Hard Riding Mower

[rustred]

Thanks to all for replies. front tires are tubeless 13x6.5 and rears are 24x12. All are hard as rocks. I suppose last time it was serviced the shop aired them up good and I wasn't paying attention. I'll be letting a lot of air out and that has got to help. Also slowing down is a good idea. Good to know there isn't some great rider so I don't end up trading a really solid mower. The Cub is all heavy plate and supposed to weigh about 1400 pounds? so that ought to soften the tires some.

6 lbs of air is enough in them tires. Look on the tire also as they have a recommendation right on them. It sure is not 20 lbs.

 

[4play]

A full suspension ZTR is a game changer if comfort is important to you. My ZTR can hit 18MPH and I can go through my pasture at full speed with comfort, bumps don't matter, its a very smooth ride. I don't mow that fast but its nice for comfort and speed.

I feel that your money would be best spent on a real suspension seat, the only drawback is the added ride height due to needing seat travel. The cheaper brackets that go between the seat and seat frame don't make a significant difference, keep that in mind. A true suspension seat should give you around 3 inches of travel, and adjustable to your weight ( usually a large dial on the front of the seat cushion) These types of seats are expensive, my mower came with one, but the upgrade would have cost about $600. Everyone I have known that was reluctant to spend the money on one of these suspension seats, were glad they finally bought one.

 

[ss55]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

Besides smoothing the lawn, would it be possible to shrink the size of the lawn? If not, maybe mow the perimeter with a 7 foot sickle mower or a rough cut rotary mower and mow the center with the ZRT finish mower?

Fall is a very good time to reseed a lawn.

 

[blueridge]

6 lbs of air is enough in them tires. Look on the tire also as they have a recommendation right on them. It sure is not 20 lbs.

rear tires on my Hustler calls for 10 lbs. I run 5 in them and fronts have tubes and i run 10 in them, helps some on ride.

 

[showcrop]

I bought a ten year old Ferris 12 years ago. I don't mow an acre but I bought it because of arthritis. It was traded in on a new one by a city water treatment plant with a little under 2000 hours. I paid $1500 for it and it is still going strong. Many of us here at YT recognize that a used Industrial/commercial anything will far outlast a new homeowner unit.

 

[buick8]

The rear tires will have more traction with less air pressure, up to a point. Too much air pressure makes them rougher. I tried no-flat front tires and it rode so rough I took them off. I have run a Hustler since 2009 with good success; imo they would benefit from either a single front wheel in the center or a pivot front axle. The zero-turn depends on traction of both drive wheels for steering and if one loses traction there you are.

 

[gblj]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

 

[Brownie450]

Some outfit should put out a mower with tracks. Would
probably ride better. we mow a rural cemetery that is
nothing but rough what with the livestock [coons, ground
squirrels, foxes] digging everywhere. We mow it with the
Cub now but used to mow with cub cadets. Not smooth
at all.
Jim

 

[gblj]

I put these on my Cub Cadet, helps some, but going slower helps, bought on Amazon they have 2 inch and 3 inch

 

[Fritz Maurer]

My theory on smoothing a rough lawn is like a gravel or dirt road.
You can add dirt and/or gravel and smooth it out. But in a short time the same holes and whoop dee do's are back again.

Same goes for a lawn, adding dirt to low spots only last a short time before they are back. Need to start the lawn from scratch. Plow it, disc it, drag it, etc. and then plant seed or lay down sod.

Regarding the driveway problem, the reason for this is that people get just enough stone to fill in the holes. If they use #57, the water is still in there … just hidden from view.

The drive needs to be ripped to the depth of the potholes and re-graded with some kind of water-tight material like #304 , high enough to shed the water. If they are stingy with the stone on a driveway, that problem will reoccur forever.

 

[showcrop]

Regarding the driveway problem, the reason for this is that people get just enough stone to fill in the holes. If they use #57, the water is still in there … just hidden from view.

The drive needs to be ripped to the depth of the potholes and re-graded with some kind of water-tight material like #304 , high enough to shed the water. If they are stingy with the stone on a driveway, that problem will reoccur forever.

You must be in Ohio. those numbers are not used around here.

 

[Hobo,NC]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

I have a Exmark like this.

I had a Gravely it beat me to death I later found out the suspension seat was sticking. Up until my wife passed she mowed the yard 80% of the time I did not realize the suspension seat had gone south. All I knew is it wore me out and I wanted a upgrade : )

 

[Texasmark]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

I spent a lot of time, in and out replacement effort, and several thousand dollars, getting a soft ride on my machines.
1. Cub Cadet ZTs have a larger diameter, softer coil spring than any mower of any type I have experienced......your first clue is that they don't have the diameter or coil thickness that you would expect on a set of combustion engine valve springs.........no bray, just fact.......

I don't have the number handy but you can go by a dealer of mowers (Tractor Supply is where I saw the machine with the spring I thought (and did) would work, and with your hand push down on the back of the seat. When you get to the right spring, you'll know it. Pull up the parts list for that mower and buy the seat springs.....they will be much larger in diameter and the wire gauge will be somewhat lower, with slightly longer length.

