First Mower 5 Acres which way to go

First off new to the forum so apologies in advance if this is the wrong place. I live in NC and have just purchased a home with 5 acres, all grass. Eventually, about 1 1/2 acres will be taken up by a garden and flowers where I there may be about 4-5 beehives (that bit I won't be responsible for, family member raises bees).

My original plan is to buy a mower that will cut 4-4 1/2 acres for a few years and a hand held tiller for gardening (probably only half acre garden if I'm going to till it with a hand held), with the intent that in a few years we will be purchasing a used tractor (possibly subcompact) that can do the mowing, gardening, etc. The property itself could be described as 'slightly rolling' mostly flat, completely open with very few trees.

I've looked at Hustler at a dealer, and Cub Cadet/Bad Boy at Tractor Supply.

Would like to do this with some cost savings now with the intent that I will be putting in the money on the tractor at a later date.

Thoughts recommendations on which mower you would purchase for this? Frankly I'm up to my eyes with data on mowers and have reached a point of confusion.

You'll get a lot of input on this. So, purchase the one you think will do the job. I'm always leaning toward the Hustler for various reasons. Do you want to spend more than you need to or just cut the grass and do it week in and week out?

Since you're starting out with 5 acres for now then cutting locking down 1 1/2 acres for a garden. A Hustler Raptor SD60 will take care of that every day of the year. Just put into your mind you'll purchase flex forks, a suspension seat kit the comfort will be quite nice. My neighbor across the street which owns a Super Z rode my Raptor SD60 with flex forks and suspension seat kit. He now has decided he has to have a set of flex forks.

With 3 1/2 - 5 acres, I would suggest a 60" deck unless there are places it won't fit between objects such as a house and tree, thru a gate, etc. Otherwise, go big or go home.

Bad Boy is a great mower as well.

Wish you good luck,

Max

Buy yourself a Tiger Cat Scag and don't look back. Set up right there is not much out there that will cut with it. It will last you 20 years plus easily. I have a neighbor that has a Scag that was bought new in 1989 that is still running great.

nighttrain2018 said:

First off new to the forum so apologies in advance if this is the wrong place. I live in NC and have just purchased a home with 5 acres, all grass. Eventually, about 1 1/2 acres will be taken up by a garden and flowers where I there may be about 4-5 beehives (that bit I won't be responsible for, family member raises bees).

My original plan is to buy a mower that will cut 4-4 1/2 acres for a few years and a hand held tiller for gardening (probably only half acre garden if I'm going to till it with a hand held), with the intent that in a few years we will be purchasing a used tractor (possibly subcompact) that can do the mowing, gardening, etc. The property itself could be described as 'slightly rolling' mostly flat, completely open with very few trees.

I've looked at Hustler at a dealer, and Cub Cadet/Bad Boy at Tractor Supply.

Would like to do this with some cost savings now with the intent that I will be putting in the money on the tractor at a later date.

Thoughts recommendations on which mower you would purchase for this? Frankly I'm up to my eyes with data on mowers and have reached a point of confusion.

Click to expand...

I did some research on google and found that in order to buy the right one, you should check yourself some questions:
- What is your budget?
- What brand do you prefer?
- What features do you go after?
- What is the customer service?

Thanks all for the advice. Based on a couple of things we've decided more than likely to go with the Raptor SD54. Couple of things led us to this conclusion. As I said long term we're going to turn some of the land into a garden, up to a 1 1/2 acres of it. So price is somewhat of an issue for long term. 3-4 years down the line I'll probably pick up a used Kioti or New Holland sub compact tractor that will allow me to cut the grass and till the garden yearly.

If I went with a more expensive mower (over $4-5k) I feel I would regret spending the money on something that I may not use long term as much. Talking with the Raptor salesperson at the local outdoor equipment store and several others that have their land used for dual purpose, the consensus confirmed my thinking. I also like that they're close by so if I need service so can haul it over there easier than the store that sells the Bad Boy.

Also going to do a 54 instead of a 60 because there may be a place or two near the house that I may not have as much clearance as I think I do.

Nighttrain,

Think you'll be happy with your purchase. It should do a good job for you and the price although I think all mowers are way over priced, the SD54 isn't as high as some and a bit higher than others. For what it is, it is priced fairly close to what you get.

