatic drive.
and that takes 100 minutes on average, but I don't mow as often as I should so tend to use it more as a slasher than mower. More acres obviously equals more time.
For 2 years I bagged the crap out of the machine, cutting belts only lasting 3 hours at $70 each, lousy cutting as long grass just bent over and sprang back up after passing.
These machines sell in good condition from $1200 to $1800 quite often because of that.
I have never had a problem with the engine or drive, and it has over 170 hours on it now.
The big problem was the cutting blades are mounted to be around 25mm above the bottom of the cutting deck.
If you where prepared to get after market blades (about $100) that drop down level with the bottom of the deck, or do the poor mans conversion like I did and cut the bottom off the deck and weld back on higher, that problem is fixed.
Go full revs all the time cutting, and keep the deck raised until you get to full revs before lowering and cutting and you end up with a half decent machine and a finished job with a newer machine than a 10 year old Husky or JD and the like.
Unless the slope is under 10 to 12 degrees the weight factor of the operator does not matter.
If the slope is 30 degrees cut downhill only and don't lean back going uphill, these things back flip and it hurts.
Another fix required that is cheaper is to swap the drink holder for a deeper one if you have bumpy ground.

[achjimmy]

Was in the same boat 6mths ago. There is a lot of quality tractor mowers coming up due to people upgrading to zero turns. I had a $2k budget.

But for my place a tractor mower was always going to be 70% forward and 30% reversing so upped the budget and bought a zero turn 

Never knew mowing could be soooo much fun and fast .

Only gripe is the beer in the cup holder goes flat quick due to the vibrations

[EagleBoy]

Only gripe is the beer in the cup holder goes flat quick due to the vibrations

Haha, I discovered this very early on too. Now it's either knock it back quickly or sit back after with a cold frothy and enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass. Although we are so dry I don't have any grass to mow at the moment, need the beer to wash the dust down.

[BC66]

My cup holder is next to the exit shut so my cans fill with crap, now I use bottles.
Recently someone in our area got busted for drink driving while mowing his nature strip.

We bought our JD new for $3600 on their no interest finance. Put down $500 deposit and pay it off over 2 years without any interest.


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[paul.o]

Hi,

We're on a bit over an acre with house, shed and small above ground pool and it takes me the best part of 2 hours to mow with a 40 inch cut ride on. I would definitely be looking at a zero turn mower next, if for nothing other than the time saved.

[GGV8Cruza]

I have 4 acres to look after, when we purchased the place we bought the Hustler Super Z zero turn from the owner as he had no need for it, best thing I ever did. Probably a bit of an overkill but I can mow the 2 acres that is our house paddock in 40 mins when needed and not need to get off, with a 60 inch deck its quick.

https://www.hustlerturf.com/products/super-z

I had a small ride on ready for the property before the final settlement but am happy that I am not tied to the lawn all weekend long doing laps.

GG

[muzza01]

I have 4 acres to look after, when we purchased the place we bought the Hustler Super Z zero turn from the owner as he had no need for it, best thing I ever did. Probably a bit of an overkill but I can mow the 2 acres that is our house paddock in 40 mins when needed and not need to get off, with a 60 inch deck its quick.

https://www.hustlerturf.com/products/super-z
GG

40 minutes. That’s Gold 
I don’t hate mowing but saving 25 mins going from the lawn tractor to the zero turn has been awesome.  As we get over 2 meters of rain per year I mow every 5 days in the wet season and every 7 or 8 days in the dry. I have a fabricated deck with mulching blades and I like having a nice lawn.

[Hoyks]

Only gripe is the beer in the cup holder goes flat quick due to the vibrations

Don't try cider then.
I got 1/2 a carton in a raffle and gave it a go.

Imagine what cider does if you take the bottle and shake it up... now imagine the contents of that bottle inside you and then bouncing along the back fence on the broken ground where the horses walked when it was wet.

Had a throat full of foam and almost vented several times. It took a while before I could face the rest of the bottles, and only then when stationary on the veranda.

Recently someone in our area got busted for drink driving while mowing his nature strip.

Yeah, my Father in Law got a stern talking to after chasing down the Mr Whippy van on the ride-on with XXXX can in hand .

[Jeepers Creepers]

On the sunny coast, i crashed our previous ride-on into the drainage ditch on the footpath pissed.

3/4 full of JD, and in she went. A bloke driving past saw it and helped me drag it out again.
Once we had it out, he just looked at as I staggered around.

Got back on and finished the job.

Wife wasn't very happy when she heard about it through a third party.

[tryagain]

I have 4 acres to look after, when we purchased the place we bought the Hustler Super Z zero turn from the owner as he had no need for it, best thing I ever did. Probably a bit of an overkill but I can mow the 2 acres that is our house paddock in 40 mins when needed and not need to get off, with a 60 inch deck its quick.

https://www.hustlerturf.com/products/super-z

I had a small ride on ready for the property before the final settlement but am happy that I am not tied to the lawn all weekend long doing laps.

GG

And now you will never be able to go back to a traditional style ride on after using a decent zero turn, it would drive you insane.