2. Mower OEM lawn tread tires, with their stiff sidewall, are just about able to support you and the mower with no air.....been there performed the test. Go to an ATV tire dealer online and look at "2 ply studded, snow tires", 5 PSI max pressure, with the diameters to fit your machine as are the originals, ODs. They will have the lugs to give you the traction you need and have the soft sidewall, with the low air pressure to give you a soft ride. Don't worry about what they cost....which isn't all that bad as I have numerous sets that I have been running on my farm for a couple of decades and they are still 95% of what they were when bought and installed.
3. Only air them up to the point that they will stay on the wheel. That means when you put your foot on the tire, front or rear, and it caves in about an inch on rears and half that on the front, where you pushed, you are there.

I guarantee you that I have about 6 mowers, and 7 tractors, all used by me at 82 with a bad back, as the requirement exists, and I have soft riding on all of them......OEMs make seats on their equipment for pristeen upper class customers with velvet lawns and seem to have absolutely NO REGARD for those folks like me, that have hard clay for an underlayment.

On tractor seats, get one that has an adjustable tension suspension seat that has a deflection of about 4" minimum.....the little underseat 1" is an absolute joke......not enough deflection range, The popular back mounted spring type, selling for about a hundred bucks are a great choice. Air seats are expensive and I had one on my 2007 Branson when I bought it new, and worked ok, but they have leakage problems....always fooling with them.....spring suspension with the length of travel for you to back off the tension to get the soft ride, as I mentioned above...........and "disconnecting the worthless shock absorber"....just send spikes up your spine as they are too stiff, should put you where you want to be....easily disconnected with the seat installed with one nut. I have at least half a dozen worthless seats, costing a lot of money sitting on a shelf in my shop.....totally worthless.

I hope that my tutorial helps you to achieve what I have spent years and lots of money trying to achieve.

 

[Texasmark]

If you are convinced a ZTR cuts your mowing time in half, good chance you are driving 2 to 3 times faster.
I've seen Michelin airless tires on a commercial John Deere ZTR and they are flying and not bouncing.
Do you remember when snapper made a riding mower with small front tires and they would bounce your teeth out.
Some ZTRs have solid front tires adding to the ruff ride.

Why not drive slower and mow 72 inches at a time. The Farmall C rides like a Cadillac and does a great job going slower.

The suckers that can be ordered on JD mowers, airless, are an absolute JOKE. Don't cram that crap down anybody's throat that wants a soft ride....as a matter of fact, I have a pair that I will givesomebody if they want them for paying the shipping charges and a little for my time!!!!!!!!

 

[Texasmark]

A smoothing of the lawn might be both as expensive and permanent solution. Loam in a truck load and a box blade would do wonders! Jim

After I retired, long after being a small boy that played with dump trucks in sand piles, I achieved a life long desire to own a "Rock Bucket" as the local federalies called them. In that process, I could spend a day around Dallas delivering agragate of different sorts, and on the way home stop by the sand pit and load up with an 80,000# truck load of cushion sand costing, $20. I'd come home and dump it on my Houston Black clay yard and in time smooth it out....and it was great for a soft ride in my lawn.....but I had a farm....not just a yard. The neat thing about sand over clay, is that the sand insulated the clay from the heat, preserving the subsoil moisture, and balanced the PH which the St. Augustine lawn just loved, and I did too for the soft ride. That's my story.

 

[John M]

The suckers that can be ordered on JD mowers, airless, are an absolute JOKE. Don't cram that crap down anybody's throat that wants a soft ride....as a matter of fact, I have a pair that I will givesomebody if they want them for paying the shipping charges and a little for my time!!!!!!!!

Size?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

A smoothing of the lawn might be both as expensive and permanent solution. Loam in a truck load and a box blade would do wonders! Jim

I don't know how well, or if it works, but I've been seeing a LOT of videos lately of people smoothing their lawns with SAND.

The idea being, the sand fills in the low spots and the grass quickly grows up through it. After a week or so, the lawn looks normal again.

 

[oldproudvet]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

Toro and Stihl, major manufacturers of mowers, have excellent ZT's with the entire platform suspended. Ride is just like your 55 Buick, like on air. Try one, you'll love it. Stay away from minor brands - Ferris? Never heard of it. Larry

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I mow an acre of very old very rough lawn. Bought a 54 inch Cub Cadet ZTR a few years ago hoping the extra heft and fancy seat would smooth things out. Mower hasnt helped, I'm really beat up after mowing. Have started only mowing in 1/2s to ease the pain. I briefly looked at Ferris mowers for the suspension but ended up with the Cub. Does anyone have experience with a really good riding ZTR. At my age im not interested in a 20k mower, could just hire it mowed and skip the pain.

Slow down a little and run a tad less tire pressure? gm

 

[moresmoke]

A smoothing of the lawn might be both as expensive and permanent solution. Loam in a truck load and a box blade would do wonders! Jim

I was going to say powered landscape rake. Aka Harley rake. They work wonders on rough lawns.