Enjoy it,

Max

And just to confuse things, why not go with a good used sub-compact tractor from the start.
For the price of the new mower you could get a good used one with a rotary hoe & blade.
There are a couple of Bolens Duraforces in my service run & I am very impressed by the build quality.
Heavy for a mower but built to work hard 50 years.
The standard deck ( around here ) was 48" and the mower can cut at full speed .
If you are going to do a lot of towing ( with a 1.5 acre garden good chance of that ) then even a quad & tow behind might be a better long term investment.
Got a 94 year old customer with a Honda 4042 and his trailer is just about rusted on.

Now there is nothing wrong with ZTR's they mow well and mow quick, but in reality that is about all they will do as the weight distribution means they do not tow particularly well.

Even a used Kubota would be a better investment , particularly a 2 or 3 cyl diesel as these are strong enough to rip deep and even better will run a pipe ripper which makes running ag water lines around your future garden a breeze.

And to be really confusing the stand on loaders work really well on small acreages, particularly if they come with trenchers , back hoe , fork blades, cement mixer ( great for mixing up soil/compost ) and mower although usually they run flails which do not leave the tidiest cut.

bert makes an excellent point. In fact, several excellent points. My deceased brother owns three small 3 cylinder diesel Kubota tractors. Seems like two are 4 wheel drive and one is two wheel drive. He thought he should have a front end loader, no need for one, but, he wanted one. He thought he should have a disc and a blade for them as well. So, he purchased those as well and didn't have gravel or any dirt to move.

I didn't mention we (the two of us) already had two small John Deere tractors of the very same size. One we purchased with the extremely wide front and rear turf tires to use for mowing our larger businesses lawns. We used a pull behind set up that Bert mentions with a great looking lawn at the end of the day. It also had a few belly attachments that we never 'attached'. Oh the fun of shopping for toys. Now we get to number two John Deere, it had a front end loader, a backhoe and some other toys such as a hydraulic post hole digger. No Sir, not just a standard PTO post hole digger, a hydraulic post hole digger. Never saw it attached because it would take most of the day for one fella to install. So, we used my Massey-Ferguson post hole digger with the John Deere PTO shaft attached to my 1947 2N Ford to operate it. A minute to install it and drill away until your hearts desire has been satisfied.

I think Bert is onto something with a small tractor purchase and any attachments you'll need because you can determine which they are and believe me, there are a lot of them. Those little rascals can work pretty hard and in the long run are cheaper than purchasing a Ford 8N because folks are always in love with them for a reason. You can't wear them out.

I still have to sell off all of my brother's "toys" that his widow had no idea how to use, what they do or which toy belongs to which toy. Make her an offer and you can own all of the tractors and toys dirt cheap and worth the drive down to Arkansas. Buy you a trailer, load everything up and tow that rascal home and you'll be all set. lol

All jokes aside, consider Bert's suggestions as that would pretty much solve any future improvements you plan to make.

Have fun,

Max

Hello,

With 5 acres to mow, I think you'd be better off with a zero turn. It would take considerably longer to mow with a SCUT (Sub Compact Utility Tractor).

I mow roughly one acre with my Kubota BX2230 (SCUT) and it takes me about an hour (with the mid mount belly mower)

Zero turns are grass eating monsters, able to go much faster (given your terrain is relatively smooth).

I've never owned a zero turn, but did belong to an R/C model airplane club that had a relatively big airfield and I mowed it with the club's Toro commercial zero turn,,,huge time saver vs a compact tractor.

You can always buy a used tractor after you've lived there a bit. Down side to a zero turn is you can just cut grass, while my tractor cuts grass, plows snow, grades my gravel driveway, etc.

Regards

Jeff

I have a Kubota 3540 with a cab on it and pull a 72" Big Bee finish mower from time to time on places that we have that are several acres. The reason I use the Kubota and the finish mower is that I am 61 years old and the 90+ degree heat is tough and the Kubota has AC. However, I can take a 52" Tiger Cat Scag and cut a whole lot more grass in an hour than I can with the Kubota and finish mower. The Tractor and finish mower will cut about an Acre to an Acre and a half an hour and the Scag 52" will cut 2 acres and hour if the grass is not too deep. Course if the grass is real deep then the finish mower will have to slow down considerably as well.