Spartan Zero Turn Mowers

I hadn't seen a 4ws garden tractor, either - that's cool! I have 10 acres and mow about half of it, with trees everywhere. I used to mow with a 72" shredder behind my 50hp Kubota tractor, but it would take me 6-8 hours. I bought a 61" Scag ZT mower, which cut that time in half. And a plus was that my wife actually likes running the Scag, but hates the Kubota. Win - win! Cut the time in half and now have help. :)
 
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Apparition said:
I've had an X534 for at least 7 years. Have had yards as big as an acre and as small as .2 acres but the 54" deck has made quick work of all of it.

Maybe not what I'd want for a golf course but most my neighbors tell me they want it.
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I have 4.3 acres but I'm leaving a lot of it wild so I probably only have 3/4-1 acre to actually mow. This one only has a 42" deck but I think that will work in my favor with the trees.
 
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sab said:
I hadn't seen a 4ws garden tractor, either - that's cool! I have 10 acres and mow about half of it, with trees everywhere. I used to mow with a 72" shredder behind my 50hp Kubota tractor, but it would take me 6-8 hours. I bought a 61" Scag ZT mower, which cut that time in half. And a plus was that my wife actually likes running the Scag, but hates the Kubota. Win - win! Cut the time in half and now have help. :)
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Mike_H said:
I upgraded to a ZT stander a couple years ago. Best mower I’ve ever used. I don’t have a large yard, living in town, but I do have UG sprinkling. I mow 2x a week, so being able to do it in about 20 minutes is really nice. The ZT gets me close enough to everything I only need to run the trimmer about twice a month, which is good because I hate running the trimmer.
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After having a nice ZT I won't go back to a small garden tractor mower. My 1980s 214 John Deere would take me over 2 hours to cut our yard. With the Spartan I can do it in under 45 minutes.

I get time back, which makes the expense worth it. Especially when the grass is cut once a week for nearly 6 months.
 
Irun said:
After having a nice ZT I won't go back to a small garden tractor mower. My 1980s 214 John Deere would take me over 2 hours to cut our yard. With the Spartan I can do it in under 45 minutes.

I get time back, which makes the expense worth it. Especially when the grass is cut once a week for nearly 6 months.
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Yeah, I went from a push mower to a 42" tractor with a gearbox...That REALLY sucked. Upgraded to hydrstatic and used that for quite a while. Did a nice job, and it wasn't terrible. I have a lot of landscaping, a pool, and fenceposts to mow around though...once I got the ZT, I won't ever go back. I do miss my cupholder though...Luckily mowing is fast enough I don't get too thirsty while I'm doing it :)
 
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Irun said:
After having a nice ZT I won't go back to a small garden tractor mower. My 1980s 214 John Deere would take me over 2 hours to cut our yard. With the Spartan I can do it in under 45 minutes.

I get time back, which makes the expense worth it. Especially when the grass is cut once a week for nearly 6 months.
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My wife has been wanting a ZT for years. Only a little more than 1/2 acre and currently having a garden tractor with a 54" deck and power steering, I'm not seeing the necessity. Plus the garden tractor has a snowblower.
 
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Shank said:
My wife has been wanting a ZT for years. Only a little more than 1/2 acre and currently having a garden tractor with a 54" deck and power steering, I'm not seeing the necessity. Plus the garden tractor has a snowblower.
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I was in the same boat. If you don't have anything to mow around...its fine. If you have a bunch to mow around, the ZT will save you time. I still have a tractor for other yard work, but mowing is now dedicated to the ZT.
 
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Yeah, a tractor is the typical jack of all trades, and a ZT mower is the typical master of one. Having both is very nice, but even with both, I'm left wanting more. The front loader on my tractor is not nearly as versatile as a skid steer, for instance.
 
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sab said:
Yeah, a tractor is the typical jack of all trades, and a ZT mower is the typical master of one. Having both is very nice, but even with both, I'm left wanting more. The front loader on my tractor is not nearly as versatile as a skid steer, for instance.
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My dad also has a small Kubota tractor and a load of dirt in the front load bucket is right about the limit for it. A load of rock is too heavy and the back tires get light.
 
freedom_in_4low said:
My dad also has a small Kubota tractor and a load of dirt in the front load bucket is right about the limit for it. A load of rock is too heavy and the back tires get light.
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That can be solved with ballast in the rear tires. If the loader can handle rock, but it's just a tractor-weight issue, have him ask his dealer about anti-freeze in the tires. Beet juice is one commonly used ballast - it's considerably more dense than water, it's non-corrosive, and it's non-toxic. My tractor has about 1600 lb of liquid ballast in the tires. I did it myself (didn't use beet juice because I didn't know about it at the time), and the cost was pretty reasonable. It made the thing much more useful. The impossible-to-solve issues are: 1) I can't see the cutting edge of the bucket - ever, and 2) a tractor with a loader vs a skid steer is like a garden tractor vs a ZT mower when it comes to maneuverability. It's a very looooong vehicle!
 
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sab said:
That can be solved with ballast in the rear tires. If the loader can handle rock, but it's just a tractor-weight issue, have him ask his dealer about anti-freeze in the tires. Beet juice is one commonly used ballast - it's considerably more dense than water, it's non-corrosive, and it's non-toxic. My tractor has about 1600 lb of liquid ballast in the tires. I did it myself (didn't use beet juice because I didn't know about it at the time), and the cost was pretty reasonable. It made the thing much more useful. The impossible-to-solve issues are: 1) I can't see the cutting edge of the bucket - ever, and 2) a tractor with a loader vs a skid steer is like a garden tractor vs a ZT mower when it comes to maneuverability. It's a very looooong vehicle!
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Yeah, a tractor with a bucket is useful, but a skid steer will move three times the material in the same time


My dad and I were moving a dirt pile after building a 40 x 60 barn. I was on a 30 hp Deere with a bucket, manual transmission. He had rented a skid steer with a 1/2 yard bucket. He was doing circles around me. It was ridiculous how much better the skid steer was at what we were trying to do. We’re weren’t even trying to “dig.” Just move a pile of top soil that was left over from pouring the pylons and floor.
 
Mike_H said:
Yeah, a tractor with a bucket is useful, but a skid steer will move three times the material in the same time


My dad and I were moving a dirt pile after building a 40 x 60 barn. I was on a 30 hp Deere with a bucket, manual transmission. He had rented a skid steer with a 1/2 yard bucket. He was doing circles around me. It was ridiculous how much better the skid steer was at what we were trying to do. We’re weren’t even trying to “dig.” Just move a pile of top soil that was left over from pouring the pylons and floor.
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Now haul two big round bales of hay at the same time a mile down the road with a skid steer. There’s a reason we had both.

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Apparition said:
Now haul two big round bales of hay at the same time a mile down the road with a skid steer. There’s a reason we had both.

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Gotta have the right tool for the job!

Just like a hi lo will haul skids way easier than a tractor with a fork attachment for the Bucket arms, but the tractor will get the job done, eventually. Sure beats the alternative tho.
 
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Mike_H said:
Gotta have the right tool for the job!

Just like a hi lo will haul skids way easier than a tractor with a fork attachment for the Bucket arms, but the tractor will get the job done, eventually. Sure beats the alternative tho.
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Our loader was our blade tractor for cleaning the cattle lots to clearing our driveway in the winter. It also was used for a three point brush mower in places where our 20’ brush mower didn’t make sense.

A good front wheel assist loader also works well for hilly uneven ground that a skid steer wouldn’t like.

Skid steer was quick for cleaning stalls though.
 
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