# What size mower should I look at?



## The_Owl (Jul 13, 2021)

First off, hello everyone. I'm a first time poster and new member.

Long story short, my wife and I bought our first house that'll have a yard (other properties were condos) so now I get to start from scratch with all my lawn tools.

The house we bought and are moving into in about a month is brand new and comes with a landscaped yard. I would estimate the yard to be just under 11,000 square feet in size.

The new sod that was laid is pretty nice. Yes I have some work to do but I'm honestly excited about it. It needs some leveling and over seeding to get some bare spots, but that'll come in time.

My question for you all is what would you recommend for a mower? You can name specific models if you want, but I'm actually looking for which classes you'd recommend.

I want overkill. The reason I want overkill is because I'd love to be done mowing in 20-25 mins max. This allows for more time edging, weed eating, and pulling weeds out of rocks. I (strongly) feel that if I can mow my yard in 20 mins or less, I'm more apt to mow more often.

So far I tried mowing with a cheap side discharge mower, 21" and it took just over an hour. How much faster are the 30" commercials? I'd like to avoid a zero turn because I just don't really like them for numerous reasons. I will entertain JD riding mowers or something like that. But what I'd actually prefer is a walk behind. I like the way they stripe (at least some anyways) and I feel it'll help with storage.

Money isn't a major hurdle. I could drop $5000 or maybe even a little more.

Locally I have a Big Dog dealer in town. All they have on the lot is a couple of Blackjacks. In the neighboring town they have a dealer with Exmark and they have a couple 30" commercial mowers on hand. They look nice. There is also a Ferris dealer in that same town and they could order me in something but I have no idea on availability - the FW15 looks badass. I love the idea of caster wheels.

Thanks for any and all comments.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I would look into a 48" commercial walk behind. Here is a video of @ericgautier's 48" Exmark:


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

If you want to be done in 20 minutes I'd be looking at a 36 or 48 in the price difference between the two isn't much.

I am most went with the Ferris FW 35 but I have quite a bit more grass to cut than you

The FW25 is pretty nice too


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

One thing you should consider is that the wider the mower, the more often you have scalp problems. Commercial people mitigate this risk by using a high HOC. You should consider how smooth the lawn is and your target HOC in your decision.


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## The_Owl (Jul 13, 2021)

I've watched videos on 36 walk behinds. They're literally the only machine I've not been able to see in person. I've looked at stand-on, zero turn, and the bigger walk behinds like 30's.

One thought I had was a Bradley 36 walk behind or stand-on because of the price point.

The one reply mention the wider machines being more scalp prone. I had thought of that. I think it I went with a bigger commercial style it would be 36 max. But that also makes me think the Exmark 30 or Ferris FW15 would be great fits for me too.

Thanks for the replies so far.


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

I have about 13k and with my 48" wb.. it takes me 20 min max (maybe less?) just to mow. I don't really watch the time as I enjoy the mow and would sometimes do a double pass. LOL.


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

The_Owl said:


> The one reply mention the wider machines being more scalp prone. I had thought of that. I think it I went with a bigger commercial style it would be 36 max. But that also makes me think the Exmark 30 or Ferris FW15 would be great fits for me too.


If you get a wb with a "floating deck" it would be less likely to scalp. I have a 48" floating deck and have no scalping issues (only on extreme modulation on certain direction) but for the most part the "floating deck" follows the lawn nicely.


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## SteelCuts (Jul 1, 2021)

If you don't already love cutting grass, I'd highly recommend reconsidering your standpoint on a ZRT. I enjoy cutting grass and do so professionally with a 52" stander and would get tired of walking 11k often.

I wouldn't even consider anything under 48" in my opinion. At the very least I'd have a 48" walk behind with a sulky of some sort.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

I'm with you on the nothing under 48" part. I also use a 52" stander, but only on my own yard. I think anything less is going to take you longer than the 20 minutes you'd like to be done in.

as for scalping, how high do you cut? I have parts that are very uneven and if i'm cutting at 3.5 or more in mid summer I have zero scalping issues. when I drop down to 2.25 or so later in fall I have a couple spots it will get if I go too fast over but not bad. I don't scalp any more with my 52 Ferris Z2 than I did with a 42" lawn tractor


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## WhiteSubi (Sep 6, 2019)

I wanted to add to your post because I was in a similar situation. I have about 12K sqft of bermuda and tall fescue. I wanted something bigger than a 21" so I was looking at the Timemaster, Turfmaster, Scag 30", BadBoy 25", Ferris FW15 or a 34" zero turn. I ended up going with the Ferris FW15 and couldn't be happier. Is it way overkill for my lawn? Absolutely, but I like to have nice equipment and this one is it. The thing has way more power than my old Honda (12 years old) and has a very nice cut. The only thing I wish I had now was the mulch kit which I have since ordered along with the bagger. It absolutely loves wide open spaces and is pretty easy to handle being almost 300lbs. I did learn real quick you have to wear gloves when using it because you do have to maneuver is some and it doesn't have a grip like most 21" do, it's just the metal bar. It's not bad at first but when your hands get sweaty they start slipping everywhere. I also added some grip tape which helped. If you're still in the market check them out. It is a quality piece of equipment and I'm sure my 2 year old son will be mowing his own yard with it one day.


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