Hills w/ a zero turn - what about one with steering wheel?

andy r

Member
Have a Cub Cadet zero turn. Not a bad mower on a residential lawn. Been using it on a relatively flat lawn. I bought a new residential property which is built into a hill. Zero entry with a walkout lower level. Well, I basically found out I can mow straight going up the hill, but turn around and gravity basically takes you where it wants to. Honestly, this is a steep yard. Most of my farm ground is rolling, but nothing like this. The entire subdivision is steep. My question is about the Cub Cadet zero turn with a steering wheel which actually steers the front wheels. A Youtube video makes them look like they are the best thing since store bought gravy. Stopped at a rather large mower dealer and they say forget the steering wheel Cub Cadets. They say, "if you have ran a lever operated zero turn, you will not like the steering wheel model". Have any of you owned or ran a steering wheel Cub Cadet???? Thanks.
 
Truthfully if you have steep yards forget the zero turn. I traded both of mine in 2 years ago and that ahs been the best thing I did. The regular mowers are much safer for the Grand Kids to mow with on hills, heck even us old kids too. LOL
 
Dad had a Deere Z520A with lever steer. Now he has a Cub Cadet with a steering wheel. He said it drives much easier on side hills. He has had it two seasons. He is 90
 
I have never had or used a traditional zero turn, but I do own a RZT-S. This, from a service manual, will explain how they work: "The RZT-S combines a traditional RZT lap bar zero turn rider (ZTR) with Cub Cadet’s patented Syncro SteerTM technology.
The magic of the system: variable ratio steering gears that turn the front wheels much further than conventional systems. The steering control is linked to the traction drive system control. The traction drive system synchronizes the steering angle of the front tires with the speed and direction of rotation of the rear tires.
A true zero-turn maneuver is achieved when the operator turns the steering wheel far enough that the inside rear wheel spins in reverse just like a traditional lap-bar controlled ZTR."

They are NOT true zero turn, the tightest turn will leave an untouched circle in the rotation. The Hydro-Gear transmissions might be ok for a city size lot but are not tough enough for mowing a few acres weekly. I always thought the Raven mowers were a good idea, gas/electric (hybrid), all wheel drive.
 
My "Hill Queen" is a Husqvarna 46" twin blade conventional. The design of the deck has good sweeping action and it seldom clogs nor needs cleaning, even when the grass is slightly wet. They sell them at big box stores (Lowes for one), and now with V twins, rather than the failure prone 20 HP Kohler Courage single, they are a winner. They even upped the hp by 2 on the current Kohler V twins......course it has plenty of power and speed with the 20. This time of year there are super end of seasons buys. Mine is over 10 years old and other than the engine, which an ebay 20 BS V twin fixed that problem, it has served me well.

I spent a lot of time and money on tire types for traction and studded snow ATV tires grip the best for me. I have studs on the front and rear because with the front studs you can control your direction...they dig in, not slide like turfs. Ebay is full of great tires for the purpose.

The conventional is light as compared to the ZT (I have a 1000# and 1300#ZT) and I remove the hood for even less weight....it serves no useful purpose. The conventional also allows you to sit "side saddle", aka up on the side of the seat on the uphill side where you can sit erect and apply your weigh to the upper tire for better traction, rather than it wanting to lift up and loose traction. Weight on hills is your enemy, no brag just fact. I find that mowing along the grade vs up and down makes for a much faster, easier, cleaner cut with my queen!
 
Unless they've done something to change the weight distribution, there's not enough weight on the front tires of a ZTR to give much steering control.

You might try different tires on your mower; conventional turf tires don't have a lot of traction. You lose directional control when a tire spins or slips.
 
Actually there is more than I want. In navigating cracks in my heavy clay soil, the idler wheels/tires being small diameter, don't do well. By weighting the rear of the machine with "scab-on" weights I can get more weight directed to the rears, lightening the front and assisting in achieving a tolerable ride.

Steering for me is rears. All the idlers (appropriately named) do is hold up the front.

As I said, Ebay is full of super tread patterns once you start looking into ATVs, utility vehicles (like JD Gators), and golf carts in addition to mowers.
 
We have one at our cemetery. I found it easier to get the hang of it, and the steering wheel controls power flow to the rear wheels to assist turning. Handy rig, plus you can rest your arms on the wheel a bit just like on your tractor.
Ben
 
I saw a landscaper mowing a yard with extremely steep yard early in the morning. He would drive up the hill then back down the hill. The grass was wet. It was scary to watch. I thought the mower may flip over the yard was so steep. No way would I want to mow that yard even with a conventional mower.
 
I have personally owned a 0 turn with levers for 27 years,i have experience mowing daily with them with levers for 23 yrs,there is no hill I couldn't mow going up backwards,i would never switch to a steering wheel now
 
I have an older John Deere F725 which is a front mount mower that will turn really tight circle. I can go right around an electric pole in one motion. With hydraulic weight transfer on the deck and a differential lock it really does well on hills and in the mud ( don't ask me how I know )
Now if you really want to mow the hills check out a Ventrac ! They don't turn really tight but are super stable on hills.
 
Your yard sounds like mine. I was thinking about going with one of the cub cadet with the steering wheel when my current mower dies.(still going strong) I have a Cub Cadet model GT 2554 with the Kohler Command 23 engine. It is shaft drive to the rear wheels, I did not want a belt drive with the hills I have. It has been a strong mower, never clogs and will cut just about anything. I put regular ag type tractor tires on the rear and filled them with windshield fluid. I mow up and down the hill where ever I can, got tired of shifting my weight side to side going across the hills. I will be interested in what you decide.
 
We bought a JD zero-turn a couple of years ago, lever steer, and like it pretty well. It's a 42 and we wish we would of gone a little wider, it won't mow right around a pole or tree. Our yard is flat other than a sewer mound, and that presents a little problem, sometimes it will slide coming down the side, and we don't mow when it's wet.
 
Too many people been killed around here with zero turns on hills with no rops. When I worked at slowes we lost three customers in a year and a half. Stick with a conventional rider on steep hills.
 

My zero turn has a joystick. I have no experience with the lever style. I did struggle with hillsides at first but soon learned to just take it slow. Side hills are no problem now.
 
I bought a used Cub Cadet with the steering wheel this spring. As near as I can tell the steering wheel has nothing to do with the power to the rear wheels. It strictly steers the front wheels. I like it because the forward/backward movement is controlled by foot pedals, the same as the tractor type I traded in. It was really easy to get used to it.
The only side hill I have to deal with is where the road ditch is and that's less than 100 ft. The front end does tend to creep downward in that area, but not enough to interfere with mowing it.
 
You could always get you one of these oddball Gravely ATM's.
Hyd. front and rear drive "motorcycle" on top of a 72" deck that acts as the outrigger/training wheels. the "motorcycle" tilts for cutting slopes.
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I had a Cub Cadet I-1050 tractor style ZTR with a steering wheel for a number of years. Turning left was a bit quirky, but overall a decent mower. I gave it to a SIL when he moved out here. He works the heck out of it. Can't comment on the hillside mowing, we're flatlanders.
 

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