# Best riding lawn mower for Bermuda lawn.



## Razorhog (May 6, 2018)

Hey guys. I've been using a walk behind Allett reel mower this summer and it's been great but ever since August it's been a beast to keep my 0.3 acre yard cut at 0.75 inches. It often takes 2 hrs to cut, bag, trim, and blow off. I'm looking to cut my time down and gain some time back with my kids and family. In order not to sacrifice my cut I want to upgrade to a riding lawn mower. I wanted to poll the forum with what lawnmower is best for 0.75 in cut with good roll. Can you get this out of a rotary lawnmower? If so what do you recommend. If not, which riding reel mower do you recommend (toro sidewinder or 3100d looks nice) for a home owners lawn. Finally, I can't purchase this type of mower new so where do you buy a good quality used mower? And what should you look out for when buying used? Thanks guys for your help. I'm ready to take my lawn to the next level in a fraction of the time!


----------



## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Wont be able to cut less than 1" and it is going to scalp.


----------



## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

Why not get a reel mower with a wider cut? I've got a .25 acre lot that takes me about an hour to edge, trim, mow and blow. I use a 27" Trucut. Most of the time I don't bag because the clippings are so small.


----------



## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

You can order almost anything you want, new or used Toro, at places like ProTurf.


----------



## SC-Bermuda (Jul 16, 2018)

I was in a similar situation, trying to mow low with a rotary riding mower. I was never satisfied with the cut quality, It would scalp in several places, I was constantly adjusting my anti scalp wheels. I ended up getting a Mclane 25. I can cut, edge, trim, blow in about 2 hours with 14,000sqft. If you raise your HOC I think you could be happy with the result rotary riding mower but not below 1".


----------



## jonthepain (May 5, 2018)

tcorbitt20 said:


> Most of the time I don't bag because the clippings are so small.


This


----------



## SputhernThunder (May 18, 2020)

I mow about 1/2 acre Of TifTuf Bermuda with a John Deere E130. Lowest Deck setting is 1". However, you can adjust deck a little lower than 1" by turning leveling bolts on 3 Deck hangers. If you keep it low, the brown stems are almost non existent with most of the exposed grass being green, by keeping it short, you can avoid exposing stems (scarring) when hitting dips. Most people think of exposing the stem as scalping, in reality, scalping is Actually hitting ground. When I started this, As it did initially scalp some areas. However, these areas have now come back and No longer scalp with same mower pattern. (I Effectively leveled The area enough by scalping)

I would love to go to a reel mower but the cost of a riding reel puts me in used market. Most are used golf course machines with a few thousand hours on them. I just don't have time to maintain and learn how to repair this type of equipment.

I Keep hoping some company will develop a simple riding reel mower for residential use.


----------



## southernbuckeye (Sep 29, 2019)

I just got a Jacobsen GreensKing VI triplex, got it used and at a great price. The prices of these things new are out of sight. If you're willing to put in a little work and buy some parts (eg thicker bedknife) you can convert a triplex that's setup for greensmowing to more a fairway type cut which would be more along the lines of the HOC you're going for.


----------



## AcworthOkie (Feb 23, 2020)

Get a Walker...I have one and added the "auto height adjuster" and can cut as low as .75... I cut at 1" with no scalping


----------



## Bermuda_Triangle (Sep 20, 2019)

Did you look at this sale?

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=292617#p292617


----------



## FedDawg555 (Mar 19, 2020)

AcworthOkie said:


> Get a Walker...I have one and added the "auto height adjuster" and can cut as low as .75... I cut at 1" with no scalping


@AcworthOkie

Hey my buddy is giving up reeling on his Bermuda which he keeps at .75 and yard is always looks great.

Basically hes just getting older.

Anyway he asked me about getting a 42" GHS Walker Mower either a S18 or C19 to maintain the Bermuda at 1" with still hoping for a very good quality of cut.

I have zero clue about Walkers, but I figured someone on here would.

Seeing that you run at 1" what are your thoughts? Is the cut quality really good and what model, deck setup are you running.

Finally do you have any photos of your Bermuda cut with the Walker at 1 in that I could share.

Thanks.


----------

