Zero turn

[dasmoeturhead]

I'm doing research on Zero turn mowers. Im going to have 3 acres of grass to cut, next season. The temps will be rather hot in Chuckey Tn in the summer (close to Greenville), and I don't want to be in it long. My John Deere riding mower will take at least 4 hours plus to do this, and it will have to be done every 4-5 days. I'm getting to old to be beat up like that. I can handle the heat, but I'd rather stay out of it if I can.
Sooooo I'm looking for a top of the line fast zero turn mower. I've got my mind almost made up on a Badboy Renegade. 13 mph, 6 acres an hour machine. Suspension seat, full suspension chassis 1/4" steel deck. 61" cutting deck. My budget is $15k for the mower, and I'm allowing $500-600 for accessories. The main option I will definitely get is The hard roof, to keep the sun off of me. I'm looking mainly at Bad boy brand and John Deere. JD's have a better warranty, but are more expensive. I have plenty of time before I actually need a fast Zero turn, but I want to be ready.
Anybody have any experience with large zero turns in this class. I'm also leaning towards a diesel. If I'm going to spend that much I want the longevity of a diesel. I've had the Vangaurd motors, and I don't feel there up to snuff. The Kawasaki motors I beleive are better. The Badboy Renegade comes with either a 999 kawi, or a Perkins Diesel.
Thanks for any feed back you may have.

[JEBar]

our oldest son has a Grasshopper Zero Turn mower .... one of the fields he mows is over 10 acres .... it has proven to be able to quickly mow tall, thick grass .... it wasn't cheap and has proven to be an excellent machine

[Sir Henry]

Can I borrow it? I have one acre and a 26” push mower.

[dasmoeturhead]

our oldest son has a Grasshopper Zero Turn mower .... one of the fields he mows is over 10 acres .... it has proven to be able to quickly mow tall, thick grass .... it wasn't cheap and has proven to be an excellent machine

That's one heck of a machine. How fast is it? That deck is huge. I will have trees to mow around. Can it mow around trees and other obstacles well? I'm guessing it won't do wheelies ;- )>

[JEBar]

its fast .... given reasonably level ground it can mow thick, nearly knee high grass at a speed considerably faster than I can walk .... with the front mower deck it can mow under and around trees/bushes .... push a button and that mower deck can be raised to a straight up position so that it can be parked in a much smaller place

[dasmoeturhead]

its fast .... given reasonably level ground it can mow thick, nearly knee high grass at a speed considerably faster than I can walk .... with the front mower deck it can mow under and around trees/bushes .... push a button and that mower deck can be raised to a straight up position so that it can be parked in a much smaller place

Very impressive. I looked them up, and they are pricey. They start at $20,000. It would definitely make short work of 3 level acres.

[JEBar]

you can get the big one like his for way less than that .... I know he paid somewhere around $14 for his .... I believe it comes with a 3 year warranty

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

For the fields, I mow with a Bush Hog on the back of my Tractor. Although they also make a Finishing Mower for a nicer cut. For the yard, I still mow with my old 38 Inch Craftsman. I can't take the heat either and do not like to work in the sun for long periods of time, but I beat that by mowing late in the day. Sometimes it's almost dark, lol.

The Bush Hog is a 5 Footer and mows quick. What I like is the economics of it. It's a well-built quality implement and only cost $625 new. Of course you also need a Tractor to pull it, which I have anyway. If a Bush Hog or Finishing Mower would be satisfactory for your acreage, you could buy a good used Farm Tractor for as little as $2000.

But if I had $15,500 to spend, I would buy a nicer used Farm Tractor, a new Finishing Mower and a Hydraulic turn Grader Blade for Snow Plowing in the winter time (if you get snow, lol). There are also a whole lot of other attachments you could put on the back of it with the 3-Point Hitch. Besides, Tractors are a whole lot more fun, lol.

[JEBar]

our son has my JD tractor shown below .... it has a 5' bush hog and a 5' finishing mower deck .... they have to mow his place at least once a week, most of the time twice .... using his Grasshopper he can mow his place in a little over 1/3 the time it takes with my tractor .... his wife uses it to mow some of the smaller fields while he uses the Grasshopper on his largest one .... using them both they save a considerable amount of time

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Nice tractor and I almost mentioned a Front End Loader. They are great and I didn't mention it because they can sometimes be in the way when mowing, but there is nothing like them. Unfortunately, I don't have one yet, lol. My goal is to have one Tractor with one and one without. That way I can also have 2 different attachments on the back without having to switch.

I also have a John Deere which I've had for 20 years now. It has been a great Tractor and has needed very little all through the years as they are well built and, of course, made to last.

[JEBar]

the front loader for our tractor is pretty easy to install/remove and I understand the the new ones are considerably easier .... historically we remove it when we don't need it for whatever project we are undertaking .... as you note, it can be a bit unhandy when working around trees and any other obstructions

[dasmoeturhead]

For the fields, I mow with a Bush Hog on the back of my Tractor. Although they also make a Finishing Mower for a nicer cut. For the yard, I still mow with my old 38 Inch Craftsman. I can't take the heat either and do not like to work in the sun for long periods of time, but I beat that by mowing late in the day. Sometimes it's almost dark, lol.

