# equipment



## zbest (Mar 29, 2013)

Would a 22hp ride on mower be good to start with on cuts? Iam a contractor dont really do landscaping been doing the reo repait work decided to give it a try dont want to put too much out for landscaping equip


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## JDRM (Apr 16, 2012)

You want a zero turn mower, preferably hydro driven.


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## zbest (Mar 29, 2013)

Yeah i know but dont want to put 3000 out when this isnt my line of business... esp. With 20 25 30$ cuts lol would a ride on do?


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## npm (Nov 14, 2012)

With your location in PA your lot sizes shouldn't be too bad try a 36" walk behind to start. Zero turn would be ideal its the most effective. A regular riding mower tends to be to slow.


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## zbest (Mar 29, 2013)

I just started Monday biggest i had was 12000 it sucked with. A push mower i can get a 22 hp ride on for 300 walk behind cheapest i seen was 1500


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## npm (Nov 14, 2012)

new ariens 34" non zero turn at home depot about $1800 you can find 36" walk behinds on craigs list for under $1000. My first 2 years in business we used two Nissan pick-up with a 36" and a regular 22" mower. I used to cover Marcus hook area and philly 60-70 percent of your lawns you can cut with just a weed whacker.


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## Gypsos (Apr 30, 2012)

It all depends on how many lawns you mow and the types of lawns. 

Residential and light duty commercial mowers are fine for a backup or a gate mower. But your primary needs to be a rugged ZTR and able to take abuse if you are mowing more than about 30 lawns per week. 

We knocked out 22 lawns in just over 9 hours Tuesday. I have a Kubota ZG 23. A real beast of a machine with a 25 HP Kohler Command V-twin that I built myself. Even as tough as it is we have to strip down the deck and weld all the stress cracks in it at least once per year. 

We could only do about 14 per day tops with the John Deere rider and the 36" Snapper walk behind we had prior to getting the Kubota. 

Also, a the lighter duty the machine the more maintenance you will be doing. It will break and that will suck.

If you are handy with tools you might try buying one that needs work and repair it yourself. You can get some good deals that way. I am currently rebuilding a Snapper Hydro walk behind with a 17 HP Kawasaki and a 36" deck as a gate mower. Bought it for $200 and have about another $75 invested so far. I expect the total cost to be about $500 by the time I am done with it.


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## Valley (Mar 12, 2013)

npm said:


> With your location in PA your lot sizes shouldn't be too bad try a 36" walk behind to start. Zero turn would be ideal its the most effective. A regular riding mower tends to be to slow.



Most of the jobs we do in PA require a walk behind. We cover 9 counties.Some jobs are in farm country so we have to break out the IH with a brush hog. we had a job last summer it took 6 guys 2 days just to get the yard cleaned up to cut. We scrapped almost 7 ton of metal. You know complete front wheel assembly's of semi trucks add up....lol


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## zbest (Mar 29, 2013)

Thaks alot


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## JDRM (Apr 16, 2012)

Exmark walk behind, zero turn with sulkey, search craigslist, they range from 1000 to 5000, I bought a 52" 2 years ago and paid 1500$, put 300 in it right away, and have been using it since! HYDRO DRIVEN :thumbsup: Mine has a Kohler Command 23HP


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## Gypsos (Apr 30, 2012)

Too bad you are not local to me. I know where there is a Lesco 48" walk behind with a sulky for $550. I think all it needs is a fuel pump and a tune up.


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## Ohnojim (Mar 25, 2013)

zbest said:


> I just started Monday biggest i had was 12000 it sucked with. A push mower i can get a 22 hp ride on for 300 walk behind cheapest i seen was 1500


I will be fine, I would go with the a rear engine myself, lighter easier to work on, and load and unload. /at $20-30 it is the only way to make any money. If you mostly mow in town, and only have a few larger lawns you will be way ahead. Suburbs or in the stix is another matter.The "lawn care professionals" may laugh at you and call you a hack or worse, but when you think about it, they are grown men with mowing routes, so who cares. :innocent:


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## 68W30 (Sep 8, 2012)

i am a died in the wool fan of the bad boy z turns i bought mine new 5k out the door its all hydro propelled we have 600 hours on it blades are 40 a set its an absolute monster the BS engine was upgraded to the kohler its 27 horses and i once used it to pull my F250 and trailer out of a ditch ( dont ask ) and now i see they make a snow plow for it you can rebuild the blade spindles in 20 minutes for about 20 bucks it comes in 48 and sixty inch cut the only down fall but not really is the wheel basae is short compared to an ex mark or scag and my model doesnt have the pedal to jump the deck up


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