The gt5000 should handle that pull-behind Swisher just fine. Just pay attention to the instructions for setup/operation and enjoy.

You may consider this? IMO You would be better off IMO to buy 60 to 72" ZTR. Most get price shock when going to that level, but the rewards maybe well worth it? I have freind that done the same thing for his 3 or 4 acres and it still wasn't quick enough for him. You be lucky to go 3 MPH with the tractor and extention. A 60" Gravely ZTR will mow atleast 7 MPH and up to 9MPH. But, a quality ZTR are 7 grand or more, some as high as 10 grand or more. But, it won't wear out in 5 or 6 years. My freind has had his Gravely for 9 years and only had to replace blades and a belt or two. You may have 4 grand in your set up and will be buying again in 5 years mowing that much grass IMO.

Well if you already ordered it there's not much to say. I looked in to it a few years ago. Had a buddy of mine that got one. Yea you get a wide cut at a slower pace, but the turn around gets you. Takes a lot of room to turn around. And backing up is a challenge. I got a 52" ztr with a 30hp engine. Commercial at that for $7000 out the door. That was a LOT of money for my wife and I. Turns out to be the best buy we could have made. Makes short work of 5 rough acres of fast growing Bahia Grass. What use to take 8 to 12 hours on the 46 inch lawn tractor now gets mowed in 3 to 3-1/2 hours. The mower is rated for 2000 hours of hard Commercial service has 50 hours on it after a year's worth of use. So 2000 hours divided by 50 hours = 40 years. I wonder who's going to get that mower when I'm long gone? LOL!

But the swisher is already on the way. Good Luck!

ms

Ahuh. I mowed 7+ acres with my SIL's cub 2560 tank right next door to a guy that had the same GT/swisher setup and about the same acrage. He cut more faster - with one hand on the steering wheel. I had to keep both hands on the sticks full time. When he got down to the tight tree/shrub stuff, he simply unhooked the swisher - finished up the tight areas with the GT - and was back putting his rig up while I was still out there in the boiling sun.

OTOH, if this guy has nothing but trees/obstacles to mow around, he'll soon be swapping that swisher for something else IMHO.

Don't be fooled by ztr's and their ground speed. No way are you going to mow at 7 to 9 mph, maybe on a golf course. Most lawns are too rough to achieve that ground speed. I agree they may be faster around obstacles, but that's it. Most I've seen are rough riders compared to a lawn tractors. My neighbor has a commercial Dixon and he has to mow slower than I do. Just a thought.

"Don't be fooled by ztr's!"

Only fools are the ones still using LT's especially the cheap ones mowing large lots trees or no trees.

I am confused now why commerical contractors don't run LT?? I wonder why? Could it be time is money and with LTs you can't make no money? Usually the ones that say they aren't faster or better are the ones that DON"T have one. I agree unless you got one with suspension 7 mph is a reach, but it's not cause the mower won't mow that fast.

"He cut more faster" If thats so you must be creeping and he is burning twice and the gas, maintenance twice as much with the two engines, spindles belts, and blades?

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR THE ADVICE,MY ACREAGE IS FLAT,NO TREES,NO SHARP TURNS,THE ZT ARE NICE FOR APPLE ORCHARDS,CEMETERYS,THAT IS WAY TOOO MUCH MONEY JUST TO CUT GRASS,IF I HAD A MOWING CO MAKING MONEY I WOULD HAVE A ZT.BUT THEY DONT CUT GOOD AT HIGH SPEEDS. RICK

Some of this is some funny stuff. I own an LT and a ZTR. I love my LT. We just mowed my mil's lawn with it Thursday. Oh golly, that mower sure does lay a pretty mow. It's got a 46 inch deck and a hydro tranny. It's by no means slow. But by no way is it going to keep pace with the Commercial ZTR. And I only have a 52 inch deck on the z rider. But I can go faster with the 22 inch drive wheels. I can turn around faster even thou I do a 3 point turn with both mowers. As far as a rough ride, 22 inch wheels with 8 psi take a lot of shock out of the ride, let alone being 1250 lbs with full gas tanks. Then there's 30 hp pushing the z ride compared to the 16 hp pushing the LT. I do know this. I've had my place bush hogged with a 60 inch deck, and my ztr is way faster. The fact is my bush hogger, his brother, his father in law all went out and bought ztr's this spring after watching my mow. And they all just bought tractors with finish mowers 2 years ago. The shame is they all bought box store residential ztr's. They all see the difference between the Commercial ZTR and the Residential ztr. The truth be told, one has to do what's in his means, and be happy with it. So I say to RICK IN NCPA, good luck with the swisher 44inch 11.5 briggs finish mower. Take a tip from rcbe. Mow the open areas with the swisher. Un-hook it to finish up.

