Zero turn vs. Garden Tractors

I've always had lawn tractors to mow with. Lately seems like zero turns are the go to style now. Considering getting a zero turn this fall and just wanting to get some expert opinions! I have hills to mow, but can mow everything with my lawn tractor. How do zero turns do on slopes vs. lawn/garden tractors? A bagger is a must. Would like to be able to pull a de-thatcher and plugger. I probably wouldn't get bigger than a 50 inch cut. I have some trees to squeeze through. Any recommendations??

They're not bad on hills going across the slope unless it's a severe grade. Ag tires are great if your getting pulled down the slope it having some difficulty going up or down. The one bad thing about zero turns you always have to watch is soft spots as once one back tire loses traction, the other tire can only make it worse.

Spot on Sniper! The only other thing I would add, is be carefull going too wide on a deck, if you have much up and down, course it's that way on tractors too. I've got a 52 in deck Husky that has been a really good machine. Get into the commercial grade if you can, they cost a bit more, but last a lot better. Also the fabricated deck is far superior to a stamped deck.

father in law got 1 found he couldn't get on or off without a lot of difficulty

Everything Lee said is spot on. I bought a 61" Snapper last year and love it. Not only does it mow faster, I don't feel like I've been beat up when I'm done mowing like with my old tractor.

I forgot to say, once you go to a zero turn, you will never want to see a tractor style again! Cuts your mowing time in half or less!

zero turn will run rings around a tractor for mowing, need to learn how to turn without tearing up the turf thou. Keep both wheels turning at the same speed. I use a toro stander zero turn and it is awesome.

I have a John Deere 4 wheel steer garden tractor. Look it up. Will definitely buy another.

Toro MX5000 is what I picked up last year and the only thing I was not happy with was the 2 ply tires just China junk looking to go flat. Other then that it's a dream to run and has speed adjustments for mowing or towing.

I wont own anything but a zero turn any more. Just no comparison on how much faster they cut. You can also get real close to trees and such without having to swap a bunch of gears, really limits how much you have to weed eat after you are done. There are some down sides to them though, mainly any wet spots they get stuck real quick, and you have to have something pretty strong to pull them out since they are so much heavier than a regular tractor mower. Hills can be a pain and i sure dont want one of them to flip over on me. But hills are doable up to a certain point. I also have a commercial grade mower and that is the way to go for sure if you can afford it. The decks last longer as already stated, and are generally serviceable with grease fittings. I know my moms residential grade mower is not grease-able on the pulleys.

The little time I've been looking, the Snappers were worth considering. Looks like they got a decent 2 yr warranty, lifetime on the deck. Grass catcher is available though extra. And you can get a mounted pull hitch.

Going up and down the hills is fine, but going on a side hill is not the best on a zero turn. I have a 23hp Hustler 52" and it is an amazing piece of equipment but I wouldnt want to mow very many side hills with it. I would also recommend getting the 24-26hp models with the smaller deck especially if your puling that extra weight.

I've had this Toro MX4200 for a year now and am very happy with it. It has a 22.5 hp motor and hauls my fat butt around with no trouble. It doesn't like wet grass though when I cut my ditch. The rear end tends to slide. It came with a 3 year warranty.

https://www.torodealer.com/en-US/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=TimeCutter-MX4200-74766(Toro)

Exmark zero turn mower, the best IMHO! I have a 72" and it is rated a 6.5 acres an hour. The airport I managed had a 60" and a newer 72" with a newer style deck and higher blade speed than mine and it was a lot faster mowing than my 72". I mow 8.5 acres in 1.5 hours and you can trim around stuff real easily with it.

I also have a John Deere 425 all wheel steer. I was looking at a 485 all wheel steer last night. I love it and for what I do its the cats meow. You can pull attachments with it as well as front blades.

I’m a zero guy. We’ve had a 54” Hustler since 2008. The outside yard is mowed 5-7 times a year. It’s about 5 acres. Great mower and we have had zero problems

Check out the Cub Cadet Z Force. They do well on hills, slopes, and ditches. Zero turning radius with steering wheel. You have control of front tires with the wheel. Mine is a 60" with 4 wheel steering and I love it.

I had a 48" cub cadet zforce, just the zero turn. It sucked on hills until we put Ag tires on it.that was about 8 years ago now so maybe the newer ones are better

Lee is 100 % correct! I bought a Hustler Fastrak 54” rear discharge commercial grade about a month ago and it cut my mow times down from 4 hours (with craftsman 46”) to 1hr 10 mins. Definitely recommend a zero turn.

All you guys that love zero turns, how smooth are your lawns? I mow several fields (former tilled fields, grass now for 20 years) at a local gun club. We used to have a'53 Ferguson with a 60" finish deck, and we replaced it with a 60 " Hustler zero turn. That dang zero turn bounces so bad it kills my back after about an hour or so. There is no way I can go more than half speed without REALLY testing the seat belt. I'd take the Fergie back in a heart beat. On the smooth sections it is fast and does a nice job cutting. Also, careful going uphill, there's a lot of weight out back.

Grasshopper has the best ride..... Hands down. The front deck that is. Takes deep pockets to get on one though

K snow - my hustler is smoother than my old lawn tractor for sure. Not gonna say it's the smoothest out there by no means. Some of the hustler models you can buy a smooth ride seat of some sort similar to an air ride.

