Zero Turn and Bar Tires

1668 Views 27 Replies 9 Participants Last post by forkz, 10 mo ago

Alien5044

Discussion Starter · 10 mo ago

Does anyone have any recent experience using bar tires on a zero turn?

I have 4 acres of hilly, lake front lawn to mow with my CC "Ultima" ZT2 60" mower with the OEM turf tires. I've reduced air pressure to the bare minimum but still experience a fair amount of skidding where you'd think it shouldn't. This is on dry, good cutting days, not just damp or muddy turf. Once a turf tire starts to skid, there is almost no chance of recovery until stopped. And, if they clog with dirt, it really stays in the treads making things even worse.

I was thinking of adding some rear weight, maybe 80lbs or so to see if that improves anything. It seems that it is just barely slipping into skids, and I wonder if the extra weight might hold it down just a bit.

Haven't given up on the turfs yet, but just wondering if anyone has switched to bar type tires and whether they found them better than turfs and if they do more damage in normal cutting.

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RT3360

· #4 · 10 mo ago

I looked at the specs for your ZTR and found it quite a bit lighter than my Deere 757 60” by about 500 lbs and have never felt mine ever try to slide, even with turf tires. So I think your thought of adding weight should help. It’s hard to compare when you didn’t give any specifics other than “hilly”. My tires are also significantly bigger & wider 26 x 12-12 which likely improves my traction. Others have had great luck with the steering wheel version Cub Cadet ZTR on “hilly” terrain so I know there is a solution. They may be more expensive models, but nothing trumps safety. Mine is an older version commercial model. You may find a commercial version may be a solution, but at a cost.

Do a search on MTF and you should find something.

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RT3360

· #11 · 10 mo ago

Here’s a real world application of a Cub Cadet on steep slopes.

Cub Cadet Pro Z 972 SD (zero turn?)

You need to be a member of the church to be on the mowing team for insurance coverage reasons. So you would have to attend for a couple months before I can let you on it .

www.mytractorforum.com

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RT3360

· #23 · 10 mo ago

Alien5044 said:
Flaken, I agree those are the bar tires I was looking at as a possible. My concern with bars is that they might not hold as well on a sideways pass along a hillside. The bars would be almost parallel with the sideways force. I could be wrong.

Dave_r, Dry grass is the worst especially if long. I use the same techniques you describe on the most severe slopes I have. I have a couple of trees growing out of my steepest grass covered slope, so generally I use the line trimmer to cut a swath around the tree, especially on the up hill side so I don't have to risk a skid into the tree. Then make a down hill turn with the ZT from both sides. Then I make an upside down "U" from the bottom side to finish the cut around the trees.

The reason I'm going to try some added weight is that my ZT can skid on a couple of my long, but not so steep, slopes. I can lean way back in the seat just at the point of activating the seat safety switch, and that seems to mitigate it a bit. So I figure I can add weight to the rear and maybe remedy 50% of the skids I now have.

Still, skids and all, I don't know what I'd do without my ZT for bulk mowing.

Was rereading this post and thought you might have better luck adding weight front and back to maintain balance rather than adding all the weight to the rear (Maybe 2/3 rear, 1/3 front). Last thing you want is to have the front come up.

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RT3360

· #24 · 10 mo ago

Another thought now that I’m awake. 😳 FWIW
You could add fluid to the rear tires. Any tire installer should be able to fill them. That keeps the weight closer to the ground and doesn’t load the weight to the axles.

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Cub Cadet Pro Z 972 SD (zero turn?)

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