Keep your eyes on the lawn
and your hands on the wheel

ms

"Only fools are using LT'S" That's a pretty bold statement! Guees I'll get on my POS lt and mow some grass. Oh, and it didn't come from a box store either! It all comes down to personal preference and budget. Some day I might buy a ZTR but I will keep my LT for towing things. Till then I'm a fool I guess.

I looked at Z turns and demoed a few.No way was I buying one of them after trying them out.You have to drive them constantly.The engine is behind your head and out in the open.Noisy could not here my self think.The thing felt like a air hammer you sit on.My yard is to rough for those shopping cart casters.I could not see the saved time advantage.

Neither models were comercial mowers but this is not a comercial lawn its residential.Im not paying $10.000 for something to cut the grass.Thats where the word ''fools'' comes in.With todays Lawn tractors with super tight turning radius and foot controlled hydros and large decks.There just is not that much advantage to a Z turn.Not worth the extra upkeep of things like two hydros to go out.That alone was my deciding vote to pass on by them.Not to mentions sticks belong on airplanes and helicopters not anything with wheels.Unless it construction equipment.

The reason you can go fast with a Z comercial model is because of the fast blade tip speed.But there is no reason you can go fast with a residential model.But so many feel they can.Thats why there lawns look like crap.They brag about how nice there lawn looks.They do not know what to look for because it looks terrible.

I do not care what anyone saids they tare up the grass when you turn.They say there is a learning curve but every one who claims this still has torn up grass where they turn.Even the idiots that think there is a special skill to a Z and thats why they have one.

That's exactly why there are so many different brands, types, and sizes of mowing equipment. It's not a one type fits all. I love my 16 hp Vanguard 46 inch hydro Sabre by John Deere. That mower is slick. It'll mow with the best of them. It's at my mother in laws, who wants to buy it from me. NO WAY! She should just be happy to have my wife and I use it to mow her lawn. I've had the Sabre since 1999 mowing my then 3 acres of Bahia Grass. Gosh I was hard on that mower. The grass type, the roughness, and size of the property just turned out to be too much for the Sabre. The St Augustine lawn is a better match for the Sabre. It gets hot, rides rough, and makes enough noise that I where ear plugs. Now the 30hp Kohler 52 inch 1/4 inch thick steel deck Bad Boy Pup takes on 5 acres of the same Bahia Grass property. It's a much better match. It's stronger, faster, rides smother, doesn't seem to get any hotter, and I still have to wear ear plugs. It takes 2 hand to drive the Sabre, it takes 2 hands to drive the Bad Boy.

JD of il. how many JD quality riding mowers do you have? I say well over 10 grand, so don't say 10 grand is to much. Do you really think the Craftman going to hold up to 4 acres? Especially with all your experience with the cracked frames.

"Only fools are using LT'S" That's a pretty bold statement! Guees I'll get on my POS lt and mow some grass."

Your mowing 4 acres right? I didn't think so? so cherry pick so more. Now if the guy had a 420 or 430 JD or X500 series then the LT would be compatable. But, there's that 10 Grand lump in the throat!

Yep, I own two LTs and a ZTR. One a bottom crawler thats 20 years old and got 1900 hrs. on it, Semi-Quality JD LX266 with the freedom deck and 350 hrs that I got 700 bucks in with a new engine, and a cheap A## Zero turn that got 250 hrs on it, that many on this forum said it wouldn't last pass 100 hours.. When I want to mow quickly with a better cut the Zero turn in the mower to use for me.

as for the bad boys and their competitors! anybody that owns one IMO will never go back to LTs for mowing.

I have 3 and yes I have around $10'000 in them.But I also have 3 machines not one.The X320 and LX277 have mowing duties and my wife and I can mow it all up with 96''s of mowing width on nearly 4 acres and the 318 is the work horse that can do things impossible with a Zturn like another 1 acre of road side ditches and creek banks with me hanging to the side to keep it from tipping over.Then pulling heavy loads around that would kill any LT or Z turn.

Some like Z turns and other do not but I do not think anyone is a fool for there choices.

There is a time and place for every mower. I've seen some old GT's that I would love to own. Even thou I own a z-rider, there are places on my property I would never dare take it on. Like my pond dam, or road side ditches, or the bank along side my driveway. My LT does a much safer, neater job. But my z does have a 1200 lb towing capacity. My LT? If it's more than 100 lbs, I'm getting worried about the k51 tranny!

