In the market for a walk behind

[Steve's Lawn Care]

well without a doubt before this season starts im getting rid of my zero turn and getting a walk behind. The zero turn is great for speed but in my area there are a lot of hilly yards that are to big to push mow.. and im a one man crew and would rather have 1 really nice piece of equipment instead of 2 ok machines. A dealer right by my house sells Bob-Cat mowers and a lot of ppl in my area run them.. but about 20 min away there is a scag dealership i know that the scag walk behind is a lil more and from every thing i see online there the best. i know both machines are a strong and good design i just want a machine that will leave the best cut. there are also other major brand dealers fairly close. They have a pro v at the scag dealership for 5800 but im really worried about it on a hill and we have about 1 foot of snow still on the ground so i cant demo it.. if anyone can give some suggestions it would be much appreciated

[XtreemGreen]

Lawn care business tips

How steep are these hills? Ive rode my Z on many hills and retention ponds...Jut have to use your body for counter weight and go slow..

__________________

In Memory of My Dad..1943-2008..Gary "Snuffy" Smith

[Steve's Lawn Care]

well my dixie chopper is very bad on hillsides my older zero turn was much better.. goin slower does help a lot on less steep hills.. but it just slides down the hill even with the front end pointed up hill and going very careful.. it was a good machine for flat and going fast just doesnt go good on the hills like other models

[Floridajoe]

boy that would sure be tough to go from z-turns to walk behinds.
I agree with ex. how steep are these hills. Have you ever tried to use a walk behind on a steep hill? Ride a sulky on a slope? Using the right angles on the hill with the z-turn sure seems to be easier.
I would wait untill the snow is gone, and demo a walk behind before I made that choice. A good walk behind has a lot of weight also, you will find yourself muscling it around alot.
If you choose walk behind; make SURE it is a hydro unit. If the hills are that steep, the belt drive will not work. Especially when it is damp or wet.

Just my thoughts. I do have both z's and walk behinds.

I have a john deere walk behind and it has the pistol grip style controls. They tend to hurt my hands after a couple of hours. I would look into the ones with the z-turn style controls.

[XtreemGreen]

Originally Posted by rawssrob

I have a john deere walk behind and it has the pistol grip style controls. They tend to hurt my hands after a couple of hours. I would look into the ones with the z-turn style controls.

Dont get pistol grip... You could end up with Carpel Tunnel and that isnt fun..Have you tried going a different real tire?

I run these
although you need to learn how to turn without cutting up the lawn..They work great on hills to...

[Steve]

Would a stander be better in such situations or no?

[Steve's Lawn Care]

thanks everyone for all your helpful tips i will consider them all.. i always thought the pistol grips would really get hard on the hands after a full day of mowing.. My dixie chopper came with there classic style tire i dunno if anyone has seen them but there pretty much an ag-tire.. i think the problem is the center of gravity on the mower is really high. I had a john deere zero turn before and it was great on hillsides but cut horrible and the dixie chopper cuts well but is horrible on hillsides.. A friend of mine works for a lawn comany and they had a dixie as a demo and they also complained about it not wanting to stick on a hill side.. needless to say they didnt buy it because of that lol.. But for my kind of mowing a 52 or 54 inch walk behind would serve me well but i am wondering if the non-pistol grip style walk-behinds are just as good on hill sides.. im looking at a 52inch scag pro v its a all new set up with the controls.. but ive read mixed reviews some say they love it and some dont so its hard to get a stright answer... and U cant talk to the ppl selling them because they all say theres is the best so its a very hard choice haha