Zero Turn

pineywoods · April 25, 2016, 09:30:41 PM

I have a big Ferris zero turn. They aren't that well known, but I highly recommend. The deck in particular is very heavy duty. Welded up 1/4 inch plate re-enforced at corners. One inch spindle shafts with double roller bearings. Grease zerks on everything. Kawasaki motors..spring suspension on all 4 wheels. And I regularly mow some fairly steep banks...

Magicman · April 25, 2016, 09:45:05 PM

My Kubota is getting it's early year tuneup. So far all of the issues that I have had have been resolved under warranty.

DR Buck · April 26, 2016, 06:13:31 AM

I bought a John Deere commercial Z-trak about 6 years ago. Its model 757 and has a plate steel 60" deck with "mulch on demand". Deere was themonly one that offered the operator controlled mulching on demand. That's why I bought it instead of the Kubota commercial I was considering. I stuck with gas because the Deere diesel was over $12,000. ,Bad enough the gas was $9000.

wesdor · May 03, 2016, 08:32:27 PM

Sawguy. I mowed tonight and used my seatbelt. You are correct and thanks for the reminder.

Magicman · May 03, 2016, 08:38:29 PM

Pat and I will have ours at the Cabin tomorrow. She will be on it and I will crank up the JD and bushhog around the pond, etc.

Maybe there will also be some time for some bluegill catching.

tnaz · May 03, 2016, 09:30:45 PM

Quote from: Magicman on May 03, 2016, 08:38:29 PM
Pat and I will have ours at the Cabin tomorrow. She will be on it and I will crank up the JD and bushhog around the pond, etc.

Maybe there will also be some time for some bluegill catching.

With grits and hush-puppies I hope; oh, what time? :D

sandhills · May 04, 2016, 10:31:27 AM

I don't have a zero turn (I would love to though) but yesterday my wife had the day off and wanted to get the yard done so I was on the honey do mission. Took me ten minutes to get the rider going for her and she said "no, I'm using the push mower, I need the exercise". Well I'll be DanG'd if I was going to shut that thing off so every neighbor we have had to drive by while she was pushing the mower around and I was riding :D.

Den Socling · May 04, 2016, 01:37:53 PM

That has happened here and I've felt embarrassed. :-[ When we got the ZT, I gave the self-propelled walk behind to my daughter. She had been using a true push mower and was thrilled with the self propelled. The ZT goes in so tight around trees, wells, bushes and flower beds that I didn't figure I needed the walk behind any more.

DeerMeadowFarm · May 04, 2016, 01:51:16 PM

I have a Hustler SD with a 60" deck. I mow quite a bit of acreage with it. I'd estimate that I can mow the same amount of acres I used to with a big Cub Cadet tractor in 35 to 40% of the time.

Hilltop366 · May 04, 2016, 02:09:56 PM

I appear to have the same model mower as Al a Toro Titan 54".

It's great fun I tell people that it is better than a carnival ride, just as fun, no waiting in line ups, and I get my lawn mowed at the same time!

Farmerjw · May 04, 2016, 02:45:48 PM

I have never mowed a lawn with as much ground speed as I do with my zero turn. No tractor type mower I ever owned could mow as fast with as nice a cut as my zero turn. It is no wonder every lawn service uses them, they cut my mowing time in half and I mow around the pond all the time with it.

Den Socling · May 04, 2016, 03:14:55 PM

I've noticed something about the mower deck of our Troy-Bilt 42. It doesn't leave a line of clippings. The grass is blasted out. It looks like a jet! And if you get into a dry area, it sucks up a massive amount of dust. If it's dry grass, you're going to wear some.

Kbeitz · May 04, 2016, 06:18:49 PM

I've had a few... I'll never buy a John Deere again...
I had a Ferris and liked it a lot. Right now I have 3 Dixions. Boy are they fast.
Last weekend at the flea market I bought a woods 18 hp missing the engine for $200.00
It's in great shape with very little wear. I'm shopping for an engine.

