Spent some money today for safety!!!

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.

I think you made a wise decision. I worked for deere in Ankeny for 33 years, I used to trade every year when I was still working. I have tried several types of mowers and I always went back to the tractor type as you say they are more stable and give a better ride.

Im not trying to argue your decision at all but didn't the zero's have ROPS and belts? I'm kind of surprised the lawn/garden tractors have not gone to using them or being required yet. Another observation is most equipment I see being used with folding ROPS is almost always folded down .

Ditto on the ROPS.

IMHO - zero turns are not safe on a slopes - especially if there is some dampness to the grass. You loose traction and not only do you loose braking, but steering too. My dad bought a zero turn and had a slide ride down a hill and sold the machine.

Wise move in ridding the zero turn - especially with younger, less experienced operators using them.

But I'm sure the real mission was to have something that resembled a big JD tractor for any grand baby's to start training on in advance of taking over.... LOL!

Nice machines - good move.

Fellow around here with a ZTR slid on a slope and went over a rock cut, about a 6 foot drop into the
ditch along the road. Rops was folded down he didn't survive. Was not that experienced with ZTR. We were
hired to build a guardrail about 80' long on top of the rocks so it would never happen again.

A county worker flips a ZTR in lake. The ROP pined him in, he drowned. The ROP doesn't
work well in mud.
JD is very smart thinking of safety for his grand kids. Good decision.

Same here. Neighbor let me try his zero turn last fall, that was enough to convince me it wouldn't work for my mowing. I bought a JD x540 which they advertise as a "Multi-Terrain" model. I have to say it is stable on slopes and has very good traction; the differential lock comes in handy too.

Friend broke a hip this spring using his mower on a bank when it rolled over on him.

Oh, it was a JD tractor mower.

So it can happen with all of them.

Gary

Friend I go to church with lost a leg in a motorcycle wreck when he was young. while mowing with a zero turn, slid off a retaining wall. mower was still running when they got it off him, lost the other leg.

I switched from a regular mower tractor to a zero turn two years ago and will never look back. The machine I bought had the exact same mower deck as the rider. What took 5 hours now takes 3. We have one bank that I just mow up and down with. I still have my old AC 712S if I have anymore special places I want mowed. Our mower sales are 10-1 ZTs vs tractors and have never had a ZT traded back in for a tractor. I understand why JD did what he did but Im not going to put down ZTs at all. They are a great machine and do a great job. No matter the machine accidents can happen.

All I gotta do is take one look at the price of a zero turn and that's enough to keep me from buying one. I'll spray the lawn with roundup and paint it green before I'll spend that kind of money to mow a stupid lawn. Have also spent enough time working on seat over engine mowers to develop an intense hatred of the things. To each his own.

Never have been a fan of the 0 turn mowers.

Teasing Alert! Why would anyone in the country would need more than a small push mower for around a flower bed? Big lawns or back yard is what the calves and sheep do real well at weed and feed, even a pony with a 10 foot lead rope on halter can trim a 20 foot circle of grass. Couple acre back yards that take 3 to 8 hours every couple weeks means 2 to 4 Shetland sheep weanlings can live comfortably in spring/summer with a small shed that is about same size as mower would need and a water source- and water would be less than the gasoline. Late fall after first snow- if the sheep haven't been named by the kids, grandkids- is sheepskin vest, cap knitting material and end of harvest barbecue featuring mutton chops and leg of lamb, rack of lamb, mutton brats in freezer for Christmas, New Years and February Chocolate Makers Profit day meals. Green Machines alternative to sheep may be tolerable to some people-- but a old 'Cub' of different color would fit better for this site. (stir the color wars again) RN

Some days I wonder why I don't fence the place and let someone run sheep in here. And other days I want to get a BIG machine and rip every tree out so I don't have to mow around them.
But I still keep running my lawn mower around every week with all the rain we have had.

Huh...

My lawn, which is quite hilly, was mowed for years with a Cub Cadet 1512D (think 782 only made by CCC). Back 5 or 6 years ago we went to a 60" Kubota zero turn and if you asked me which one was more stable I would say it's the Kubota and it's not even close.

Then again not all zero turns are the same. The rear wheels on that Kubota are set pretty wide, it carries it's weight pretty low and centered as well.

I used to have to lean into some of the side hills to keep the old cub going, not on the Kubota. The Kubota also has ROPS which admittedly is only good if your wearing the belt.

One of those Walker mowers, now that's something I wouldn't want to be on much of a side hill with...

K

Years ago I saw a 500# neighbor on a riding mower. NO joke, he weighted 500#. He went up a slight incline and mower flips over. Man is on his back, mower on top of him. Does that mean all riding mowers are unsafe or just unsafe if you weigh 500# on an incline?

After surgery, he now weighs 220#. Has has bad legs, bad back and bad heart from being over weight.

I too think ZTR's are unsafe on inclines, especially inclines near water. Anything is unsafe if incline is too steep.

I have had Zero turns for 20 years. Have never come close to an accident. I mow some banks that are 45 degrees. If it is two wet I slide to the bottom. I have never come close to rolling over. I use to have a lawn tractor 20 years ago. Could not begin to stay on the slope with the tractor.

I could see where a pond at the bottom could be an issue. But it would be with a tractor as well.

Gary

I know a retired guy who mows a few yards for people around here.He bought a 4wd like you got ,maybe bigger;I asked,why not a zero turn,they're faster,quicker turning?He said hills were a problem in some yards.I like my zero turn,it cut my mowing time by over half,but it is not as safe as a 4wd would be on hills.But my yard where I mow is mostly flat.And you did right.Mark

(quoted from post at 06:55:32 07/30/15) Friend I go to church with lost a leg in a motorcycle wreck when he was young. while mowing with a zero turn, slid off a retaining wall. mower was still running when they got it off him, lost the other leg.

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I had thought about disabling the 'deadman' kill switch on my newest rider (it won't run if you're mowing and get off without stopping the blades AND setting the park brake) BUT visions of 'wrecks' like the one that you describe made me leave it alone - thinking about it now I might rig one up on my Case that I use for bush-hogging, too....... AND a ROPS!

My Deere 777 zero turn has a factory robust roll bar with a seat belt. If you use the seat belt a zero turn is much safer than a lawn tractor. A zero turn will spin out or get stuck before you get on to steep of a hill to roll but a lawn tractor will not, it will roll before sliding. Only thing you have to do is keep your trees trimmed back.

If it works for you great. 45 degrees is way more than anything I own can climb without flipping over backward. The warning on my backhoe says not to go over about 20 degrees.

I made a snow hill for grand kids. It's 45 degrees and next to impossible to even walk up. The kids can slide down that hill without snow.