Lawn tractor or zero turn? The big question

Been a Cub Cadet user my whole 50 yr old life. Newest is a 782D oldest a 123 bought new. total of six or so running, all hydro's. Like to update for dad before he's gone. But am open to new things. Never driven a ZT. Some love em, and I know a few that made the dealer take em back. We got a lot of junk to go around so 72 in. is not needed but do a ton of backing. a few mild sloping ditchbanks. I hate to spend a ton on something I'm gonna hate. I still like CC but not as much since MTD took over.

if you have a lot of trimming around trees and bushes, go with the zero turn with the deck out front. i have a hustler with a 72 inch front mount, great for trimming. also run a deere gt245, L 110 auto, 20 hp craftsman, farmall cub, farmall b, and a cub 122 in the mowing fleet.

go to your local dealer and ask for test drive,if won't find one that will. if you were close come on over have twenty some diffent units you could try ztrs and tractor style,and articulated style units. Its basically just matter of color you want to look at,cause under the bodies 98% of them are all the same components. i handle the country clipper,husqvarna and dixon line. have very little issues in the dixon line. let me know if I can be more help

We have a 05 john deere 737 with a 54in cut. Its been great. The inlaws have a 06 deere 757 with a 60in deck with the same results. Their only downfall is the 20+horse kawasaki's like their gas, but i'll deal with it. Cut our mowing time in half. I don't know how much grass you mow, but if its any amount, get a commercial grade mower. I've been around exmarks, john deeres and cubs, and they were all good. I know some of the first residential cubs were junk in the early-mid 2000's, but the "tanks" were great, especially with Kawasaki engines. There's quite a price difference between the commercial and residential, but they'll be trouble free alot longer. Our local john deere dealer will let you demo them also. Might be worth a try and then you'll see the difference.

I run a Grasshopper ZT with the deck out front,last one was a Woods,made by the same company,52 inch deck,Kohler engines,great machines low maintenance.15-20 years trouble free.

Like what was mentioned, go to a dealer and test drive. I drove a neighbor's zero turn last summer and it was much too fast and quick. The slightest pull of the lever had me turning NOW. Not good for close trimming. My zero turn (won't mention brand because I don't want to sound prejudiced) is slower to react and much more controllable. Mine doesn't go 12 MPH like the neighbor's but that's too fast for mowing anyway. Jim

I sound like the opposite view. I doubt you can find anything better than what you have. I think any Cub Cadet with good maintaenence can run indefinately with good results

The zero turn that I had (name brand mower) did not like slopes at all. Hard to run horizontally on grades. I went to a 4 wheel steer hydro tractor style. It is green and I love it.

I have used an International 184 tractor with a 60 inch deck for a lot of years thinking its was the greatest. A couple years ago I bought a 223 Grasshopper also with 60 inch deck and would not think of going back. I mow about 4 acres a week and it cut my mowing time in half. I am in my seventys but after mowing a couple times handling a zero turn comes naturally. Just don't learn near your wifes flower beds or shrubs.

I did keep the 184 for the rough mowing along the creek though. Joe

Over the years, I have had everything from a Cub lowboy, a regular lawn mower, to a tractor with a finish mower. By far the best way to mow, provided it isn"t too hilly, is a zero turn. With practice, you can mow around a flower bed, trees, and irregular shapes while moving forward.

No gears to shift, no clutching, no backing up, just sit there and move a couple levers. They do take some time to learn to drive. Practice with mower off in a wide open space. Do NOT try to "muscle" steering.
Visit a local dealer, give it a try. Good Luck.

I have many Z mowers and use the heck out of them at my business. I can remember using garden tractors when I was younger, running a Z at the same place is whole different ballgame. Speed (if your place is smooth) and the agility is hard to beat. It translates into effeciency and more $$ for me hopefully. If you want to pull a wagon or plow snow, that"s a different story. I use Toro or Exmark, but many others are great. Last big auction I was at there were many there that looked like they had a lot of life in them and they were going a lot lower than a year or two. My 2 cents. If you need help with engine choices or anything i"ll give you my opinion.

I will stick with my JD455 diesel with a 60"deck and all wheel steering. Have used several of the neighbors 0 turns and can't say I liked any of them. He had a lawn care business. The biggest dislike was the beating you take unless you have a perfectly manacured level lawn. Those small wheels on the front sure cause you to receive a beating. If you buy one see if you can get a good SPRING mounted seat.

in response to some of the others you have received,Like I said earlier go test drive them. even different models in the same brand units drive and feel different. as far as the ride goes also depends on the unit and the options. I install full suspension seats on alot of units even the tractor styles. It all just depends on the dollars you want to invest. other wise continue with what you have and don't worry about it. motors also just depends on the dollars. good luck. as long as you like the unit is all that matters

Best of both worlds..I love mine.. Got it in 2009.
Its a Cub and a zero turn.. Shaves at least 30 minutes of cut time from my property.

