slim67 2,730 #51 Posted March 18, 2018 2 hours ago, rjg854 said: When speaking of old iron, you can't leave Bolens out of the picture, nothing stops this "BEAST" Love walkbehinds. I don't know why but I do. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IthacaJeff 151 #52 Posted March 20, 2018 I think some of us are forgetting that Toro did change WHs to be more contemporary. . .e.g,. 522xl and the lower models. Step through, hydros, contemporary looks. . . and they still failed. Only three homemade premium garden tractor makers anymore -- JD and Simplicity (maybe Kubota)-- because the demand is not there. But think about how many $5000 zero turns are sold. Look how many companies make high quality and commercial grade zero turns. . . no fewer than 10 brands, and recent start ups (Altoz, Spartan). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim67 2,730 #53 Posted March 20, 2018 2 hours ago, IthacaJeff said: I think some of us are forgetting that Toro did change WHs to be more contemporary. . .e.g,. 522xl and the lower models. Step through, hydros, contemporary looks. . . and they still failed. Only three homemade premium garden tractor makers anymore -- JD and Simplicity (maybe Kubota)-- because the demand is not there. But think about how many $5000 zero turns are sold. Look how many companies make high quality and commercial grade zero turns. . . no fewer than 10 brands, and recent start ups (Altoz, Spartan). Good point. If all you need it for is cutting grass, I am here to tell you( from experience) the zero turn cannot be beat. For time savings and comfort alone. I dont know how many people even garden anymore as to require a garden tractor. Most people I know or talk to just want last years garden rototilled. They dont even know what a bottom plow is or does. Seems like most small " tractors" are for mowing the lawn or snow removal. Even there I think people would rather use a walk behind snowblower as opposed to trying to use a lawn tractor with one or a blade. Who knows, maybe Gravely was ahead of its time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WVHillbilly520H 10,369 #54 Posted March 21, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, slim67 said: Good point. If all you need it for is cutting grass, I am here to tell you( from experience) the zero turn cannot be beat. For time savings and comfort alone. I dont know how many people even garden anymore as to require a garden tractor. Most people I know or talk to just want last years garden rototilled. They dont even know what a bottom plow is or does. Seems like most small " tractors" are for mowing the lawn or snow removal. Even there I think people would rather use a walk behind snowblower as opposed to trying to use a lawn tractor with one or a blade. Who knows, maybe Gravely was ahead of its time! I agree to a small point on the ZTR unless you mow the areas I mow, my FIL uses his diesel Kubota ZTR but when I tried it it wasn't a fun ride that why I went to the SCUT(Mahindra eMax BTW they now offer one even smaller than mine closer to xi size with 4wd) and yes Gravely was the 2 wheeler like WH simple design with many attachments to a little bit of everything, maybe not the same simplicity and quality but their name does live on after 100 years Edited March 21, 2018 by WVHillbilly520H 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim67 2,730 #55 Posted March 21, 2018 3 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said: I agree to a small point on the ZTR unless you mow the areas I mow, my FIL uses his diesel Kubota ZTR but when I tried it it wasn't a fun ride that why I went to the SCUT(Mahindra eMax BTW they now offer one even smaller than mine closer to xi size with 4wd) and yes Gravely was the 2 wheeler like WH simple design with many attachments to a little bit of everything, maybe not the same simplicity and quality but their name does live on after 100 years For the acreage we cut at work, yes zero turn all the way. We also have a Ventrac ( steiner copy) which will kill hills all day long. There is a SCUT in our fleet to, but ours is a JD 4100 and getting tired. We do also have a Mahindra 40 hp . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #56 Posted March 22, 2018 I had NO idea that Gravely and Studebaker were connected! I thought it incredibly odd that AMC bought Wheel Horse. Still not sure why an automaker would have thought it should own a garden tractor factory! Wonder if they got confused by the GT? Maybe that's where the automakers got "GT"! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #57 Posted March 22, 2018 On 3/20/2018 at 3:00 PM, IthacaJeff said: I think some of us are forgetting that Toro did change WHs to be more contemporary. . .e.g,. 522xl and the lower models. Step through, hydros, contemporary looks. . . and they still failed. Only three homemade premium garden tractor makers anymore -- JD and Simplicity (maybe Kubota)-- because the demand is not there. But think about how many $5000 zero turns are sold. Look how many companies make high quality and commercial grade zero turns. . . no fewer than 10 brands, and recent start ups (Altoz, Spartan). Just had to mention that I sell Central Boilers and they started Altoz. We don't yet sell Altoz but we could. They look awesome but I'm not sure we have the market for them. But it is interesting to note that the GT market is shrinking and the Zero-turn is growing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WVHillbilly520H 10,369 #58 Posted March 22, 2018 @DennisThornton, small world the Gravely of yesteryear was born in my home state, and now the Altos where you work are now being sold here locally cool deal, Jeff. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #59 Posted March 22, 2018 17 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said: @DennisThornton, small world the Gravely of yesteryear was born in my home state, and now the Altos where you work are now being sold here locally cool deal, Jeff. It is a small world in many ways! I want to note though that Altoz is from Minnesota and I'm in NYS. Altoz was designed and built to be the best zero turn in the market. They wouldn't have unless they had some darned good reasons including market study! But we still don't sell them and other than setting on one I have no experience with them. Not sure I could even recommend them until the dealer network expands. But from what I've seen they are impressive! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge 3,462 #60 Posted March 22, 2018 I'd never heard of Altoz before they came out with the tracked model zero turn, pretty cool idea I must say. Has anyone seen this setup ? Found that one on YouTube in the list of like products... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XwuvOGJS2sQ Sarge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,315 #61 Posted March 22, 2018 9 hours ago, Sarge said: I'd never heard of Altoz before they came out with the tracked model zero turn, pretty cool idea I must say. Has anyone seen this setup ? Found that one on YouTube in the list of like products... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XwuvOGJS2sQ Sarge Pretty cool, but I guess it would have to come in different sizes. If not, the deck wouldn't be level and may not adjust to be level, plus different size axles on different tractor models. Pretty cool, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #62 Posted March 22, 2018 15 hours ago, Sarge said: I'd never heard of Altoz before they came out with the tracked model zero turn, pretty cool idea I must say. Has anyone seen this setup ? Found that one on YouTube in the list of like products... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XwuvOGJS2sQ Sarge That is just too cool! Sarge! Why didn't you think of that? Oh! Maybe you did! That your product? Ok. I expect somebody here to adapt that idea to our Wheel Horses. @wallfish You bringing one to the Big Show? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cleat 4,895 #63 Posted March 22, 2018 That looks like a great idea. Not so great on that cheap mower in the video (I can see transmission failure) but with a decent tractor it would be really something. Looks like it would get good traction in the snow as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #64 Posted March 22, 2018 17 hours ago, Sarge said: I'd never heard of Altoz before they came out with the tracked model zero turn, pretty cool idea I must say. Has anyone seen this setup ? Found that one on YouTube in the list of like products... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XwuvOGJS2sQ Sarge I think we are getting off topic and maybe this would be a great new topic, but I'll add 2 cents here anyway. I have a set of these and don't see why the idea couldn't be applied to Wheel Horses: Heck, maybe it has already! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim67 2,730 #65 Posted March 23, 2018 5 hours ago, DennisThornton said: I think we are getting off topic and maybe this would be a great new topic, but I'll add 2 cents here anyway. I have a set of these and don't see why the idea couldn't be applied to Wheel Horses: Heck, maybe it has already! I think those were developed by Bombardier if I am not mistaken. Im curious if steering with the brakes is a necessity on that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DennisThornton 4,769 #66 Posted March 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, slim67 said: I think those were developed by Bombardier if I am not mistaken. Im curious if steering with the brakes is a necessity on that? Yes, but also ARPS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge 3,462 #67 Posted March 23, 2018 Track setups like that are cool, but as to being truly useful for our machines - not so much. No way to make the bogies work without interference to attachments so other than maybe towing or pushing snow they wouldn't work. Definitely not a new idea, stuff like this has been around forever. Sarge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim67 2,730 #68 Posted March 23, 2018 34 minutes ago, Sarge said: Track setups like that are cool, but as to being truly useful for our machines - not so much. No way to make the bogies work without interference to attachments so other than maybe towing or pushing snow they wouldn't work. Definitely not a new idea, stuff like this has been around forever. Sarge When I was a kid I remember the power company had Fords with these and brush hogs to cut the high tension lines. A lot of swampy areas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites