Commercial 72” zero turn - dual use?

[Maddog66]

Suppose you were building a new home at your hunting farm and planned to have a yard / apple orchard area of around 3.5 acres. You also have around 5 acres of food plots and 2miles of trails you keep mowed today with your tractor & bush hog……but both are easily smooth enough for a ZT in dry conditions.


Im going to buy to commercial grade mower either way, because I want one more mower the rest of my life…..and I want it to work. But I’m just wondering if I can use it t for other things too. It’ll probably be a JD Z970R(gas) or a Z994R (diesel). I’d call both of them very heavy duty….about as HD as a zero turn can get, but I also won’t be abusing it.

 

[Catscratch]

I use my zero turn for plots and trails. Works great.

 

[Maddog66]

You have a trailer hitch on it Cat? Is it ok with a polar trailer and a couple hundred pounds of seed or fertilizer?

This one will mow up to a 5.5” height and I was thinking it might be perfect for certain situations. Thx!!

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I’ve used one of the big 72” gravelys and it’s awesome but the only thing that would concern me is you can only raise the deck so high. I “mowed” 3 clover plots this weekend with my bushhog and I had it pretty dang high to just top any weeds and maybe hit the heads of some of the clover.

 

[Native Hunter]

My Grasshopper will go 5.5 inches high. One of the best investments I have ever made.

 

[Catscratch]

You have a trailer hitch on it Cat? Is it ok with a polar trailer and a couple hundred pounds of seed or fertilizer?

This one will mow up to a 5.5” height and I was thinking it might be perfect for certain situations. Thx!!

Don't have a hitch, so no trailer. Just a hole for a pin to pull light stuff. I figure the foot decking is roughly the size of a small trailer and she'll hold a couple hundred pounds. I don't mind propping my feet up on bags for a while.

 

[T-Max]

Don't have a hitch, so no trailer. Just a hole for a pin to pull light stuff. I figure the foot decking is roughly the size of a small trailer and she'll hold a couple hundred pounds. I don't mind propping my feet up on bags for a while.

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That hitch/pin hole almost failed me. I pulled a cultipacker with mine when I first got it and it elongated the pin hole. Much more and I think it would have failed. So the right weight is somewhere between Cat’s spreader and a 4’ cultipacker.


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[Catscratch]

That hitch/pin hole almost failed me. I pulled a cultipacker with mine when I first got it and it elongated the pin hole. Much more and I think it would have failed. So the right weight is somewhere between Cat’s spreader and a 4’ cultipacker.


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Hmmm. I also got a 4' yard roller I've pulled with it. Might have to check the hole once in a while.

 

[bigboreblr]

That hitch/pin hole almost failed me. I pulled a cultipacker with mine when I first got it and it elongated the pin hole. Much more and I think it would have failed. So the right weight is somewhere between Cat’s spreader and a 4’ cultipacker.


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Weld two thick washers on either side of the hole. No welder, no problem. Get larger fender wshers grind one side of the washer to make it fit on the back. Drill 2 1/4" or 5/16" bolt holes if the digger will fit on each side. Rough up the surfaces and JB Weld. Welding too hot can be worse than JB welding.

Using the right sized pin, spacer washers, and having the implement being the same sized hole is important too.

I some a few folks who "abuse" their zero turns and the drive work just fine. Peerless drives are common. lawn tractor discs, dragging logs, firewood carts, york rakes.