question on 721D

[Jinzo Ningen]

I have this guy at the shop where I work who is selling his GH. It's a 1997 721D with a 72" deck. I know NOTHING about GH mowers other than what little I've read so far here. I am unsure of the hours, but figuring his quote of 90min mow time twice a week 6mos a year then that gives me approximately 1450+/- hours on it. He says it's in excellent shape and he's asking $3200 for it. Does that sound like a fair deal?? He will be getting the exact hours off the mower tonight as well as taking a few pics of it to show me tomorrow. If it looks OK then I'll try and see it in person and maybe do a test mow.

I would appreciate any feedback you GH owners have. All aspects, good & bad are welcomed. What are they good at? What sucks about them? Any service headaches or odd mechanical behavior faults I should know about? I want to make as much of an informed decision as I possibly can. My main reason for buying it is that it has the front deck and is 16 inches wider than the 54" on my JD GT235. Also the GH front mowers are supposed to be capable of running other attachments? I'm interested in either a plow blade or a snothrower (or both). Do the GH mowers really work as well as they say and does GH still make attachment stuff to fit a mower that's 14 years old?? How long was this model in production? Sorry for so many questions... please help a noob out here! LOL

Thanks!!!

 

[KennyV]

I have seen only good things said about GH...
The diesel engine is a big +, the guys I know that have GH love them... and that price for those low hours is a great deal on a nice size machine... :smile:KennyV

 

[Ida-Boy]

Larger the deck the more it will tend to scalp. I have a 61" and sometimes I wish I would have went with a 54" deck...

 

[KennyV]

Larger the deck the more it will tend to scalp. I have a 61" and sometimes I wish I would have went with a 54" deck...

I run a 72 inch on my ZTR and an 84 inch finish grooming mower, (neither are GH)... I have never had scalping problems...
But I try to keep the area I mow as level as I can, ... :smile:KennyV

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

Larger the deck the more it will tend to scalp. I have a 61" and sometimes I wish I would have went with a 54" deck...

I wondered about that super deck width having negative aspects, too. When I asked the guy and he said that his lawn is sort of bumpy and uneven - as is mine - but that the deck's roller wheels really minimize scalping in all but the worst cases. I've seen some mowers (I think the Ventrak is one) where the deck is actually three sections hinged together to form one "self-adjusting"deck, allowing it to sort of "float" over uneven lawn profiles without scalping. My other concern is hilly terrain. I have some shallow ditches and side hills that I'd worry about being able to safely traverse on a ZTR.

I want to cover as much acreage as possible in the shortest time so that 72" deck is very tempting, but don't want to scalp the snot out of my lawn and dull the blades all to hell, nor be unable to mow everywhere and therefor have to hang onto my Deere just to hit those roadside ditch sections and the other steep areas on my property. The biggest advantage of the front-mount - especially in Grasshopper's case, is having attachments to allow it to work year 'round. That really helps justify the price.

Thanks for the responses. Keep 'em coming folks!

 

[Black Bart]

I wondered about that super deck width having negative aspects, too. When I asked the guy and he said that his lawn is sort of bumpy and uneven - as is mine - but that the deck's roller wheels really minimize scalping in all but the worst cases. I've seen some mowers (I think the Ventrak is one) where the deck is actually three sections hinged together to form one "self-adjusting"deck, allowing it to sort of "float" over uneven lawn profiles without scalping. My other concern is hilly terrain. I have some shallow ditches and side hills that I'd worry about being able to safely traverse on a ZTR.

I want to cover as much acreage as possible in the shortest time so that 72" deck is very tempting, but don't want to scalp the snot out of my lawn and dull the blades all to hell, nor be unable to mow everywhere and therefor have to hang onto my Deere just to hit those roadside ditch sections and the other steep areas on my property. The biggest advantage of the front-mount - especially in Grasshopper's case, is having attachments to allow it to work year 'round. That really helps justify the price.

Thanks for the responses. Keep 'em coming folks!

I have not had any scalping problems but my lawn is pretty much flat.

A front deck like the GH is not as good at climbing as a mid mount my GH has poor traction I would not try mowing much of a ditch with it.

How deep and how wide is your ditch.

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

The hours are even lower than I had expected. The meter reads 903.4 for a 14 year old GH... seems pretty low; averages out to about 130hrs per year. I am hoping he gets some pics of the mower itself & deck for me to check out tomorrow. If everything looks good then I may go take a look at his 'Hopper this weekend.

Black Bart,
The ditch along the east side of my driveway isn't very tall; about a 20 degree slope and 100 feet long. Not wide either; 1 pass would mow each bank. The area I am concerned with is a steep embankment where the main road along the edge of my property slopes upward. There's a sidehill that's probably pretty close to 30 - 45 degrees, but it's only about 40 feet long or so before the bank turns almost vertical and I obviously don't mow that, not even with a weedwhacker.

