Entry level zero turn advice needed

Hello,

I'm new to this site and new to this forum, but everyone seems very helpful so i thought i'd pose a question. I searched a lot but there are some new models that havent been discussed that i was wondering if anyone has insight on. Here are the models i'm looking at. I would guess they are all in the same "league" but curious if theres any i should avoid. I was leaning heavily towards the Cub Cadet because its brand new and has a lot of features.

- Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 42
- Ariens IKON-X 42
- Gravely ZT X 42
- John Deere Z345M/R
- Hustler Raptor (Kohler 22HP or Kawasaki 18HP?)
- Toro Timecutter 42

I'm pretty sure each of these has the exact same Kohler 7000 engine with the exception of the JD/Toro.

My budget is about 3500 including bagging attachment. I was going to mulch but this site convinced me to bag/side discharge. Someone feel free to chime in on mulching.

Property description: 130 feet of frontage, slight rolling hill up to the house where it is mostly flat for about 80 feet or so around the house to the back yard then the back yard has a bit of an incline up to back fence/neighbor. total mowable area is 3/4 acre unobstructed. Zero Turn might seem like overkill for this size yard vs a lawn tractor but i was hoping to zip through the mowing as quickly as possible. I'm a new homeowner and work 50+ hours a week in an office, so i was looking for something that would be reliable and would get the mowing done in less than 45 minutes.

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: One additional note, i need the mower to be less than 53 inches overall width to store in my shed in the winter. in the summer it will live in the garage but i've gotta store it for the winter, so likely i'd remove the grass chute to get it to fit through the shed door.

Would love to hear some opinions here as well. I am shopping and have been talked INTO just mulching...no bagging. I'm in Tennessee and the dealerships I've visited say they very rarely sell the bagging attachment.

I started looking at all of your options and have moved my focus to a ZTR with a minimum of 2800 hydros. Get's the price higher for sure....maybe a tad bit above your target.

Interesting, i'll have to see what some of the dealers say for the bagger. Mulching would be much easier and healthier for the lawn but ive read you really have to stay on top of it because if it gets too long you'll get clumping and missed cuts.

With the good quality mowers your are looking at and the relatively small size of your lawn....if you have to go over an area twice it shouldn't take too long. That has been my justification I guess. Going over a clumpy area twice with a push mower?? No thanks. But the zero turn should be much quicker and easier option for hitting areas twice. Plus...after testing out a ZTR....they are fun to drive! I might not want to put it up. I will be honest and say tho that I'm a little worried about not having a bagger. It's something i can add down the road if life is too difficult without one.

Also.....based on your list:

My shopping had me narrowed down to the Gravely and Ariens which becomes a choice of where you want to buy it because they are the same mower with different names on it. Ariens is the family name and they make Gravely (commercial line). I think most would recommend the Toro Timecutter as well. For some reason I didn't gravitate towards it. Too many people complained about the deck on the Hustler being cheap / weak / unreliable so I eliminated Hustler. That Cub Cadet seemed fine with me as well. I think you have a good list.

Yeah i wonder how hard it would be to switch back and forth from mulching to bagging. like can i leave the mulching blades on and just remove the plug from the deck and put on the bagger? i suppose that answer would vary by brand. like i know my grass right now is like 7 inches in some places because it got too mushy to mow in the fall, so i'd probably have a LOT of clumps at first spring mow time, so id probably want to bag, but ongoing maintenance i bet mulching would be fine, until fall again when i might want to bag the leaves.

I don't have the Raptor, but the Raptor SD, and I can tell you the deck cuts fine in our northern grasses and is anything but cheap, weak or unreliable. I looked at all of them when I bought 3 summers ago and out of all of the ZTR's 4K or lower, this was by far the heavier build from the hydro's to the engine to the frame and deck. I would have had to jump to either used commercial or 5,5K and up to get heavier.

I am looking at it the exact same way. I have a ton of trees and the leaves....my god the leaves. but i've seen a lot of guys talk about mulching the leaves in the fall as well. with so many bagging options i'm just not sure i want to go all in yet. The gravely bagging options are pricey i think. $1,000 maybe for the fan assisted attachment? Dont hold me to that because it's been a while since i shopped it. And I'm not sure how well these things TRULY perform with the fan attachment for the bagger. Unclogging the tube every 6 feet doesnt sound fun. So i'm jut gonna start mowing with a mulching kit if i ever decide which ZTR i'm gonna buy. Leaning towards the Scag Liberty Z

I on the .5 acres immediately around the house I have 3 40-50 year old sugar maples and 1 50 year old ash in the back and a red maple, 2 birch and 2 more sugar maples up front. I have a fair amount of leaves and I tried bagging one year with a lawn tractor and never again. I was emptying more than I was bagging. When I got my Hustler i just blow them all towards a couple pine trees. Chops them up well and blows them over really nicely. In the early part of the year I blow them a bit at a time every time I cut the grass and blow them back into the yard where the finish decomposing pretty quickly. No muss, no fuss.

Just popped into a power equipment dealer on my lunch break, looked at a Husqvarna Z242F. Solid machine. Last thing i needed was another option though. i think i need to start eliminating.

I think i'm gonna end up bagging most of the year because i dont want grass clippings all over my kids feet when they come inside after playing. I'll probably have the mulching kit installed from the dealer for when i want it but have the bagger on there.