That's what I have, a Snapper 61" deck zero turn with a 24 hp Kubota engine. Best lawn mower I ever had. Would never go back to a lawn tractor.

Thanks for the info guys. Main reason I'd want a grass catcher is for leaves in the fall. It seems to me the zero turns have a wider wheel base than most garden lawn tractors,hence making them more stable side to side on hills? It's not so much up and down hills but side to side.

Seems to me a catcher is not really necessary on a zero turn. Mine doesn't really leave any windrows. I use it to chop the leaves as well.

Once you use a zero turn, you won't want to mow with anything else. A tractor is still handy to have, just don't want to mow with it any more.

I love Zero Turns. I don't understand how people like tractors over them. They don't go up and down hills great and can make marks and that's the only problem, but they go across hills fine. I can do a yard in half the time with a Zero Turn versus a tractor. There is a lot of Zero turn options out there and I have a very biased experience with them so I can't give much info there.

The mulch kit on mine likes to leave windrows no matter how high I mow. Next mower will have a selectable mulch or discharge. I hate grass catchers wtih a passion. Nothing is more annoying than having to stop to empty or worse u clogging a grass catchers. I'll take the sweeper out if the grass gets too high.

If your mulch kit windrows grass take it off. I use a mulch kit for leaves and when I run thru a lawn covered in leaves it looks like I vacuumed them up.



This is what I run and you could give me a sit on mower and I would then sell it....stand on is the way to go because it is much easier on your body, you can see better and they are lighter. My Grandstand has a fold up platform so I can walk it in tight spots or if its wet. Awesome 52" mower with 1200 hours I got for 2k last fall with a Toro mulch kit because no one around here likes Toro. It leaves a super looking cut and I Love it.

I have a Kubota 725 zero turn with a 60" deck. I mow 8 acres My tractor with a 60" deck used to take me 6 hours. The zero turn, I can do it in 2.5 and it's a nicer cut. Best grass cutting investment I ever made. It's ok on slopes. It will slide a little easier than a tractor but they have a very low center of gravity so rolling one is harder than rolling a tractor.

Once you get a zero turn you won’t want anything else, I put some aggressive bar tires on mine.. works well if you don’t turn hard in wet grass... I’m on a time limit, so I turn and burn, don’t care if it peels out... I’m on gravel ground with hills

We've had a JD Z930A for almost 9 years and it's a wonderfully reliable, easy to use rig. Change the oil and blades and roll!
And the JD hold their value well also. 54" deck cut makes fast work of acreages.

Got a X mark a month or so ago, rich lawyer I don't think knew how to run it, had 70 hours on and looked brand new for 1500.00, mowed with it about 3 times now and im spoiled, takes about half the time it use to with a reg. riding mower. 23 hp Kawasaki engine really slings the grass!

I have a Ferris. It has coil over shocks on all 4 corners. There isn't another machine made that rides better. It is a very reliable machine, just replaced all the belts this spring. They were the factory belts, they had 1400 hours on them. I mowed 630 lawns last year with no breakdowns. I've had 5 back surgeries, that's why I bought it in the first place. Have mowed over 100 this year already. I'm really particular about the cut and it does a beautiful job. Will recommend to anyone.

I was looking at simplicity citation, 27 horse 61 inch cut. similar to the ferris. I think there built by the same company. looking to cut my mowing time.

Buy a Scag. They invented zero turn mowers. Get a real commercial model with the velocity deck. No need to bag or rake grass.

For leaves in the fall I put on mulching blades. No more raking leaves.

Full suspension platform so it rides like a Lincoln. 52” cut with 22hp engine. Lots of power.

I was mowing with a small Ford diesel 1220 tractor with a 60” belly mower which took 4 hours. Same mowing which looks better and is more fun takes 1.5 hours.

That saved me more than 50 hours last summer. 2 summers and it paid for itself.

Tractors are for tractor work. Very different from mowing yard grass. With a tractor the best you can get is a Woods 3 point finish mower. I used one of those for many years and loved it. The same mowing with that took 3 hours.

My brother in law bought a cheap zero turn. Nobody would use it because it gave a horrible ride. He sold it cheap.

Nothing compares to my Scag zero turn for mowing grass. Turn on the Bluetooth headphones and connect to iPod for albums or pandora and enjoy the ride.

My buddy had problems with cheap zero turns going across slopes. The drive units weren’t independent or something. The higher end model worked fine. He bought one of them bad boy at tsc and returned it with the 30 day garuntee.

Any ideas on a John Deere Z445? Guy I work with has one he is consider selling. Low hours. Believe he said it's got a 27 hp. Briggs. I don't really need that much power but if it's the right price. Grass catcher would run about $1500!!!!

i love zero turns - used to cut parks and ball fields for the rec department and that is the only way to go.

i tried one at my house - but it is mostly sloping with some spots that like to stay soggy and the zero turn just was not the answer.

i ended up with a cub cadet tractor, 54", 24 hp, and it hasn't let me down in the 6 years i've had it

i love zero turns - used to cut parks and ball fields for the rec department and that is the only way to go.

i tried one at my house - but it is mostly sloping with some spots that like to stay soggy and the zero turn just was not the answer.

i ended up with a cub cadet tractor, 54", 24 hp, and it hasn't let me down in the 6 years i've had it