Tending the Grass

Winter ended with our final snow just a few weeks ago. It seems like we are jumping right into spring without much back and forth this year. Was nice last week and weekend, then rain forecast almost each day for this week. This means the grass is growing like mad, and will definitely need mowing by the coming weekend. We've got about 4-5 acres that we keep mowed. Not huge by some standards, but not something you want to push mow unless that's your full-time job.

This year, I splurged on a new Zero Turn Riding Mower (ZTR). I found out last year that the Swisher pull-behind mower for the ATV did a great job of mowing the big field, but leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to getting in close or under some of our trees, and in-between several places. This left me quite a bit of manual push-mower work, amounting to 2-3 hours of it spread over a few sessions. Some of it is on steep hill that wears me out pretty quickly, and the rest, well I would put off until really tall, which then was even more work. I work really long hours during the week (and sometimes weekend as well), and the last thing I want to do is give up all my precious free weekend hours mowing the grass. I don't mind a bit, but not when it takes all weekend.

So of course I did research on several of them first. I previously had a Husqvarna 46" ZTR back in Colorado. It did ok, but the grass there was dry most of the time and only had to mow about once every month. Here in Vermont the grass stays wet from the morning dew until at least 2pm and seems to grow much more rapidly, needing mowed at least every week to keep it under control and looking reasonably nice.

After the research, I ended up with this Toro 54" TimeCutter model. It has good reputation for cutting tall, wet grass well with enough clearance to keep it from bogging down. It has a 24 Horsepower Kohler engine, easy to adjust blade height with foot lever assist, and my favorite nicety, the "My Ride" Suspended shock absorbing seat.

This is adjustable, and will really help take the bumps and bounces off my back. It also has an attached tow hitch (pin style) that could pull a small yard trailer, wagon, or even the pull behind Swisher mower off to the side for super width mowing of the field.

There of course is the grass shield which redirects the clippings that can either be hinged up for tight spaces, or replace with a mulching kit.

A handy part for later will be the belt routing diagram pictured right on top of the deck. Not sure how that will hold up over time, but nice touch to have it there instead of having to run to the user manual. Hopefully won't have to use that for a few years, but all mowers seem to eventually need those belts replaced.

So now I feel fully prepared, you can see the Ego Electric pushmower in the background of the top pic. While I really do love that thing for it's super portable nature and ease of use by just pushing the button it's time to give my legs and back a break this year and reduce the push mowing to minimum.