Noob Here--

Hello-- Noob Here---

Just moved from California to Georgia, and have a bit of lawn to mow. Bought the Hustler Fastrak 60". On the first mow, it took from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm to finish the job. I was pretty happy with the result, setting the mow height at 3.5". However, it may need to be set lower because a week later, it was looking like it needed another go.

My question to the more experienced guys that know these mowers is, how hard can you run them. Sometime the mulch will build up pretty good, and I will slow down quite a bit so as not to bog the engine down too much. Some of the ground is covered in very thick and tall lake tule reeds and such. But I also have a LOT of grass and the mower will run for several hours at a time, including some pretty steep mounds.

Are these units tough enough to run hard?

i dont own a hustler but maybe a few of these points will help...

Run it as long as you need to, i would keep an eye on the deck if alot of mulch gets up around the pulleys heat may start a fire, but thats mostly with dead or dry grass.
Keep an eye on your hours change engine oil accordingly along with air filter, and if the spindles are greasable grease them every few mowings.
And dont get too hot yourself, if you take a brake let the mower idle while you cool off.
And keep your blades sharp/replaced, usually replace them And the deck belt every season. Thats what i do. Owners manual should specify it.

Grass is a funny thing.
The taller you cut it the faster it grows because there is more surface area on each blade in the sunlight.
This means that in some growing areas it will need to be cut every couple of days to keep it looking like a green carpet

However if you cut lower then the different rate of growth will become apparent and the grass will look patchy with areas that will be twice the height of other parts.
The shorter you cut the worse this effect will become.

If you are mulching then the higher you cut the better and the more frequent you cut the better.
For the health of your grass the higher the better and tall grass is far more resistant to weed infestation.
Most will find it takes a lot less time and their gras looks ( and in fact is ) much better to cut between 3" & 4" for broad acre laws
If the grass gets heavy traffic then drop it down 1".

If you are only lopping 1" or less off the top of the grass then you can usually mow at full speed.
The engine must always run at full speed and get a second set of blades so you can sharpen them during the week and always be cutting with sharp blades.
A mower like yours should be able to knock over 3 acres and hour once you become proficient handleing it .

I have customers here who have to mow every 3 days in high summer because they can not tollerate having grass that is not dead flat.

Hi Berts
Thanks for the thorough reply-- makes sense about not cutting so low-- I will give it a try-- and, I'll try to inch towards that three acres per hour.

We are still new to the property and are still discovering new 'areas' that need cutting---as a kid, I hated mowing our crummy 1/4 acre-- but I have to admit that there is something very relaxing and de-stressing about mowing this larger piece of land.
Thanks again...

SF_LawnWorld said:

Hi Berts
Thanks for the thorough reply-- makes sense about not cutting so low-- I will give it a try-- and, I'll try to inch towards that three acres per hour.

We are still new to the property and are still discovering new 'areas' that need cutting---as a kid, I hated mowing our crummy 1/4 acre-- but I have to admit that there is something very relaxing and de-stressing about mowing this larger piece of land.
Thanks again...

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Just make sure the "other half" never gets on the mower or she will also find a pleasure in mowing and you will end up doing the vacuming.

bertsmobile1 said:

Just make sure the "other half" never gets on the mower or she will also find a pleasure in mowing and you will end up doing the vacuming.

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My Advice: be sure to hide the key where only you know where it is then when asked for the key casually scratch your head and say the 'vacuum cleaner must've sucked it up'...:laughing:

Scrubcadet10 said:

My Advice: be sure to hide the key where only you know where it is then when asked for the key casually scratch your head and say the 'vacuum cleaner must've sucked it up'...:laughing:

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Precisely. :thumbsup: & congrats on your relocation !!!

And mowing every week is normal here in TN.. Otherwise it turns into a jungle. And double mowing is involved to get it right..

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move this thread over to our Hustler section.