[Alien5044]

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.

 

[Alien5044]

I would probably opt for HDAP's before doing Ag style tires, Ag tires will damage a lawn when turning.

Good thought, my X500 on HDAPs just doesn't tear things up, and seem to do a great job on traction.

 

[Alien5044]

Forkz, thanks for that video. That type of slope is what I have to deal with except I have a lot of them.

RT3360, Yes, I agree with you. I think that adding some weight may be the interim solution for the moment, but a more aggressive tread as shown in Forkz's video might be the biggest benefit.

 

[Alien5044]

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.

 

[Alien5044]

Ah yes, CC Pro Z is a great slope machine. However, the pocket book says find another way to improve what I already have... 😕

 

[Alien5044]

DKvince,

Do you ever mow across a slope with these bar tires, and if so, do they hold OK, or how much better than the turfs did against sideways movement?

Thanks for the posting, they sound like a definite possibility if I go with replacements after my added weight test.

 

[Alien5044]

Axe's video is a convincer. Carlise's muted bar tread for ZT is the way to go on replacements.
I wonder if they sell them pre mounted on wheels?

 

[Alien5044]

Toro Grandstand might be a great machine, but is a little off the target for me. Older, I really want a seat to ride on for a 4 hour cutting session.
The foot print looks a little narrower than I'd like for hillsides, and of course there is the tire question posed on my initial posting.

My Cub ZT is plenty wide with a fairly low CG and I've not gotten into a situation on slopes where roll over might be a possibility. It always skids, then turns downhill. With the ZT2800 HydroGear transmission, I'm hoping to get some life out of this machine. I run about 100 hours per season (97.4 last season start to finish) on it which is probably at the far edge of its design but that is what I could afford and find when I bought it at the start of the season last year. Each season brings new fluids and filters so hoping that keeps it in decent operating shape for a few years or more.

 

[Alien5044]

DKvince,
Thanks for the update. Sure sound like the way to go. Agree 100% on the "crappy turf tires". Unfortunately, the ZT manufacturers seem a bit too concerned about tearing up turf as they seem to want all of their machines running on nice, level, ground. Before I left suburbia, my neighbor had a ZT and constantly left ruts. Complaining about it out at the mail boxes, I asked him why he made such abrupt turns on his lawn, pivoting and sometimes reversing one wheel while accelerating on the other? I suggested maybe that was causing his turf problem? He looked at me strangely and said "that's the great thing about a ZT, you can spin it on a dime".

My first year with the ZT I had to learn NOT to spin it like that and to make wider turns or 3 point turns. Now, there are no tear ups, except of course for the slope skids that started this whole tire thread.

Thanks again for the comments on those 101s.

 

[Alien5044]

I was also thinking of more burgers and fries in my diet, might be good for another 50 pounds.