Mooseherder · May 04, 2016, 07:47:44 PM

I've had a Ferris 48 inch cut with a Kawasaki twin for about 14 years and like it a lot. The only issue with it has been the fuel pickups. It goes everywhere and I have even used it as a bush hog at times.

OneWithWood · May 05, 2016, 10:55:00 AM

My neighbor of many years decided to move into town and asked me if I would mind storing and maintaining her Gavely XDZ. She first asked a year ago and I declined as I did not have space to store it and I have been using my JD4520 with 72" Seven Iron mid mounted deck to handle the mowing chores. This year she was a bit more insistent and I reluctantly agreed.

Sometimes I amaze myself with my stupidity :

The Gravely mows so well and fast! No more having to mount the mower deck on the tractor, lower the ROPS, and dismount and raise the ROPS on the JD. The Gravely with a 60" deck gets the job done in half the time and does not leave ruts on the softer areas. 8) Too bad it has a gas engine but I am getting used to it :-\

There are areas I will not use the Gravely - slopes, woods trails, tree plantings, the dam for the pond. The XDZ does not have brakes so going down a steep slope can be hair raising to say the least

It did not take long to clean out a space in the pole barn to house it. I guess doing the maintenance (wash it, change the oil, sharpen the blades) is not a lot to ask for using it.

sawguy21 · May 05, 2016, 11:11:26 AM

They do stop well as long as the tires have traction, you need to get used to easing back on the levers. They can be a bit of a handful on slopes as they steer like a shopping cart, the front always wants to turn downhill. Does anyone have a model with the the short handles between the knees? I tried one, almost climbed a tree. ;D

ScottAR · May 05, 2016, 06:10:27 PM

On hills, go slow and remember the downhill tire has the traction. Seat belt and ROPS always but especially on hills. We just trim the trees high enough to clear the ROPS. Makes it handy for the tractors and other things too.

Kbeitz · May 05, 2016, 06:24:45 PM

On my Dixon's if you pull back on the leavers it goes into neutral.
There is no going slow. Just fast foward or fast reverse.

sawguy21 · May 05, 2016, 10:19:36 PM

Yikes, it definitely should not do that.

ScottAR · May 05, 2016, 10:25:03 PM

I'm thinking that's not normal. I can go from an inching to full speed and back again basicly on demand.

pineywoods · May 05, 2016, 11:01:08 PM

Maybe K has one of the early dixons. Some of them were mechanical drive, not hydraulic. On my ferris, putting both levers in the neutral position effective locks both drive wheels, to the point the wheels will slide if you try hard enough to move the mower.

Kbeitz · May 07, 2016, 04:11:43 AM

Quote from: sawguy21 on May 05, 2016, 10:19:36 PM
Yikes, it definitely should not do that.

It's normal. It's a total different tranny than most zero turns. This is what my tranny looks like,.

Al_Smith · May 07, 2016, 07:18:12 AM

That thing looks like a double clutch type thing .Kind of like a bull dozer in some respects.

As I recall some of the early skid loaders used a similar set up with steering clutches instead of hydramotor drives .Fact at one time I had a tracked trencher that used a similar arrangement .You could turn it on a dime and get 9 cents change back .

gspren · May 07, 2016, 08:57:44 AM

I have a 20+ year old ExMark walk behind that has each rear wheel individually belt driven and to steer with the hand controls when you squeeze either side before it applies the brake it first free wheels, on level ground or going uphill squeeze left you go left, going downhill if you don't squeeze fast enough when you squeeze left you go right. There is a central gear box with 4 speeds forward, reverse and neutral. Old and crude but still mows good.

sawguy21 · May 07, 2016, 02:24:33 PM

I have seen that style of Dixon but never operated one. I am familiar with the belt drive Exmark walk behind, put a Velke behind that a skilled operator can cut a lot of grass in a hurry.