The Bush Hog is a 5 Footer and mows quick. What I like is the economics of it. It's a well-built quality implement and only cost $625 new. Of course you also need a Tractor to pull it, which I have anyway. If a Bush Hog or Finishing Mower would be satisfactory for your acreage, you could buy a good used Farm Tractor for as little as $2000.

But if I had $15,500 to spend, I would buy a nicer used Farm Tractor, a new Finishing Mower and a Hydraulic turn Grader Blade for Snow Plowing in the winter time (if you get snow, lol). There are also a whole lot of other attachments you could put on the back of it with the 3-Point Hitch. Besides, Tractors are a whole lot more fun, lol.

Thanks for the information. I actually did think of doing almost exactly what you use. I know at some point It would be nice to have a bucket on a tractor for moving gravel around the long driveway. But aren't they slow?'

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

But aren't they slow?'

The Tractors themselves?

My Tractor tops out at 13 MPH in 5th Gear. You can actually mow in any gear, but I usually mow in 2nd and believe it or not sometimes that's too fast in some areas and I have to drop down to 1st.

The negative to a Farm Tractor though would be that they are more dangerous. You have an external spinning Driveshaft when the PTO is engaged. You need to just use common sense and caution. I've been driving them for 30 years now and have had no incidences to speak of.

Let us know if you decide to get one. A visit to your local farm and equipment supplier may help you decide. They will show you some Bush Hogs and Finishing Mowers as well as some other pieces of equipment that you may be interested in.

[BrokenolMarine]

We just bought a new Kubota Tractor, a half dozen implements, and a 42" zero turn in one big package. We have the bush hog, bucket, pallet forks ( which we use a lot more than we ever thought we would. ). Tina loves the zero turn as well. She not only mows the yard, but runs a strip around the inside and outside of the pasture and hayfield fencelines to keep them neat and make visual inspections much easier.

[JEBar]

I'm going to have 3 acres of grass to cut, next season. ..... My John Deere riding mower will take at least 4 hours plus to do this, and it will have to be done every 4-5 days.

here is a link to a Grasshopper webpage showing the Maximum Acreage Per Hour that can be cut with a given width mower deck traveling at various speeds ====> https://www.grasshoppermower.com/deck-aph/


per this Grasshopper webpage ===> https://www.grasshoppermower.com/mowers ... unt/725dt/ their top of the line MODEL 725DT, Mowing speeds up to 10.0 MPH and 6.55 acres/hr. based on 72" cutting width .... that equates to cutting 3 acres in something under 30 minutes which would be considerably less than you outlined above .... our son chose to go with their top of the line gas powered motor and based on driving diesels I'd go with a gasser as well .... my guess is the cutting times would be pretty much the same no matter what brand you end up with

[dasmoeturhead]

Thanks for all the information fellas. I've got plenty of time to consider everything. My grass is slowing down, and I have some brown patches already. Leaves are turning, and falling.

[Hatchdog]

If you already have a four wheeler you could consider a tow behind mower from DR or others. Mine shown is a brush cutter but DR also makes finish mowers. Advantage of the four wheeler is that it already has a nice suspension on it but I would imagine that it would not be as fast or nimble as a zero turn.

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[james89]

Can I borrow it? I have one acre and a 26” push mower.

A goat can do it for a season or 2 and there's a hell of a good dinner after you get tired of it

[dasmoeturhead]

If you already have a four wheeler you could consider a tow behind mower from DR or others. Mine shown is a brush cutter but DR also makes finish mowers. Advantage of the four wheeler is that it already has a nice suspension on it but I would imagine that it would not be as fast or nimble as a zero turn.

F3E523AF-CE1B-4EB0-9E88-DA5D66466FEF.jpeg

I've thought of that. I do have a Honda Pioneer 1000 sxs that would do the job.

[tractortad]

We have a three year old JD 930R zero turn mower with a 54inch deck that we use to mow about 3 acres (around the house/barn) on a our 32 acre Hobby-farm. We also use a JD 5510 utility tractor with 8ft rotary mower to mow an additional 12 acres. I don't know too much about Badboy mowers, but they probably make a good product. We went with JD because of the overbuilt "7-iron" deck and overall JD reliability. We have a lot of JD equipment that has never let us down over the past twenty years (tractor, 8ft mower deck, square baler, hay rake, loader) and the 930Rzero turn is no different - well made, heavy duty, tough mower. Like all zero-turns, it is outstanding on flat grass - a little more challenging on slopes. I would estimate our 930R can mow an acre of flat grass in about 30 minutes - I think the top speed is 11 mph, but deck size will also affect how fast you can mow an acre. We opted for flat-free tires on the front/flat-free "tweel" tires on the rear, so we have zero tire issues so far. This machine is designed for daily professional use, so using it once a week to mow three acres is child's play for an upper-end JD zero turn mower, which is why we went with a gas vice diesel engine - either one will last a very long time and we felt a diesel was kind of "overkill" for our needs. We opted for the 930R model because of the added comforts (better seat, electric deck lift, mulch option, lights, etc.) and a 54" deck for maneuverability around the house/barn. For more open areas, a bigger deck (at least 60") would be a better option. Can't really think of any negative things to pass on about this mower - like most JD equipment, it is expensive, but it is top of the line quality. If you take care of it, it is usually less expensive over the long haul because it outlasts other brands.