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I don't understand 2 things...

1) why they don't use hydraulic motors on the blades and get RID of the belts and springs and PITA problems......ALL ZT's are overpriced for what they are BTW.

2) why spend BIG bux to cut grass fast ? If you HATE cutting grass, pay the kid next door..he'll do it until you die for less than the new ride. seems to me 33HP is over the top, too.

neighbour cross the road has a fancy ZT. Does 2 acres in 22 minutes..zip,zip,zip. Me , I figure if I'm cutting grass, I postpone doing 27 other jobs for an hour of 2....

'perfect'....depends on the person but....

one solution, quite easy to implement, is an autonomus hovercraft based unit. simple really. program for say 4" grass height, push 'go' button. Onboard GPS knows the area to cut, sensors locate obstacles,height is adjusted dynamically based upon the ground and 'cut' required. I get a daily barrage of autonomus car electronics so repurposing them into a grass cutter is easy. There's maybe $300 worth of electronics involved including a $5 'chip' to maintain balance.Add another $20 to get realtime video to your smart device.

BTW there was a 'hoverfly' or similar grass cutter DECADES ago, though YOU had to move it, it did cut level.

Jay

Jay, I mow for a living, so its simple economics.  Currently have a Dixie Chopper, 27 HP EFI kohler, 60"deck.  Its 12 years old, and approaching 3000 hrs.  Sometimes it seems that's too little HP, for the job.  The motor in the Altoz is the same Kohler family of motors, so I know its a Good 'un.  I don't want anything over 60", cause the bigger the deck, the bigger the scalp potential.  Got the DC stuck twice, this wet year, so that's kinda why I posted the video...  By the way, the price ($14,200) wouldn't bother me, the DC was 10 large, 12 years ago...

As to hydraulic drive for the spindles, wouldn't be too efficient, compared to belts... the PC police are saying the market is going to be electric or propane power, in the future. I don't believe that, for an instant!

I mow a couple of acres with lots of trees and uneven ground.  i would not be without my Z Toro.

Problem is it is a 1999 and not getting any younger.

Since I will never see 75 again, I am hoping this hog will get me to the end of my mowing days.

It has a 52 inch deck, which is what I need for the uneven terrain and road banks.

I looked at a battery powered zero turn at the Ohio Power Show back in September.  It was nice but $24,000.  Always thought that electric GE one from the 60's would be fun to own. 

I'll probably keep my '96 Dixon until it, or me, no longer works!

Did you get the one with the tracks?  If so, how long are they expected to last compared to wheels and tires?

Looks like my closest dealer is in O Neal, NE, 450 miles away.

I've seen several lawn services around here with propane mowers, talked to one guy, said they run better and cheaper then gasoline and a lot cheaper to buy then diesel. Also a couple guys have electric mowers.  Haven't talked to them.

Oh and HAVE FUN!

The ONLY time I'd mow with anything OTHER than a ZTR, is when only a 22" Lawn-Boy will fit (between my wife's lilac bushes, under the young spruce trees, etc), or if it's a ditch along the field (bush hog with stumpjumper).

My Dad is a staunch proponent of 'turf' tires... on my commercial 60" BobCat ZTR, I run Titan ag-tread tires full of fluid.  If I hold one tire still, and pivot using opposite, it'll scuff the yard, and a little worse than if it was a 'turf' tread...

...So I don't do that!!!!

Tracks have enough surface area, that it doesn't need fluid in order to climb at an angle up an incline.

Hovermow... yeah... an idea begotten from someone at Husqvarna who had a flat yard  

My first time driving a hovercraft was when I was 9.  It was a 14'er powered by a 6hp (lift) engine up front, and an 18hp (thrust) engine in back... and it'd cruise around 40mph on the river... it'd climb a 14% grade, but took a REALLY steady hand, and steel nerves to keep it under control.  First time I took it up the beach, the nose fell off to the right, and I darned near flipped it over when it met the river sideways.

See... hovercrafts hover easily, and in ANY direction.  On MY yard, it would NEVER work.

The real fact of a ZTR, is that because of it's agility, it doesn't need to move across the ground any faster than any other mower, in order to mow more lawn in less time... because you spend substantially LESS time changing direction, and mowing around obstacles.  At the same ground speed, a ZTR will accomplish 10 passes in the time that a 'conventional' riding mower will accomplish FOUR... and you won't have to come back and clean up the corners.

This is fact, and the empirical proof is everywhere, and evident:  You will NEVER, EVER find a commercial mowing outfit using a conventional rider.  It can't come close to the ZTR's productivity and performance.

I do love the tracks, but they're way out of my budget... I'd hafta build a set for my BobCat.

Talked to the dealer when I bought it, he said the one out there with the most hours on it had 1200 hrs on 'em, and they still looked good.  Price of tracks is $1k per set installed, about $300 per if you just buy the tracks.  about the same than the $279 per set of tires, every 800 hrs that my dixie chopper consumes.  Another tire option is the michelin tweel, that I have seen out there, at a ridiculous price..

From My experience, owning a ASV RC30 track loader, I have 2500+ hours on it, and the tracks are still good, and it wouldn't surprise me if these lasted that long, because they are always running on grass.  there is something about running rubber on grass, grass seems to be beneficial to keeping rubber longer, look at a hay tractor, it keeps its tires longer, than tractors that are just tillage, or multi-use.

As time goes by, I am going to look and see if these tracks (320(?)mm X 11 inch wide) are used on any snowmobiles, out there.  Would have to be a small one, with that length...

mailto:Steve@B&B" rel="nofollow - Steve@B&B

Also found another use for the bolt buster induction heater, that I got last year.  Radio mount was pretty weak, wif the shelving angle iron, with the holes punched in it.  shakier than a cow tail, was only usin 2 of the 4 mounting holes, so I had 2 extry holes, found 2 more in the frame of the mower, and connected same, with some 5/16 round rod, I had bought at an auction, years ago.  The bolt buster came in real handy, as the holes were nowhere close to a simple bolt up.  Bent the rod stock, wif the bolt heater, one almost looks like a zee, cause the alignment of the holes wuz that far off.  Since its still under warranty, I didn't wanna go drillin no new holes in the frame of that high dollar machine.  Between the heating, bending, painting, and assembly, another 2 hours burned up!  

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