Posted: 6/24/2017 6:03:03 PM EDT
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Hey all, my fiancé (I'm the man, she's the woman) wants a zero radius mower. She loves them and wants to mow the lawn when we buy a house soon. I grew up mowing and have zero problems letting her do it!! We'll be looking at something pretty low powered I figure but would love some advice from ya'll with experience on horsepower and brands.
Is any brand better than the next these days? Is 20HP vs 45HP a giant difference with 1/4 to 1/2 acre of grass? Take me to school, in a nice way. Thanks! 
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Lots of good brands out there. Not sure how much you are wanting to spend.
Hustler Exmark Bad Boy Kubota John Deere Gravely Dixon Ariens For that size yard I would look pretty hard at a Hustler Raptor personally. Kawasaki seems to be the go to engine these days. |
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Things I try to look at when buying
Professional quality Parts Availability - Dont want to have to drive 2 hours for parts Construction- Welded vs stamped deck greaseable bearings etc What do the local business run resale value What engine is in the machine I would avoid anything that is stamped B&S |
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Quoted:
Zero turn for 1/2 an acre? Way overkill. FWIW, I have a zero turn and mow about an acre or slightly less. I got a good deal on it and I'm SO glad I bought it. The amount of time it saves me is incredible. I can mow my acre in 15-20 minutes. OP, as far as power. I have a commercial Exmark with 66" deck and 27 hp Kohler engine. The only time I feel that it's underpowered is if I'm going uphill at full-speed (~10 mph) and the grass is wet or extra tall. Other than that it just eats the grass and begs for me. |
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I bought one a month and a half ago for this .5 acre yard even though I said I wouldn't. Husqvarna 46". Actually fairly impressed with its construction, and it's fine for an acre or two. It has the 20 hp v-twin B&S, but was $400 less than the one at the hardware store with the 23 hp Kawasaki. If it breaks, I'll buy a new engine I guess. I can mow the entire yard in 30 minutes and get tight enough around all the trees, garden, landscaping, fence, etc that weed eating only takes less than 30 minutes.
Oh, and my wife said she would mow the lawn if I bought a new lawn mower, too. 
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OP buy the mower you want, even if it's more than you actually "need". It's worth it in my opinion.
We bought way more mower than we actually "need" but don't regret it one bit. Mow about 2 acres, had a 52" Cub Cadet rider that took 5+ hours to mow everything. It took me two week nights because I would run out of daylight after work. We bought a $10k commercial ZTR and the last time I mowed I put 1.8 hours on the Hobbs meter. Worth every penny, even the wife agrees. Before Attached File After
Attached File |
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Quoted:
OP buy the mower you want, even if it's more than you actually "need". It's worth it in my opinion. We bought way more mower than we actually "need" but don't regret it one bit. Mow about 2 acres, had a 52" Cub Cadet rider that took 5+ hours to mow everything. It took me two week nights because I would run out of daylight after work. We bought a $10k commercial ZTR and the last time I mowed I put 1.8 hours on the Hobbs meter. Worth every penny, even the wife agrees. Before https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/86377/IMG-6204-239827.JPG After
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/86377/IMG-6232-239826.JPG |