Thanks for the excellent feedback. I've been researching the Bad Boy zero turn, and the high end JD's , and the JD mowers have a better warranty, and I'll only live 11 miles from there Greenville, TN Plant that makes only mowers. Can't go wrong with a Deere. I know at some point I'll probably need a small compact tractor with a box blade to keep the gravel drive level. A bucket would be handy also. Jeez! My heads been spinning now for a couple of weeks. I need to get out and sit on a few different machines. Leaning towards JD for both tractor and zero turn. The 3 acres are totally flat grass/lawn. Some trees, but almost no obstacles.tractortad wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 3:27 pmWe 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.
Another question about zero turns. Never been on one but I've been driving and working on heavy equipment my whole life.
My back ain't real good, and turning the steering wheel on my JD rider a hundred or so 180° turns hurts the elbows the next couple of days. Are the zero turns any better? I've heard there hard on your fingers and hands, both of which I have arthritis. Im, a tough ole geezer, and refuse to pay someone to do my work, even if it hurts.