Mower Decisions

[Clover13]

If you were to buy your own zero turn and mow your yard many different ways then 1 your yard would not get tore up from turning. Landscapers like to leave a stripe in the yard. They usually only mow one or two ways total. Do nut run the same path and turn slower and not as clear cut. If you mow a different path each time you will actually have a healthier yard. Good luck. As far as size a nice 48 or 54 cut would do perfectly for a 3/4 acre yard. Anything bigger is a waste of money. I would not use a B series tractor to mow with. If there is dew or moisture in the yard you will create divets everywhere. I mowed my grandmas yard in 20 mins with a 54 and hers was one acre.

Agree on the pathing to a degree, but it seems like no matter where they turned around on a given week of cutting they tore a pieplate of grass down to the dirt. Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that.

What exact mower did you cut 1 acre in 20 minutes with that was a 54" deck? Assuming you mean a ZT, not sure a lawn tractor would do it that quick.

And no doubt, a 72 or 60 on a B2650 is overkill for 3/4 acre anywhere. But I already have the machine, so part of me REALLY wants to use it. If I was 100% confident I wouldn't ruin my lawn from the weight, I wouldn't have even started this topic.

 

[Clover13]

Haha. Yes I am the one who put his yard with a grader. There were 2 reasons I went with the 60" over the 72". I mow 1 1/2 acres with it, and had a 60" previously and mowed the yard in 55 minutes. Reason 2 was it wouldnt fit in my garage where I need to park it. My yard is flat enough to run a 72" and I really wanted one. Extremely happy with the 60 though.

Fortunately I can fit the 72". I do kinda wish I had a bigger yard. It's possible, I could always put the tractor to work and knock down some trees, expand the yard, run some irrigation. I have about 1000 projects ahead of that though...but a guy can dream a little!

So you left out the most important knowledge part...what's the secret to keeping a lawn level? Trees dying and being removed, ground settling, etc will cause divots and depressions over time. What's the technique to re-leveling once the grass is in and healthy? Go golf course style, aerate and sand away? Mix some sand and topsoil?

 

[D2Cat]

" Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that."

If you stop a wheel to turn you will get a divot. The secret is to learn to keep both wheels rotating while you perform the turn.

 

[Clover13]

" Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that."

If you stop a wheel to turn you will get a divot. The secret is to learn to keep both wheels rotating while you perform the turn.

Makes sense in the world of physics, that is how I would envision it. I've had 3 different companies cut here and spoke to all of them about the pie plate divot tears they leave behind and they kept on doing them, they just altered their cut patterns so instead of 20 divots in the same place, I had 60 in various places.

Then there was a bunch of other work I wanted done and guys around here wanted way too much to do it, so that's when I had enough and got myself the B2650 and started doing it on my own. And here we are at the mower dilemma

I agree 100% on the operation, and I'm pretty confident I could turn a ZT without tearing anything after some practice. Problem is most contractors/businesses you hire don't care...whether it's about your stuff or learning to do the job right. They just want to race to completion and get to the next job and hope no one complains. Really tough to find "good" contractors/businesses...they're out there but few and far between, at least around here.

 

[D2Cat]

If you can't find someone to do the job like you want, don't hire them!

Here's an example of how to do a 3 point turn on a zero turn. Go to about 1:25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMldxQrCK6s

 

[SRG]

" Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that."

If you stop a wheel to turn you will get a divot. The secret is to learn to keep both wheels rotating while you perform the turn.

That, is the key. I have pretty aggressive tires (R1 bar lug type), and as long as the inside wheel is just slightly moving forward while making a turn, it won't leave a mark in the turf.
Stop that inside wheel, or get it going in reverse, and you'll have what you experienced with those landscapers.

 

[PaulL]

The ZT cuts at 26Kph (16mph) and has a 60in deck

A B2650 has a top speed of 19kph. So a fair bit closer to ZT speed than a BX, but still a bit slower. A 72 inch deck would also help make up the difference.

Ultimately I think the OP is saying that for 3/4 acre, he's going to spend longer getting the mower out than he is doing the mowing, so probably 20% faster or slower isn't that material.

Probably means he has to drink that first beer after finishing mowing in 7 minutes instead of 11 minutes, then he'll be back on schedule. Even better, put the beer in the cup holder on the B2650, and get a whole beer ahead.

