What do you mow with and why?

[953 nut 51,646]

2 hours ago, rjg854 said:

speed.

What's the rush?     I just got two hours of quality seat time on the 310-8 this afternoon, mowing is pleasurable, not drudgery!      

Edited May 21, 2019 by 953 nut

[rjg854 10,730]

So it is with my Bad Boy,  it's a lot of fun, takes me  about an hour and a half for what I mow. And it does a sweet job. 

[608KEB 794]

1975 C-120 Automatic with a 42"SD. I could use a 520-H. For some reason I just enjoy cutting grass with it. Maybe because it's smaller than the 520-H. I mow about a acre at the farm. I use a 520-H at home with a 42" RD.

[CTBT&D 77]

I have used a 2004 John Deere 737 Zero turn since new to mow 3 1/2 acres, takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes most of the time. But the Wheel Horses do most everything else; 416-H for the sickle work, 520-H for snow throwing, 416-8, for plowing, grading, pulling 25 gallon trailer sprayer, mowing one fall when I had shoulder surgery and hauling the dump cart around. One of the 520-8's pulls the dump cart occasionally.

[71_Bronco 1,072]

15 hours ago, Achto said:

 

I've only worked this tractor a little bit. I've rolled the lawn, did some mold board plowing, and messed around pulling a stone boat. With a little over 3hrs on the clock, the fuel level has barley moved. Best estimate would be around a quart of fuel used so far. I guess my  just hasn't acquired a taste for diesel yet.

 

If I happen to find another one of these Hatz engines at a price that I can afford, I will most definitely be building a worker with it. 

 

What do I mow my lawn with?? I used to use a 21" push mower. Now I mow with a Swisher Ride King that came from the auction at Garden Tractor Daze last year.  @WHX22 was nice enough to bid on it for me while I was checking on some ribs that I had on the smoker. Winning bid was $55, and it only took us about 20 min to get it running & mowing. These work good if you have a fairly flat lawn and they are a blast to drive.  You do get a few looks  while your zipping around on it too.

 

That thing is really sweet. I almost picked up a Mowwett Mustang recently with a factory grass catcher bag, just for the simple fact of how unique and odd it is. And yes, I would use it to mow my yard.

 

However, I came across my Commando 8, and I thought it would be a much more useful machine, and was a lower asking price. Couldnt go wrong in my opinion.

[muz123 1,191]

It can vary from my 520 with the 48,” to my other with the 60,” to my 315 with the 48.” It all depends on which one i feel the desire to use, one of the perks of having many tractors. 

[ZXT 2,394]

17 hours ago, Achto said:

 

I've only worked this tractor a little bit. I've rolled the lawn, did some mold board plowing, and messed around pulling a stone boat. With a little over 3hrs on the clock, the fuel level has barley moved. Best estimate would be around a quart of fuel used so far. I guess my  just hasn't acquired a taste for diesel yet.

 

If I happen to find another one of these Hatz engines at a price that I can afford, I will most definitely be building a worker with it. 

 

What do I mow my lawn with?? I used to use a 21" push mower. Now I mow with a Swisher Ride King that came from the auction at Garden Tractor Daze last year.  @WHX22 was nice enough to bid on it for me while I was checking on some ribs that I had on the smoker. Winning bid was $55, and it only took us about 20 min to get it running & mowing. These work good if you have a fairly flat lawn and they are a blast to drive.  You do get a few looks  while your zipping around on it too.

 

Achto, does that Swisher have an 120V AC starter on it? My neighbor had a Big Mow and it did.. I'd never seen one before and thought it was neat. 

 

If I ever get around to getting my Bantam going, I'll have a front wheel drive rider to mow with.

[Achto 26,547]

6 hours ago, ZXT said:

Achto, does that Swisher have an 120V AC starter on it?

 

This one has 12vdc start Briggs & Stratton. No key switch, you just pull the throttle up and push the button on the end of the starter solenoid. Push the throttle down to shut it off. One of the hardest thing to get used to when operating this mower, is remembering that it has a hand clutch. I've also added a spinner knob to the steering wheel, this helps switching to reverse a little easier & faster.

[bds1984 1,382]

10 hours ago, muz123 said:

It can vary from my 520 with the 48,” to my other with the 60,” to my 315 with the 48.” It all depends on which one i feel the desire to use, one of the perks of having many tractors. 

Sounds like you could mow your entire state quickly!  

[adsm08 1,431]

9 hours ago, ZXT said:

 

Achto, does that Swisher have an 120V AC starter on it? My neighbor had a Big Mow and it did.. I'd never seen one before and thought it was neat. 

 

 

I have a Craftsman/MTD blower with the 120V starter. I'd never seen one before that either.

 

It has a pull cord too, but the electric is nice for the first start. 

