Learn Me Mowing our Bigass Lawn

We rent a place with 2.5 acres of grass, and for the last 1.5 years have been mowing it with our landlord's bigass zero turn, which gets it done in 45 minutes and is generally excellent, but now we're being told to get our own mower. berkeley.

How do we do this for the least amount of money, without taking 4 hours to mow the lawn or needing to constantly wrench on the mower? What's a reasonable budget?

Looking around at zero turns, for $2500 (ouch, can I spend less than this?) we could have a used Dixie Chopper off craigslist or a brand new Husqvarna with a warranty from the local equipment dealer. I don't know what I'm doing. Halp!

Thought I'd add: storage is a non-issue (multiple sheds, one of which is a shipping container with a huge door). Lawn is bumpy and does have things to maneuver around.

I mow my (.5 acre) lawn with a 10-year-old Dixie Chopper. I can highly, highly recommend it. Buy a used one and don't look back.

For a rental, I'm not sure I'd invest in a mower myself. Lawn service? You can pay for many weeks of someone else doing it for what it costs to buy a decent ZTR.

Lawn service would run us nearly $200 every time they come out- so $2500 would maybe get us through a year stretching it between visits.

Tom_Spangler wrote: For a rental, I'm not sure I'd invest in a mower myself. Lawn service? You can pay for many weeks of someone else doing it for what it costs to buy a decent ZTR.

Goodwill services?

Used lawn tractor with a cutting deck. That way its also useful for dragging things.

That used Dixie Chopper sounds like the easiest/best route.

I spent over $5k on my Huster Fastrak in 2003. The machine has paid for itself several times.

If you get something slow (Dixie Choppers are fast). You will always be mowing. Your time is too valuable for that. Get the right tool out of the gate.

I guess these are the real questions:
-How much maintenance am I really looking at for a used high-end commercial machine vs. a new lesser one?
-Is this solely zero turn territory or are there lawn tractors which are fast enough (no, I think)
-What brands suck? Which ones are awesome? I of course like Dixie Chopper because giant "world's fastest lawnmower" decals

I would hit craigslist for a homeowner grade lawn tractor, the ones you sit on top of and turn the steering wheel. They're all over for like $200-$800 and you just treat it like a beater car. Drive it til it breaks, fix it, repeat. Not nearly as slick as the zero turn and will take you an hour and a half. Big deal. I think most people have 'mow the lawn' as a 1-1.5 hour obligation in their life and survive. Unless your long term plan is a place with multiple acres, them you might want to just spend the $3k now.

Personally I buy craftsman stuff and don't maintain a god damn thing. It's hard to kill a briggs and stratton. I should change the oil this season I guess. I think it has been done once in 6 years.

2.5 acres is a lot. We own 3 acres, but only have about 2 that's mowable, and since we live in the country I only mow the ~acre around the house regularly; the back part I hit a couple of times a year to keep the thistles down. We have a 48" 18 horse Simplicity, and it does a great job at mowing the nice lawn, and hacking down the foot high crap. Paid $1350 for it used; it's about 10 years old. Great machine.

I've thought about a ZTR a few times. If I had to mow all 2 acres every week I probably would. Even a decent machine like the Simplicity takes about an hour an acre. A cheap 38" cut consumer crappy ride-on mower would take about an hour and a half per acre. So over 4 hours to cut your little piece of paradise.

Your landlord sounds like a tool, BTW. I have a rental house with a 2/3 acre lot and I have an agreement with a landscaper- he keeps his stuff in the garage there and in exchange he cuts the lawn for me. Part of the reason people are tenants is they don't want to deal with upkeep of a property. berkeley.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse:

We agreed to mow the lawn as part of the deal when we first started renting- we get a serious discount compared to what the place could rent for. What's bullE36 M3 here is the sudden disallowance of mower usage without warning, the reasons for which I'm not going to get into- bottom line is, not our fault, but apparently not negotiable either.

Wait for a really hot sunny day.

Cut the lawn as short as you can, then water it.

In a few days it will turn brown and fall over.

You're all done until fall.

I'd try to find the best deal on a ZTR you can find in a larger CL radius. The deals are out there and if you are only using it at your place you won't be adding a ton of hours. With good upkeep you should be able to sell it for almost what you paid for down the line.

Another option: find some high school kid. Buy a crappy tractor mower. Tell the kid he can plop his ass on the mower and listen to his i-whatever and you'll pay him $40 everytime he mows the lawn. He gets something mindless to do for 4 hours, makes more than flipping burgers at a french fry joint, and you get your problem solved for minimal cost.

Get a herd of goats?

Ouch. All I can say it my ex has about 1/3 acre and with her 12 HP, 42" deck lawn tractor, it took well over an hour to mow. 2.5 acres would take most of a day. $200/cut seems excessive, but knowing where you live, I'd imagine any service would have to drive a fair bit just to get to you, so there's that whole "time = money" issue.

On the plus side, if you buy a good used commercial mower and keep it in good condition while you own it and use it lightly, you should be able to sell it for about what you buy it for if/when you decide to move.

Enyar wrote: Get a herd of goats?

Both this and moving the GF's horse onto the property are things we're actually talking about. Can't imagine the upkeep being cheaper than the mower though

i have a friend with around 3 acres that he keeps mowed and he uses a riding mower and he hooks up 2 tow behind mowers like this with one offset to each side:

i dont remember exactly but with some overlap of each mower i think his total width of mowing is ~10 feet wide.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: I guess these are the real questions: -How much maintenance am I really looking at for a used high-end commercial machine vs. a new lesser one? -Is this solely zero turn territory or are there lawn tractors which are fast enough (no, I think) -What brands suck? Which ones are awesome? I of course like Dixie Chopper because giant "world's fastest lawnmower" decals

OK, I think we need to nail down your priorities. Are you being a responsible person who just wants to get this job done using the least possible amount of money? In that case, buy whatever $500 used Craftsman lawn tractor off Craigslist you want. Or, are you being a normal adult male who needs to mow his lawn, but also kinda wants a cool toy? In that case, find a used ZTR for a couple grand or so. BTW, no judgement, I was firmly in the latter position when I bought my Cub Cadet a few years back.

Good brands, well, look at what the commercial guys use. Dixie Chopper, Hustler, Scag, etc. There are lawn care forums out there, let Google be your friend.

If you get a Dixie Chopper, turn down the governor (or don't run at full throttle). That is how they set the fastest mower record. That is also how they got the highest engine warranty rate with their suppliers.

used commercial equipment will usually last you longer than new home grade stuff. The pumps and motors (hydraulics) are better on them. Engines are cheap compared to what you will pay for new hydro stuff.

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

"cool toy" only enters into it when all else is equal. I want to spend the smallest possible amount of time and money on this thing over its' lifetime, in terms of purchase, use, maintenance, etc. The money is in favor of a lawn tractor, but it will cost a lot of time. Analysis paralysis, bleh.

Buy used Dixie chopper, sell once you stop renting. 0 cost if you maintain it properly + cash if you buy a dirty one that need maintenance and you get it back to spec.

Used zero turn. Really. Anything else will be a big disappointment for you. We used to have 3.5 acres, so I know the drill. Check all the Home Depots, Lowes, etc...for any clearance, returns, remans they may have. That's how we got ours. Customer bought it late in the season. Returned it for some kind of defect. Home Depot send it to Toro for rebuild, it then sat on Home Depot property for most of the winter. Bought it for 1/2 of what a new one costs.

Host your own rallycross. All the grass will be gone and when the landlord says anything tell him it was the best option once use of his mower had been revoked.