What type of mower are you using?

I have a 54" Craftmans garden tractor, G5500. Bought it when we first moved in and no trees yet. Now I have planted about 100 trees and shrubs and it is a pain in the ass to mow...3-4 hours each time.

I'm thinking about eXmark Radius zero turn but that is $6k+ and it's hard to justify with 2 mowers and no rooms in the garage.

 

I've been really happy with my Husqvarna zero turn RZ46I. takes me about an hour and a half to do an acre including edging around the fence and other obstacles that i can't get the zero turn into.

I was looking at tractor style mowers when we bought it just because of price, and i was able to find the last year model at my power equipment dealer for $2600.

 

I've ran scags and hustlers I like the cut of the hustlers better. currently I'm running 1 hustler raptor 52" kohler and 2 hustler fastraks 60" kawasaki and 54"
If you're doing smaller residentials I'd get a stand behind.
switching from any tractor to a zero turn is a night and day difference. I used to have alot of problems with MTDS.
When your looking for a mower look for a fabricated deck over a stamped. The fabbed decks are alot stronger than the stamped ones. I've torn stamped decks like Swiss cheese.
From my experience you get what you pay for and scag is the best. My next mower will be either another fastrak or an x-one.
I'd look at a hustler raptor for an entry level. I've put 96 hours on mine since last year. It hasn't given me any problems besides the deck bolts getting loose I fixed that with some loctite.
I like hustlers but you can't go wrong as long as you don't buy something from a big box store.

 

His name is Juan

 

My vote for the Gravely

 

Hey you JD owners, right now my mower shuts the blades off when I back up which is a pain it the butt. When I pull the deck off this fall for the winter I plan on bypassing this 'safety' feature and am wondering if anyone has already done it, thus saving me some time.

 

I hold the blade pto n blades keep turning its a JD X304 when i hit reverse they stop i believe it has feature to keep blades on while in reverse not sure its at my mom's house i dont have it with me where i live

 

The yard guy is supposed to come today, I'll ask him what he uses.

 

And coming in with a blast from the past. The good ol Murray 20". Father in law gave me a old red Murry 20" he has sitting in his shed. I changed the oil cleaned the carb. Fired right up. Yard isn't too big so it does the job lol.

 

I'm running two mowers. The first is a Kubota BX 2670 diesel with a 60" deck. I bought it new for $13k. It's overkill for flatland but is superior for steep areas. I also have a new Scag Cheetah with a 62" deck and a 35hp Kohler engine. It is an absolute beast and will destroy 5 acres in no time. It's a little scary to drive at first but you'd get used to it in a couple weeks. It's also extremely comfortable and can do burnouts, doughnuts and pop wheelies. What's not to love about that!

 

36" Scag with a Kawasaki engine. Mowing with it for 17 years with minimal upkeep. Went thru it earlier this year and replaced the crankcase gasket and some belts while it was apart.

 

What model is your Deere? Most of the recent vintage mowers from all brands have either a position in the ignition switch or a button on the console to bypass the reverse interlock. On the Deeres, the switch is usually labeled "RIO"

 

If you don't have a dedicated RIO switch, but your ignition looks like this:


The second position can be used for mowing in reverse.

 

electric EGO

http://www.homedepot.com/p/EGO-21-i...ttery-Self-Propelled-Mower-LM2102SP/206515944

 

I think we have the same rider, can you elaborate what you mean by the deck separating?

 

Can be fixed by cleaning it and welding it but struggling for time at the moment.

 

Thanks. Now I see what you mean. I will have to check mine.

 

46" deck? Hard to tell from your pictures, but it looks like the debris baffle is bent. That piece should just be bolted to the bottom of the deck to help clippings from falling out and being left behind in the cut path. You should be able to unbolt it and straighten it.

 

48"

 

You'll know when it does, it will cut trenches in your grass.

 

I got and old 100 series jd and there is a small button to push when you reverse that will keep the blades turning

 

I don't have any grass due to elevation and extreme conditions but these are the guys that monitor the brush for us



@Law323 you need to bring that rifle or bow out here sometime for little big game

 

I have and old school MTD rider and a newer Husqvarna walk behind.

 

That's the first thing I'm packing when I get the chance to come up there!

 

We've got the JD X320, it's 10 years old and the ignition switch just has run and run with lights on (besides off and start). I've never checked to see it the blades will keep spinning while the lights are on, in fact I've probably never turned the lights on, so I'll check that out.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Sounds like it's not tied to the ignition. Does your PTO switch look like this?



If so, it's a 3 position switch and you'll need to hold the PTO switch up whenever you want to (temporarily) keep the blades engaged in reverse.

 

Thanks I'll give that a try, sounds like I need to practice what I preach and 'read the book'. Most of the graphics on our mower are warn off.

 

Hey that works, pull up on the PTO switch when you reverse! Thanks but I'm still going to try and find a way to permanently bypass it this fall.

 

4 x 4 Husq...... walk behind