For the pasture or bumpy lawns, Hustler makes shock absorbing front forks for their Fastrak series Z's. After market $100 ea. Probably less if bought on mower since you aren't buying a fork and then replacing it.

I have another brand Z and I bought a pair for it and adapted them to fit.

They work best with a lot of weight as weight keeps the wheels on the ground.

On the Hustler 44" I added a suspension seat and took springs off an old garden tractor mower and installed them on the other since it is 52" and a lot heavier.

Then on the Hustler I added a 40# box of steel forward of the front wheels since it's FE is pretty light.

Then on both I installed mud lug tires for mowing my pond banks. Just need to be careful on the lawn in turning with the lugs to not rip up the turf.

Tire pressure is important and I use as little as I can and still keep the tubeless tires sealed. <10#

All in all, pretty satisfied.

I know there are some upper end mowers out there that have all the cushion ride and all but they are way more than I wanted to pay and I already had these.

I prefer Z over conventional for the turning convenience primarily and I use the smaller Fastrak as a get around vehicle since it has a nice deck out front where i can carry things like tools and pump up sprayers, and trash bags and whatever.

Mark

My neighbor was gone awhile and asked my kids to run his mower while he was gone. A cub Cadet zero turn.
Didn't take long and the kids had arguements over who was going to mow with it.
The levers are so far forward from your sitting position, that you get a back ache within 15 minutes.
Worse for the kids with shorter arms and a rough ride to boot.

You mention your dad before he's gone, so I guess he is older.
Some older folks have difficulty getting used to the hand controls for turning and speed after using a steering wheel all their life.
You know your dad - will he get used to the hand controls?
I think Cub sells a zero turn with a steering wheel and larger tires - smoother ride - like a garden tractor.
Just somethings to think about.

Got a John Deere 757 zturn. My thought is, if you go to a dealer and "try one out" like for 5 minutes you probably won't like it, it takes a while longer than that to get used to. But after an hour on your own turf it's like riding a bicycle, you'll make the necessary moves while barely thinking about it. It's fun to operate and saves a ton of time on most lawns.

Used to have a 42" Cadet then got a 60" Yazoo with a 18hp Wisconsin. Cut my mowing in half. A friend also tried to have me get another. He said if you had 2 Yazoos you wouldn't have to mow at all!! Next I got a 60" Bobcat with a 23 hp Kaw. I put 500 hours on it and traded for a Big Dog 60" with a 30hp Kaw torque front wheels and cushion seat. Have gone from 3 hours to 2 hours to 1.25 hours on 3 acres with bins and buildings. Run it as fast as you can ride it. Wife will not drive anything that does not have a steering wheel. But I love it!!

Just have your IH dealer bring out the one or two you want to try and test them at home. The dealers around here are glad to have people test them.

Why has no one mentioned a joy stick steering model of any brand. just wondering. I love mine. Brian

John Deere or Dixie chopper, both expensive, but both very good, and the Dixie chopper will go at least 15mph, and the Deere is fast to, it will definitely speed up mowing, when you don't have to back up to go around trees and turn on a dime it helps a lot. I'd buy one of the two because, they ride a lot better than most, deep decks, don't ball up, and both run good engines. Good luck with whatever you decide on

It depends on what your doing . Zero turns are great if your just wanting to mow grass but if you want to pull anything heavy a garden tractor is the only way to go. If you have a garden tractor with a Hydro Gear trans you can mow about as fast as a zero turn. Most lawns are not smooth enough for a zero turn to run any faster than a garden tractor can.

I own one of those too. A Cup i1042 A good mower for a reasonable price. I really like mine. This will be the 4th summer using it.

You know? I see a lot of zero turns out there, and people love them. They appear to be great items and do great jobs. Having never owned one, I can say nothing bad about them, and again, the people that have them appear to love them, and they appear to do pretty well, and there are a ton of them out there, so that has to say something about them. Down below is a photo of a Cub Cadet. I was over at a sister's house, and she lives in a subdivision where "Keeping up with the Jones" really exists. Whatever one gets, the other tries to equal or out do, bless there hearts, and my BIL is no exception, bless my little sister for marrying him. So I'm over there one day, and a neighbor has this little John Deere about the size of that Cub below, only green, but it was some sort of hybrid cross between a lawn tractor and zero turn. It looked like that Cub, but the front tires didn't turn normal. They appeared to by free floating like a zero turn, so the turning must have been done by rear brakes like my field tractors and the sort.

I mow with an old Allis B. Its been long paid for, has a 59" Woods belly under it, gets good milage I figure, will still be around and running decades after I'm dead and gone like its original owner, and its zero turn. If I apply one of th rear brakes real hard, that tire will spin on a dime as the other propels me around, although it leaves a real big divit in the grass where the tire lug corkscrews down, but what the heck, its a farm yard and if people driving down the road don't like the looks of it when its done, they can go move into a subdivision with my little sister and her husband. Makes no difference to me. If it aint broke, maintain it but don't fix or replace it in my book.

Its your money, you earned it, you do what's best for you spending it as you see fit. Good luck.

Mark