 

[chim]

We all have certain soil conditions, types of grass and expectations. In my case, mowing with a tractor suits me quite well. I've always enjoyed a tractor because it isn't a one trick pony, and have owned one MMM before going to RFM's ( two different 5 footers, a six footer and for this year a 7-1/2 footer). When we had 2-1/4 acres to mow, the 5 footers did it in under 1-1/2 hours. About the time I got the 6 foot deck and a few more horses we upped the grass area to 3-1/2 acres and the mowing time didn't change.

I'm in the process of re-furbing a 7-1/2 foot Caroni that will be pulled by the most recent tractor, an L4240HSTC we picked up in December. Since starting here in '90 with an old 2WD Cub, then the little Ford 1210 the three Kubotae have been a B7500HST, L3200HST and now the L4240HSTC. Hopefully I haven't exceeded the upper limit this time. So far none of the increases in size had any negative effect except needing to trim tree branches higher

The loader is never on when mowing and 4WD was rarely used. After making the previous switch from the B7500 to the L3200, the couple spots where the B7500 needed to be in 4WD didn't require it with the L3200. The last three tractors have had R4's and the only time they were rough on the grass was on a full hard turn on softer ground when they were brand new the edges of the lugs were sharp. As the tractors increased in size / weight, the contact area of the tires also grew.

 

[34by151]

" Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that."

If you stop a wheel to turn you will get a divot. The secret is to learn to keep both wheels rotating while you perform the turn.

That's correct but you quickly lean to steer by doing this.

Put it another way. When you turn a corner in your car the outside wheel moves faster then the inner as it has to travel further.
Turn a corner on wet grass with an open diff and nothing happens because your only powering one wheel and allowing the other to free wheel.
Do the same with a locked diff and you will tear up the grass because one will drag and the other will tear.

Apply this to a zero turn. If you neutral one side and power the other its the same a locked diff. If you power one a little and the other a lot you get the same as an open diff. The trick that comes with time is how much lever for how tight a turn.

As i said I use a ZT and it is rare for me to cause a mark. The reason is I use both levers to steer not just one. I will concede the I dont do the slopes when its really wet. Its not the turns but side slips when wet. When I say wet, we got 130mm of rain in 2 hours the other day. Thats what I say is wet for at least a day.

Oh yeah another tip. Don't go up and down the same line. Start with the outside edge mowing clockwise (shute on the inside). Once you have done one loop reverse and work to the centre. The first cut will get your deck to cut to the edge. Then reversing direction and working inwards (anticlockwise) puts the cuttings on the outside of your path so your not re cutting them and moving them into you path. This also means your doing 90 deg turns and not 180 deg turns.

Hope that helps and BTW I do my 3 acres in 45 mins with my ZT thats with going around a lot of trees and along my creek line

 

[34by151]

Very useful info! I will definitely ask my dealer if they will accommodate a demo, but my sense is they won't come here to do it, they'll ask me to come to the shop and test it in their parking lot.

Hey your paying as much as a car, I expect a test drive!!!
A dealer that wants a sale will do one. If not go elsewhere and tell them why

 

[SDT]

Agree on the pathing to a degree, but it seems like no matter where they turned around on a given week of cutting they tore a pieplate of grass down to the dirt. Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that.

What exact mower did you cut 1 acre in 20 minutes with that was a 54" deck? Assuming you mean a ZT, not sure a lawn tractor would do it that quick.

And no doubt, a 72 or 60 on a B2650 is overkill for 3/4 acre anywhere. But I already have the machine, so part of me REALLY wants to use it. If I was 100% confident I wouldn't ruin my lawn from the weight, I wouldn't have even started this topic.

The commercial operators do not care about your grass, accordingly, they will mow/turn as quickly as possible, demonstrating, yet again, that you must do it yourself if you want it done to your satisfaction.

SDT

 

[Clover13]

The commercial operators do not care about your grass, accordingly, they will mow/turn as quickly as possible, demonstrating, yet again, that you must do it yourself if you want it done to your satisfaction.

SDT

Exactly. IMO they also cut way too low so the grass grows quicker and requires more cutting. Also allows weeds to enter the picture, whereas with higher grass they'd get choked out, but the commercial guys want the business of treating weeds too. Like you said, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself...no one cares as much or the same as you do.

