Best zero turn for residential use? Little over 1/2 acre

I got the bare bones John Deere zero turn from Sunshine Outdoors 5 years ago and have had zero issues with it.

I won't lie though, if I was in the market today I'd probably try out a robot mower like a Mammotion. I have a buddy who has had one for a few years and loves it. Being able to have a mowed lawn all the time would be real nice.

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Neither one is important for cutting a half acre

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engine won’t even be warmed up before the job is finished

If you really want a zero turn look at a smaller one. 42” max.

There are a couple of smaller ones.
Also consider a commercial push mower.

I was mowing 3/4 acre and bought a Gravely wide area walk 34” mower. It would know it out pretty quickly.
Sold the extra lot I had and gave it to my FIL.

There are also 30” commercial push mowers.

I had a 22hp cub cadet lawn tractor for 10 years.
Got a Toro zero turn 22hp before this summer. $3,200. The same cub cadet lawn tractor was i think $2,500.
My house is on almost a 1 acre lot.

I went with the zero turn b/c i was tired of the cub cadet bogging down in the thick grass, and it was giving me a bunch of problems and was time for a new mower.
Wasn't going to spend ridiculous money on a commercial zero turn for my residential lot. The Graverly and Hustler's that were 42" cuts were almost a thousand dollars more and only 18hp motors. I can't imagine they would have been stronger mowers considering they have smaller hp engines. Maybe my thinking was wrong. I don't know. My new Toro gets bogged down at times, not as much as the cub cadet, but still more than i'd like.

That being said, i'm not disappointed with my Toro's power, but good lord that thing has zero traction. It absolutely sucks on any incline. If the yard is slightly wet i'm going to leaves some ruts where i turn sharply b/c one wheel without a doubt spin and peel out. I can't tell you how often i am maneuvering around and don't move b/c one wheel is spinning with zero traction and just ripping the yard up while i don't move. Never had that problem with the lawn tractor.
A solution would be to get better tires with grips like a 4 wheeler, but i feel like it would just rut up the yard even more.
The better solution is to just drive a lot slower and turn with a lot a care and slow speeds, but to me that defeats the purpose of the zero turn. If i have to do all of that so i don't rut the yard up, then i might as well have just stayed with a lawn tractor b/c i'm not cutting the yard faster with the faster zero turn if i have to baby it with every single turn.


What i wish i could have purchased is the Snapper that Forrest Gump had.

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Mine has the Kohler engine. No complaints.

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Same... only issue I've had is the starter went bad last season. Was a fairly easy repair

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I wouldn't get a ZTR for 1/2 acre. Maybe a cheap riding lawnmower at most

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It gets the job done for me in less than 15 minutes with minimum effort and gets in corners my old John Deere riding mower wouldn’t be able to, not sure what the problem is?

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You'll always need to weed eat some spots.

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I’ve been on an edging kick where I’m replacing edging with pavers around beds set below cut level so I can just put the blades right over them and only have to edge the pavers every second or third cut with no trimming needed, highly recommend.

Same. 7 years… knock on wood

It just recently started cutting uneven, but I think just need to change blades

And advice on that appreciated

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advice on that appreciated

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Park it on concrete and start measuring stuff. Should be pretty apparent what is out of whack.

Usually, it's a low tire.