Anyone have reasonably priced brand/size/style mower recommendations for around 9 acres? Mostly flat but a few slightly sloping hills. I've always been a push mower guy, but I don't want to do that for 9 acres!

Post this on the OB.

You need a tractor and shredder.

scag ztr
http://www.scag.com/zeroturns.html

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/2954241

Tractor and shredder or Scag with 61' mower deck

Scag Velocity+ or JD 7Iron deck. 60"

Check here for used ones: www.tractorhouse.com

Try to stay under 500 hrs.

Are you trying to keep all nine acres well manicured? If money is no object, I'd have a zero turn for the couple acres surrounding the house and then tractor shredder for the rest (which would be mowed less frequently).

Also wouldn't hurt to have a front end loader for other types of work that might regularly present itself on nine acres.

When I was a boy we had to mow uphill both ways.

03_Aggie said:

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Are you trying to keep all nine acres well manicured? If money is no object, I'd have a zero turn for the couple acres surrounding the house and then tractor shredder for the rest (which would be mowed less frequently).

Also wouldn't hurt to have a front end loader for other types of work that might regularly present itself on nine acres.

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No, it doesn't have to be very well manicured, but money is at least "some" object! Thanks for all this info. Scag is what most people like?

I'd recommend whatever brand the closest dealer, that you have confidence in, sells. I personally purchased an Exmark over a Scag. No real reason beyond the recommendation of a buddy that runs a lawn care business and it was a few hundred cheaper than the comparable scag (rebate and leftover year model).

Been a few years but I seem to recall the hydro pumps and motors are generally the same across all brands. Control layouts and deck seem to be the differences between brands.

03_Aggie said:

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Are you trying to keep all nine acres well manicured? If money is no object, I'd have a zero turn for the couple acres surrounding the house and then tractor shredder for the rest (which would be mowed less frequently).

Also wouldn't hurt to have a front end loader for other types of work that might regularly present itself on nine acres.

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This is the best advice you will get. Personally I have Kubota w/front end loader and tines/forks which makes sooo many jobs sooo much easier to take care of. My Belly Mower does a suberb and is adjustable height at the flick of a lever - and if I really need to get after bigger stuff the bush hog does the trick. Between plowing for gardening, clearing woods, smoothing gravel roads, etc., the $20K I have invested in my Kubota and attachments is one of the best deals I ever made.

P.S. When I bought it I was afraid the Kubota buy might be like the boat and RV I have sitting around doing mostly nothing but attracting dust and requiring insurance payments. And I didn't know if I wanted a Japanese made tractor either. - as I have much bigger farm tractors.

In fact, I use the Kubota every day for something. It has become indispensable - especially as I get older and arthritis creeps in worse every year.

The belly mower is good even for nice close in yard work and is height adjustable for further off to keep the burrs, and unwanted weeds at bay. The ONLY thing it will not do is get into corners which requires a weed eater - or round-up - I use lots of round-up. I have gotten away from smaller mowers altogether. Admit I had to widen gates to accommodate the 6'+ mowing swath. .

Over the years I have had many mfg riding mowers for lawns bigger/over an acre. High dollar ones as well as Sears and even cheaper Murray as well as Troy Built, Cub Cadet and high dollar John Deere and even Massey-Ferguson farm machines. FWIW, riding lawn mowers, the Murray did just as good a job as any wand was cheapest. The most reliable was from Sears. The least reliable was Cub Cadet for me. I've never had a zero turn because paying $5K for an otherwise useless riding mower seems silly to me. I wanted something with a lot more versatility.

Except for the big farm tractors, very 4-5 years I wore out whatever riding mower equipment and need to replace. Most recently (5 years and counting) I bought a used Kubota - mainly because at my age I needed the convenience and advantage of many of the Kubota accessories - especially the front end loader (with removable forks/tines). I have been extremely happy with the purchase and would never go back to a smaller machine except for edge finishing and much smaller fenced area yards, etc. I purposely have put in larger gates for larger mowing equipment.

FWIW, I clean mow about 5 acres all told, and bush hog up to 15 every year out of my "gentlemen's farm". Granted, we also have some stock - goats, chickens, dogs, cats, etc. Have had cows and horses. Horses are the biggest black hole of $$ I have ever owned (besides a boat and RV... Most of my place - purposely - is some pasture and lots of woods for privacy and isolation. I cannot see any neighbors in any direction and live 1/4 mile behind an automatic iron gate from the highway. Depending on where I put them, goats do a pretty good job of mowing undergrowth, brush, briars, poison ivy, etc., as well.

So, depending on what you have as an acre to mow, the best choice I ever made for me is the versatile Kubota, hands down.

Obviously, John Deere and others make similar products. list your requirements and make your best deal.

https://www.consumerreports.org/lawn-mowers-and-tractors/the-best-lawn-mowers-for-big-yards/

If your mowing 9 acres as a lawn, best overall set up is a well made 5-6 foot finish mower behind a 25-35 hp tractor (diesel if possible). You get others uses out of the tractor (when you disconnect mower) and less mechanical issues than with a zero turn or lawn tractor only.

This advice is from a guy, with same acreage, that has gone thru a lot of experiments to get to what I mow with today.

Would finding out that there are only about 5-6 mowable acres on this property (way more trees than I thought!) change any of these answers and recommendations?

Thanks again.

I bought a Toro zero turn mower with about a 50 inch deck to cut 4 acres or so. It does a good job. It will plow through anything up to knee high. What we found was that out in the country you don't have to cut your grass every week like you do in suburban Houston. Especially if it doesn't rain much. The last time I cut the part of our property that we consider the lawn was July 9. It still looks fine. That mower goes so fast it takes a while to get used to it.