I emailed Grasshopper last night requesting more info and to inquire if the attachments for their current 721DT line will still fit up to a 721 that's 14+ years old. If so then great, if not then I'll have to scour Craigslist and/or other internet sites with used implements for sale and hope I can score a dozer blade and/or a snowthrower in good shape for a reasonable price. (As you can see, I've already pretty much made up my mind about this piece of machinery. LOL.)

 

[Black Bart]

The hours are even lower than I had expected. The meter reads 903.4 for a 14 year old GH... seems pretty low; averages out to about 130hrs per year. I am hoping he gets some pics of the mower itself & deck for me to check out tomorrow. If everything looks good then I may go take a look at his 'Hopper this weekend.

Black Bart,
The ditch along the east side of my driveway isn't very tall; about a 20 degree slope and 100 feet long. Not wide either; 1 pass would mow each bank. The area I am concerned with is a steep embankment where the main road along the edge of my property slopes upward. There's a sidehill that's probably pretty close to 30 - 45 degrees, but it's only about 40 feet long or so before the bank turns almost vertical and I obviously don't mow that, not even with a weedwhacker.

I emailed Grasshopper last night requesting more info and to inquire if the attachments for their current 721DT line will still fit up to a 721 that's 14+ years old. If so then great, if not then I'll have to scour Craigslist and/or other internet sites with used implements for sale and hope I can score a dozer blade and/or a snowthrower in good shape for a reasonable price. (As you can see, I've already pretty much made up my mind about this piece of machinery. LOL.)

If you are correct and it is 40 degree slope I can guarantee you the Grasshopper WILL NOT climb that hill and for that matter it won't come down it either.

A ZTR can not climb that and a GH will not climb nearly as well as a ZTR.

Grasshoppers are poor on a slope I would not use a tractor on a slope that big.
Are you sure about the degree of slope.
What have you been using on it in the past.

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

If you are correct and it is 40 degree slope I can guarantee you the Grasshopper WILL NOT climb that hill and for that matter it won't come down it either.

A ZTR can not climb that and a GH will not climb nearly as well as a ZTR.

Grasshoppers are poor on a slope I would not use a tractor on a slope that big.
Are you sure about the degree of slope.
What have you been using on it in the past.

When I inherited the property from my late father the fields & roadsides had NEVER been cleaned up. It was a haven for biting insects that would come out of the weeds & brush literally in clouds and just about carry you off. Not to mention that I felt it just looked like sh!t. That bank is steep; I'm guessing 35 - 40, but it's not very long, again maybe 30 - 40 feet before it becomes too steep to even think about mowing with anything but a weedeater. I have to lean towards the bank and hold onto the bankside fender when mowing it. I'm using my '99 John Deere GT235 w/ a 54" deck. Now the bank is only 4' - 5' high from bottom to top. I know it wouldn't be a big deal to let it grow back. I'm thinking that I could just approach it from the level section at the bottom of the slope with the 'Hopper and drive up to the bank and hit it with the 72" deck, back down and move right and hit the next unmowed section, etc., etc. Would only have to do that maybe 4 or 5 times, once a month. Most everything else on the property is flat or on only very mild grades (under 15 degrees). I have some walking / riding trails in my small patch of woods, but nothing steep or dangerous. I could almost justify keeping the Deere for those trails and the roadside bank, I suppose.

 

[Black Bart]

When I inherited the property from my late father the fields & roadsides had NEVER been cleaned up. It was a haven for biting insects that would come out of the weeds & brush literally in clouds and just about carry you off. Not to mention that I felt it just looked like sh!t. That bank is steep; I'm guessing 35 - 40, but it's not very long, again maybe 30 - 40 feet before it becomes too steep to even think about mowing with anything but a weedeater. I have to lean towards the bank and hold onto the bankside fender when mowing it. I'm using my '99 John Deere GT235 w/ a 54" deck. Now the bank is only 4' - 5' high from bottom to top. I know it wouldn't be a big deal to let it grow back. I'm thinking that I could just approach it from the level section at the bottom of the slope with the 'Hopper and drive up to the bank and hit it with the 72" deck, back down and move right and hit the next unmowed section, etc., etc. Would only have to do that maybe 4 or 5 times, once a month. Most everything else on the property is flat or on only very mild grades (under 15 degrees). I have some walking / riding trails in my small patch of woods, but nothing steep or dangerous. I could almost justify keeping the Deere for those trails and the roadside bank, I suppose.

If you buy that GH and it sounds like you are really hot on it DON"T sell the JD tractor until you have mowed a few times with the GH.

I think you may be able to get a run and get that 5 feet but it may slide back down like I said a GH is a great mower but not worth a dam on hills.

Tall grass never really drys so be careful it may work but it is really pushing the limit of what that mower can do I have had mine spin on level ground just had one caster wheel over a slight drop off about an inch.

The GH has a spring that you can tighten on each side it is connected to a cantilever and it lifts on the rear of the deck putting more weight on the drive tires.

If you buy it be sure to crank those springs to the max it will help your traction.:thumbsup:
I have been mowing with a GH for the past 25 years wore out 2 of them so I know a little bit about a GH