It's sometimes hard to let go of the old way of doing things. Reminds me of the 10 and 12 speed shifters on bicycles back in the late '80's when the click shifter first came out. It positively shifted the derailleur from one speed to the next, unlike the traditional shifter which you had to give the right touch to make a proper shift without over or under shifting between gears, kind of like analog vs digital. There was much resistance to the change by the traditionalists who grew up on the earlier type. But it wasn't too long before the advantages were appreciated and understood, and a complete transition was made by the manufacturers and cycling traditionalists alike. IMHO, it's just a matter of time, and ZTRs will improve as time goes by.

I am confused now why commercial contractors don't run LT?? I wonder why

Think about it RC...all that commercial contractors do is mow.
They don't haul material.they don't push or blow snow.
If all you want to do is mow then a ZT is your answer.
I would hate to have a 10 grand ZT sitting in my shed with 10" of snow in my driveway.

{{gwi:334890}}

"I would hate to have a 10 grand ZT sitting in my shed with 10" of snow in my driveway."

I don't think you do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo3ZC3rdJZc&feature=related

Here is a link that might be useful: Zero Turn Mower Snow Blade Video

mssurveyor - I saw the vid and watched him careen thru just missing his travel trailer. Not for me.. and with that blade set at an angle, hadta put most of the ground drive load on to just one of the drive wheels/motor..

LOL! I don't know anything about snow!

But I like this idea!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ditch Mowing

same prob... with that offset drag hanging out there (or gawdforbid that little mower gets hung on something), he'll have that zt down in that ditch pronto.

that cub not a good example, Like comparing polan, craftman, to JD GT or Kubota. Any ZTR in the 5 to 7 grand range has several attachments and have better traction than LTs and even some Small to midsize GTs. The orginal question was he was mowing 4 acres and he wanted to do it quicker. quicker would be ZTR and not burning twice the gas using two units and less maintance using have as many blades belts and spindles. JD said he and his wife mow, but thats two people and two high dollar tractors. Some people like LTs nothing wrong with that. Some people like to do it quickly, more efficently, using less gas, and maintenance. Nothing wrong with that.

RC - most likely his gt5000 has a 48" or larger deck PLUS the addt'l 44 swisher - that's nearly an 8 foot swath he's cutting vs yer $7-10 k ZTR with mebbe a 5-6 foot cut. He can run as fast as you - the little 8-10 hp engine on that swisher won't burn that mush fuel... yeah, he's gonna be back in the garage whilst you are still out there sweating/cutting and yeah, he can drive the rig relaxed with one hand on the straightaways while you are herding yer ZTR with both hands trying keep a straight line cut - all the time on them straightaways... :)

"RC - most likely his gt5000 has a 48" or larger deck PLUS the addt'l 44 swisher - that's nearly an 8 foot swath he's cutting vs yer $7-10 k ZTR with mebbe a 5-6 foot cut. He can run as fast as you - the little 8-10 hp engine on that swisher won't burn that mush fuel... yeah, he's gonna be back in the garage whilst you are still out there sweating/cutting and yeah, he can drive the rig relaxed with one hand on the straightaways while you are herding yer ZTR with both hands trying keep a straight line cut - all the time on them straightaways... :)'

ha ha ha, LOL!

Yea right! He can blow that smoke some where else because I know better. By the time RC got turned around the first time I'd be on my second turn around grinning at him like a jackass eating greenbriar. LMAO!

mssurveyor - jest keep on sweating.. and don't forget to keep BOTH hands on those sticks all the time - would hate to see wobbly swaths while yer bouncing along on the meadow :) (Aw, darn - fergot you hafta stop just to grab yer kerchief to wipe the sweat off yer brow.. too bad). Ooops -watch them track divots on them sharp turns - gotta make them turns wide and slow.. :)

It's raining right now. I'll take a picture later today.

But here a file picture,

{{gwi:334892}}

{{gwi:334894}}

Bring me a lawn chair and a glass of lemonade, I want to relax in that backyard! :^)

I'm cutting about 7 acres of field, not lawn, i am using a PGT9000-54" deck and pulling a 60" offset swisher. That's a 9' cut with the overlap. It has cut my mowing time in half. My fields are too rough to cut at a fast speed. That swisher is great in the open fields but too hard to maneuver around trees, bushes, etc. I use a 42" LT around the house and in the trees.