landscaping mowers

[400exrules]

Im gonna start mowing around 15 yards a week soon by myself and i need a mower. what should i get? I was thinking a john deere zero turn 42". What brand, and size deck do u guys recommend? thanks

[400exracer511]

I work at a state park and we use dixie chopper zero turns, they haul and no matter how fast you go they always cut perfect as long as you keep the blades sharp. The decks on ours are huge though, its hard to say what is best for you not knowing what size yards you'll be mowing but def. get a zero turn.

We mow nonstop on our 2 dixies and pretty much the only work we have done on them in 3 years is change the oil and sharpen blades.

[tat900]

I got a 48" 717 deere commercial mower for sell if youare serious gave 7 grand for it im asking 5500 if you looking . The 42 " is a homeowner mower and will not hold up

[bradley300]

if your mowing half acre lots or less, a 36 or 42 inch walk behind is plaenty. remember to check for fences you may or may not be able to get your mower thru before you start mowing

[Slinky]

do what bradley said....and also look into ferris mowers...i run a procut 20....i'm looking into a 36" walk behind next month. I'm very impressed with the ferris mowers and i've heard nothing but good about them....my buddies has about 400 hours on it and we've only shappened the blades and done oil chainges. Dixie choppers are a great mower too, i've been hearing a lot of good things about them.

remember to always grease your equipment before you start out the day......its the #1 thing that we do before we mow.

[quad2xtreme]

if you get a zero turn, make sure it has huge rear tires. Your steering and traction are all with the rear tires. Lose traction on a hill and there are no brakes, you are in for the ride of a life. If you do mow hills, go straight up them. If you head down first, it transfers most weight to the front so the rear tires slip. Once they slip, they don't grab again. You just go zooming down the hill.

I have a Gravely zero turn homeowner model. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. It does work fine here in NC though because I have a fairly flat yard now.

By the way, I got my advice before buying from 2 professional lawn care guys who both knew I had a large hill in my front of my house. Couldn't believe they didn't say a word. Neither did the owner of the shop where I bought it. He was going to make the same either way so I am not sure what his deal was. I spent $3,500 on this lawnmower.

/jon

[Unverfehrt400ex]

at the golf course i worked at last year all we used to toro mowers. they seemed to work pretty good. At our house we have at Scag zero turn. held up great to all the abuse weve put it through.

[GlowBoy]

I used to run an Ariens for 5-6 years, 36 deck was perfect for cemetaries. Then I bought a tank from cub cadet, it will do wheelies.

[MXQUAD294]

I'd put an Exmark up against anything out there. I've worked in lawncare in the past and have used, Grasshopper, Dixie Chopper, Gravely, and Exmark. The Exmark hands down gave the best cut. The guy I worked used a mulch kit on everything but the DC. The Exmark would mulch damp grass noticably better than any of the other mowers would mulch dry grass. The Grasshopper was the worse. It would leave a strip of grass clippings on top of the lawn on every pass. We would have to blow it off when the mowing was done. Most dealers should have a demo model available. Ask them if you can use it and put different mowers to the test. If the dealer doesn't want to play, I wouldn't give them my money.
Just my opinion based off of past experience but I'll never have anything but an Exmark.

[Slinky]

Originally posted by MXQUAD294
I'd put an Exmark up against anything out there. I've worked in lawncare in the past and have used, Grasshopper, Dixie Chopper, Gravely, and Exmark. The Exmark hands down gave the best cut. The guy I worked used a mulch kit on everything but the DC. The Exmark would mulch damp grass noticably better than any of the other mowers would mulch dry grass. The Grasshopper was the worse. It would leave a strip of grass clippings on top of the lawn on every pass. We would have to blow it off when the mowing was done. Most dealers should have a demo model available. Ask them if you can use it and put different mowers to the test. If the dealer doesn't want to play, I wouldn't give them my money.
Just my opinion based off of past experience but I'll never have anything but an Exmark.
for the amount of money spent on equipment these days its like test driving a car..your local dealer should definately have a demo model...my ferris Procut was a left over demo, it had 7 hours on it when i got..i tried it out for a week before i bought it.

[johnsls]

Personally my advice would be to buy whatever your trusted dealer sells.
No matter how many sites I visit its always the same thing, If you buy a Exmark but the dealer is an hour away.. "You will have down time". Meaning buy what is local so you can get parts & service when you need it.

I love the Exmark machines and the others mentioned are good machines too.

[parkers30]

Originally posted by MXQUAD294
I'd put an Exmark up against anything out there. I've worked in lawncare in the past and have used, Grasshopper, Dixie Chopper, Gravely, and Exmark.

The big lawn service at home started with Dixies went to Deere's and have been on Exmarks now for a couple years. They buy or lease new equipment every year. Very nice stuff.

[tat900]

Personally i have both deere and exmark . Exmark deck is not as well built as the deere but the seat is way better and anything thats made by toro is gold. Yes exmark and toro are the same exmark just a higher end brand. Now deere will cut thicker and better wet grass that the exmark but exmark leaves less cliipings. I am now going to running 3 exmark navigators

[ShiftFMX]

This is what we own...

http://www.scag.com/desktops/scagSTCstudio800.jpg

I have worked for a few different lawn Care companies and they have all either used Scag or Exmark. My uncle is a Scag Dealer so thats what we went with. I think we ended paying about 5 something for it

[MXracer16]

Weve been running Exmark Lazer Z's for the past few years. They have held up great. We usually sell them with around 1500 hours on them. All you really need to do is sharpen the blades and change the oil and they will run forever.