After reading about another fellow dying in a zero turn accident I got to thinking about our yards. The one at the farm has a long steep road ditch we mow and a good hill in the side yard. If the ground is wet the tires will pickup that moisture and you WILL slide in spots on those two banks. Where I live now the entire yard is on slopes with the front yard being the steepest. I have to mow it up an down and even then if there is even a slight dew your going for a ride.
So with my Grand Daughters mowing the farm yard and my old self mowing this one I decided it was time for a change to some thing more safe. I loaded up both zero turn mowers and went to town. These mowers are under two years old as I had traded the older ones in for these two Z930M EFI mowers with 60 inch decks just two years ago. One has 189 hours and the other 230. They both are in perfect shape.
Another worry with the Grand Daughters is these are professional grade mowers meaning they will haul butt and still mow well. They tend to always be in a hurry too. Not a good combination: Youth, speed and BIG machinery.
So I traded both of the Zero turns in on two JD 728 4wd Garden tractors. I had rear wheel weight installed and loaded the front tires. They have the 62 inch decks on them right now but I have two new 60" commercial decks ordered. The two mower have under 200 hours on them.
I mowed the yard tonight and it was a little slower but only maybe 15 minutes in fours hours of mowing. Several BIG pluses: 1) The ride is ten times better. My back feels much better. 2) They are twice as stable on all types of terrain. 3) They used 1 gallon less in fuel mowing my yard. So that is four gallon rather then five gallons.
I am very happy with the deal. The Grand Daughters complained until I told them I still had three PUSH mowers that their Dad, Uncles and Aunt mowed the same yard with. We did not get a riding mower until the youngest son was in high school. Up until then mowing the yard was just one of the CHORES the kids had to do if they want to do anything else. The three middle kids could mow the yard in one long afternoon. So it really was not that slow with all of them working hard.
Here is a picture of the one I brought home with me. The cost of the switch was not cheap but is nothing compared to one of us getting hurt on these slopes.
So with my Grand Daughters mowing the farm yard and my old self mowing this one I decided it was time for a change to some thing more safe. I loaded up both zero turn mowers and went to town. These mowers are under two years old as I had traded the older ones in for these two Z930M EFI mowers with 60 inch decks just two years ago. One has 189 hours and the other 230. They both are in perfect shape.
Another worry with the Grand Daughters is these are professional grade mowers meaning they will haul butt and still mow well. They tend to always be in a hurry too. Not a good combination: Youth, speed and BIG machinery.
So I traded both of the Zero turns in on two JD 728 4wd Garden tractors. I had rear wheel weight installed and loaded the front tires. They have the 62 inch decks on them right now but I have two new 60" commercial decks ordered. The two mower have under 200 hours on them.
I mowed the yard tonight and it was a little slower but only maybe 15 minutes in fours hours of mowing. Several BIG pluses: 1) The ride is ten times better. My back feels much better. 2) They are twice as stable on all types of terrain. 3) They used 1 gallon less in fuel mowing my yard. So that is four gallon rather then five gallons.
I am very happy with the deal. The Grand Daughters complained until I told them I still had three PUSH mowers that their Dad, Uncles and Aunt mowed the same yard with. We did not get a riding mower until the youngest son was in high school. Up until then mowing the yard was just one of the CHORES the kids had to do if they want to do anything else. The three middle kids could mow the yard in one long afternoon. So it really was not that slow with all of them working hard.
Here is a picture of the one I brought home with me. The cost of the switch was not cheap but is nothing compared to one of us getting hurt on these slopes.