 

[Clover13]

Another element on topic, if I go with the 72MMM I was going to get the mulching kit and I believe there is a baffle that blocks the side chute. My grass isn't ultra thick, so the thatching never really gets crazy. Pretty sure the commercial guys all used mulching blades as well, they never bagged anything, just cut/trim and go.

Anyone here using the mulching blades on a MMM? Any reason not to?

 

[dalola]

Gator blades on anything is the way to go. I run them year around on my Max2. Fantastic for fall leaf mulching as well. And I don't block the shute, commercial ZTR's have enough tip speed to make it a moot point.

Bag your grass = bag your fertilizer. Dumb thing to do.

My $.02

 

[Clover13]

Gator blades on anything is the way to go. I run them year around on my Max2. Fantastic for fall leaf mulching as well. And I don't block the shute, commercial ZTR's have enough tip speed to make it a moot point.

Bag your grass = bag your fertilizer. Dumb thing to do.

My $.02

Cool, will remember Gator Blades. I can probably save a few 100 at the dealer by just replacing the blades versus getting their mulching "kit" if I go the MMM direction.

Coincidentally my friend just sent me this on FB Marketplace, but it's the Kommander which is the residential version.

Kubota Kommander Commercial 54 inch Zero Turn. Only 186 Hours!! Like new. Has ONLY been used at my private residence. Never Commercially used. Garage Kept, winterized and on charger when not running. Only 93 Octane fuel used since new. Kubota Authorized Dealer serviced since new. Nothing wrong with it, just no longer have use for it. Asking $4,500 O.B.O. Any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for looking!!

 

[dirtydeed]

Now you're talking. With that ZT, you'd be done mowing in no time at all.

I'll second everything dalola mentioned about using gator blades. That's all I use as well. They mulch everything but really tall thick grass.

 

[Clover13]

FWIW, I believe these are the correct gator blades for the 72" MMM RC72-30B

Blade for Kubota 70000-25002
24.5" (MMM specs say 24.6") length and 1-1/8" center hole.

Oregon Parts
Mulching Blade, Gator® G3™, 24-1/2"
Part #96-372

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/mulching-blade,-gator®-g3™,-24-1-2"/p/96-372

 

[KennysNewFarm]

Agree on the pathing to a degree, but it seems like no matter where they turned around on a given week of cutting they tore a pieplate of grass down to the dirt. Spinning on a dime to flip 180 with a commercial ZT seems like it will always do that.

What exact mower did you cut 1 acre in 20 minutes with that was a 54" deck? Assuming you mean a ZT, not sure a lawn tractor would do it that quick.

And no doubt, a 72 or 60 on a B2650 is overkill for 3/4 acre anywhere. But I already have the machine, so part of me REALLY wants to use it. If I was 100% confident I wouldn't ruin my lawn from the weight, I wouldn't have even started this topic.

I have an Exmark Zero Turn. I don’t cut into the yard with lawn tires and when I turn around I don’t just throw the levers opposite. Finesse is key with any tool. As for 72” I would think twice. 60” is a good size for lawns. 72” is far away from the machine and will not float as well chopping and gouging into the ground. As always it will be your decision. I would stick with a 60” no matter which route you take.

 

[PaulL]

I mulch, but I have nothing special (on my BX). I just side discharge to the middle as I run round the yard, end up with a small pile in the middle at the end, then lift the chute and do a couple passes to blow it away.

If you were striping you'd need the mulching kit, because otherwise you'll get windrows. But if you're mowing in a circle my opinion is that you don't need it.

Again, something you can get later. Get the stock deck and use it. If you're happy with the result, then you're done. If you're not happy, then buy new blades or a mulching kit.

 

[groomerbuck]

I would not get gator blades for the b2650 UNLESS you get the proper mulching baffles from kubota for the deck.
I had a bx2370 with just the gator blades (no mulching kit for deck) and i could not of been happier with how they worked. It was a big improvement over the oem stock blades. With that being said, I ordered a set of gator blades before i even picked up my b2650. I installed them the day i got the b2650 and took them off after the second mow and put the oem stock blades back on. For some reason the b2650 did not mow nice with them gator blades. They blew a very narrow clumpy windrow on every pass. The stock blades preform excellent on the b2650 and discharge the clippings extremely evenly.