Edited May 21, 2019 by adsm08

[BESTDOGEVER 218]

My 518h (powered by 418a Kohler m18)and 48sd deck I currently cut about 1.5 acres it takes about 2 hours. With 1900 hours on the tractor and deck it still makes a good looking mowed lawn. 

[cschannuth 3,795]

I used a 520H for years but now I use a Husqvarna zero turn.  The 520 did a decent job but it took me a couple hours to mow and driving back and forth or in circles just doesn't do it for me.  The Husqy cut my mowing time in half and it mows smooth as glass at 10 MPH.  My horses all see regular duty and have specific jobs and I love using them.

[Skipper 1,788]

I use this 

 

 

 

Why I use this, and not a new toy thing?

 

1. I love it. It's my kind of machine. I smile every time I'm on it.

2. it does pretty much all the work around here, and it newer complains. Mows, tills, discs, sprays, plovs, hauls, and more.

3. It cuts grass so very nicely and fast. 

4. I have had a 54" zero turn, and I hated that thing. It werent any quicker in real life, and it newer put a smile on my face.

5. Did I mention that I just love it

6. As far as I know, I have the only one(s) of these running, on this side of the pond. That doesn't hurt much either 

 

[snowhound 103]

I usually use a 417A but it's out of commission with a steering problem so now I'm using a 418-8 with a rear discharge 42" deck and a C105 with a side discharge 42" deck.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,040]

I rotate between 520 xi with 48" deck and 520 lxi with 60" deck. I use my 520 HC with 42" rear discharge deck for around flower beds... 

[Bear G 690]

I use my Bronco 14 or the 520-H

Miss Vicky mows the majority of the yard with our Grasshopoer zero turn. (faster)

but I prefer to use one of the Wheel Horse’s to do front & side yard around the house. I think they “stripe” better than the grasshopper. 

 

[C-85 653]

These are our mowing weapons!

 

We mainly use the 2 '68 Toro Whirlwinds. They don't have any safety devices, so they just mow and blow the grass right out, no clogging!

 

When we get lazy , Then we get out the C-105 with it's 36: rear discharge deck.

 

C-85

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Curiosity question.

 

For those of you who have a stick (unidrive transmission), what gear do you mow in?

[chip61 655]

Third is a little too fast-I don't get a clean cut and I get beat too death where I am. Second does a much better job but takes forever. 

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,538]

50 minutes ago, 71_Bronco said:

Curiosity question.

 

For those of you who have a stick (unidrive transmission), what gear do you mow in?

2nd gear in hi range for me. 3rd is way to fast. 

[Racinbob 10,276]

3rd is definitely too fast to get a good cut and also it would beat the snot out of me. 2nd could use a fuzz more speed but works fine. I've thought about swapping the drive pulley for one off a hydro but just haven't done it. 

[bds1984 1,382]

26 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

3rd is definitely too fast to get a good cut and also it would beat the snot out of me. 2nd could use a fuzz more speed but works fine. I've thought about swapping the drive pulley for one off a hydro but just haven't done it. 

I have a smaller pulley on my transmission that fixed that problem for me.  My top speed in 3rd is 7 mph now.

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

I push mow with 21in Troy Built self propelled. 

 

I have two snappers, two horses, and a craftsman, all with mower decks, but I push mow lol. 

I like the pattern and clean lines.  It’s also a good 6km Wall when it’s all said and done. 

Heres the real question: what do you trim with? Lol. There are several places in our yard where these are best at getting the job done, so that’s what I do. 

[LengerichKA88 1,881]

22 hours ago, C-85 said:

These are our mowing weapons!

 

We mainly use the 2 '68 Toro Whirlwinds. They don't have any safety devices, so they just mow and blow the grass right out, no clogging!

 

When we get lazy , Then we get out the C-105 with it's 36: rear discharge deck.

 

C-85

I’ve never seen a whirlwind, very cool 

[EricF 589]

My father's first power mower was a Toro Whirlwind, probably a little newer than the ones in the picture. The engine had more plastic covering everything up. Then when we moved to a new house in 1970, after a year he traded it for a newer Toro self-propelled with the front drive like the one on the right in the photo. If I recall, the name was changed to "Guardian" instead of "Whirlwind", and the Tecumseh engine had black plastic covers over everything. Self-propelled was important for the hill in front of the house -- too steep to mow with the tractor that did the rest of the yard, and no fun pushing all the time. The sandy soil was bad for tearing up the Toro's power drive, though. After a couple of repairs and the Tecumseh getting more and more temperamental, it got replaced with an early John Deere rear-drive self-propelled mower -- the kind that looked like JD's take on a Snapper Hi-Vac. That one probably lasted longer than the Toro -- Briggs engine and a more robust power drive, and eventually got replaced with a M-series Lawn-Boy like the one in my pic from earlier, which was the last mower he ever needed.

 

I had a fair bit of input in getting the JD -- I ran the mower more than he did in those years, and he followed my lead when I first got my L-B "M"...

Edited May 24, 2019 by EricF